Some Of The Best Names In Home Audio
Aug 14 '01
The Bottom Line These are some of the best brands regarding A/V receivers and the home audio market in general. You'll be safe if you stick to these.
Just like any market, there are good brands and bad brands. The home audio market has many different brands, with so many choices to make. The A/V receiver market is quite expensive, and you don't want to spend your money on something that you'll regret. Anyway, after a bunch of research and after going to a bunch of stores and hearing things out, I have found the best brands in home audio, regarding receivers. Here they are:
*CONSUMER MARKET*
-Yamaha-
*Yamaha is knwon to be one of the greatest makers of audio products in the world. They play a major role in the A/V receiver market. I myself own two Yamah RX-V995s. I bought those a while back when I didn't really understand the market very well. However, even today; they continue to impress me. Yamaha is probably one of the best brands in the low-range and mid-range markets. All of their receivers will deliver what you'd expect from Yamaha. They are superior to receivers from Aiwa, Sony, Philips, and Technics that are in the same price range. Yamaha compared to other brands also makes very easy to use receivers. Some brands make receivers that have millions of buttons on the front panel, but Yamaha makes clean interface designs for their receivers. So, they are overall very easy to use. I bought a Yamaha RX-V596 for my grandparents, and they have no problems using it. It has a very clean design, a whole lot of power, and excellent sound quality. Overall, Yamaha is an excellent brand. You can't go wrong with their receivers. Their receivers pack a lot of power under the hood, lot's of features, and the excellent sound quality that you'd expect from a respectable brand.
-Sony ES-
*Sony ES is obviously made by Sony, but ES series audio products are better quality than the normal Sony products. The Sony ES receivers are in the lower $1,000 price range. I have heard them at the Sony store in Chicago. They were connected to Canton speakers, which are of excellent quality. I have heard many of the normal Sony receivers. The sounded pretty good, but their overall quality was surpassed by Yamaha. Yamaha proved to be superior. However, brands like Yamaha and Onkyo have found their formidable oponents; the Sony ES series A/V receivers. I have found the sound on Marantz and Denon recievers to be better than the Sony ES receivers, but the Sony ES receivers carry the Sony name plate. With Sony, you don't pay for that name plate, you pay for the quality. Sony usually doesn't make poor quality products. The Sony ES receivers aren't questionable. So, if you are unsure about the A/V receiver market, then you should buy the Sony ES series receivers, because they come from a brand that you can trust, and they truly sound great. Many people don't know what brands like Marantz or Denon are... Don't buy what you don't know. But remember, always compare the Sony ES receivers to others in the same price range. You can't really go wrong with Sony ES, but you can do better with Marantz or Denon within the same price range. However, the Sony is a truly solid buy.
-Onkyo-
*Onkyo is one of the most respected names in home audio. Their product lines aren't exactly huge, but their products all consist of QUALITY. Onkyo is a major player in the midfi audio market. They usually cost more than Yamaha, but often, that price difference is worth it. I have never in my life seen Onkyo make a bad product. Onkyo doesn't just develope their products, they over-develope their products, and they are proud of that. I found Onkyo receivers to have more I/Os than other brands, and that is great to have if you're thinking of setting up a monsterous home theater. Onkyo doesn't actually rate their receivers with high wattage, but don't be fooled by the lower numbers. Their amps are high-current, which means that an Onkyo receiver with 80Watts per channel will actually produce 100Watts per channel. Onkyo is also ready for the future, their new lines of receivers all include Dolby Pro Logic II which gives you rear surround sound from any source, including mono sources. The sound that comes from the Onkyo receivers sounds different from other receivers. They sound warmer and cleaner than Yamaha or Sony receivers for instance. But don't take my word for it, listen to Onkyo compared to other brands. Onkyo is one name that you can trust though, they just don't put trash onto the market.
-Denon-
*Denon is considered to be one of the highest quality brands on the market. They make excellent products, expensive or cheap. I am quite impressed with the sound from Denon receivers. However, the bad boys from Japan go into direct competition from the bad boys from the Netherlands. Denon is a very formidable oponent against Marantz. After a lot of listening, I have concluded that Marantz is better overall than Denon. However, Marantz typically is more expensive. You must yourself which one is better... Denon has a very solid reputation. They don't build that through marketing like Bose did (Using poor-quality products), Denon built it by putting out quality components. When you pay for the Denon, you pay for the quality. Not the name plate. However, you have to try out Denon receivers compared to other brands. Denon does set itself higher than Yamaha, Onkyo, Sony ES, and especially... Harmon/Kardon. But the real test is against Marantz. Try it out, and buy which one you like better. Overall, Denon is an excellent brand, and this is one brand that you can trust.
-Marantz-
*Marantz is probably the best brand out of the normal consumer market. Marantz is owned and built by Philips electronics from the Netherlands. Philips isn't exactly the best of quality, but Marantz is something completely different. The products that Marantz makes are magical, and at times simply unbelievable. I bought myself a Marantz SR-14EX which is their flagship receiver, and I love it very much. Marantz is the absolute best quality, it surpasses every brand, and has products that usually beat out the Denon competition regarding the same classes. If you want to have the best there is on the normal consumer market, you don't have to fear Marantz. Just get out there, and buy yourself one. You won't ever regret buying a Marantz. Marantz shows that not all of the best electronics come from Japan. Overall, Marantz plays it hard through the cheap to expensive market, and you can't go wrong with Marantz.
*AUDIOPHILE MARKET*
-NAD-
*NAD is one of the best brands on the audiophile market. They have a different way of making receivers. Instead of making cool looking receivers with a bunch of gimmicks, NAD instead makes receivers with bare essentials. This way, they can concentrate on improving the sound quality (Putting in higher quality components that affect sound quality). Obviously, this works quite well. NAD seems to be superior to other products in the same price range, but again this is a con for some consumers. Many consumers want receivers loaded with features, and NAD may fail to give them what they want. NAD actually doesn't put LCDs in some of their receivers to cut costs down completely. So, if all you want is excellent music quality, then NAD is a great choice. However, if you want great features and great sound, stick with Marantz or Denon.
-B&K-
*B&K is into the very expensive receiver market. They have a few products up in the $3,000 range. They also have a different way of building their receivers. Instead of using new-age technologies, they use older technology. It's actually true that older receivers and amplifiers sounded better than what's out on the market today. A popular model is the B&K 307 which competes against the Marantz SR-14EX. I actually heard the B&Ks recently, but I do prefer Marantz for some reason. Do extensive research though with audiophile brands. Many people have trouble deciding whether to buy B&K or Marantz. There's one good way to do it though, just let your ears decide. But because Marantz is more popular, you can probably find cheaper deals on the internet or in some stores.
-McIntosh-
*Probably the best brand in audio... PERIOD. McIntosh makes the best electronics in the world. Both of the stuff that they make for home audio and car audio is simply unmatched. McIntosh also makes products with the lowest possible distortion that you can find. Their motto is to make products with the lowest possible distortion. McIntosh however accomplishes more than that. Their receivers that I have seen create amazing sound. It's very realistic sound, feels like I'm there. Their amplifiers rock. Remember, do your research. McIntosh doesn't come cheap, their components are all premium quality, and you pay a hefty price for that. If you can afford it though, it's well worth it. I can safely say that McIntosh is the best company in the world regarding audio products.
*CONCLUSION*
-In Conclusion-
*When you're buying a receiver, you have to know what you're looking for. The brands that I mentioned here are some of the best brands that you can find. I didn't do this based on the reputation of their name plates, I rather based it on the actual quality of their products. For instance, Harmon/Kardon has a very solid reputation, but their receivers can't be compared to receivers from other brands in the same or cheaper price range. Well, I hope you enjopy checking out all these receivers, and always research before you buy! Good luck!
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