Receiver advice. Onkyo 818, Denon 4311 or wait for the 4520

Personally, if you go with the 818, get external amps. Might want to consider the onkyo 3009. Does well above what I expected. Or wait for the 4520 since it is on your radar.

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Xparent Cyan Tapatalk 2

I'm curious as to why you recommend this.

This is kind of what I was thinking about before I dropped the 818 in favor of the 3009. I am still keeping a lookout for amps on craigslist as I see amps as a long term investment. Avr's these days tend to get outdated every 3-5 years if you like to stay current. Also, as a treehugger, I dropped the amp idea for now because avr's with preouts currently do not not shut down the amps so I figured if I went with 818 and amps, I would be using 150-200% more power than necessary. If I was a music first guy, I would've gone marantz. I just decommissioned a denon 1712 and although it was OK, I feel not many avr's come close to powering speakers like a dedicated amp unless you start perusing the higher end avr's of X manufacturer. I sold my onkyo 806 awhile back and it was a solid mid end receiver, and I still hear it often. Even though my speakers are bigger and better than the friend I sold it to, I could still tell how dynamic and powerful the 806 is and was sorely missing that from my denon. The denon 4311 was on my radar but I couldn't find it at the right price and went the 3009 route. In retrospect, I wish I had got the 5009. I have always actively cooled my components so the onkyo heat issue is not a concern to me. Even though the denon 1712 was a lot cooler, it still got moderately warm with long movie/listening sessions so heat issue is a moot point to me. Perhaps these d class amp receivers do better heat wise and I've had limited listening experience with them in very non ideal listening environments, I still couldn't get over the fact that onkyo receivers provide a very dynamic experience. The channel separation seems to be underrated too in many higher end avr's and didn't realize this until breaking in the 3009, especially with my high def and lossless music collection. Sub eq was a small deciding factor also. I just recently got an excellent deal on a hsu vtf 3.3 to accompany my hsu vtf 2.3 and was leaning heavily toward just keeping one. I am now 99% sure I will keep both. Dual subs for music in my apartment is mostly a waste, but it shines with movies. The 818 is lacking sub eq, but your average wanna be audiophile will not be concerned with it, and personally I don't think sub eq is a big deal either. I had to manually setup the second sub for my living room because it definitely sounded like something was whack. It took about 10 minutes to fix it by ear. Also, audyssey Xt32 is definitely worth a look for the results and upgrade over it's not too shabby xt lower rung option. Audyssey DSX is probably the biggest thing I enjoy from my system now. My front speakers are right next to each other and not spread out as recommended, but I still notice a humongous difference. Anyways, sorry this has been long winded. If you go with amps, the 818 will shine. I preferred simplicity and energy savings so I wnet with the 3009 because I know the 3009 amp is a lot beefier to the ear than on paper even though then power output specs are similar. But I don't think you will go wrong with the denon 4520 or marantz 7007.

Just perused back over the original post and wanted to add if you're employed by somebody who sells this stuff, why don't you wait for the 4520 to get a discount on what I am sure will be a nice avr. Or you could opt for the 3009/5009 now, and just do like me and find an awesome deal on amps for the future, but satiate your needs now by a nice margin still. I am willing to bet with your situation, if you got the 818, you will get upgradeitis sooner than later. Your movie/music ratio is about the same as mine and that is another reason I am throwing onkyo some love. It does well both ways. My denon was better with music and underwhelmig occasionally with movies. I guess it depends on how much you like your music. Marantz is well known to put an orchestra in your living room, though you won't get as many bells and whistles as denon or onkyo. And I don't know how loud you like to listen, but the onkyo 3009 doesn't show any signs of whimpering until about -10 to -5 db depending on the source and quality of what you're playing, and going slightly above reference just probably won't happen because it will be too noticeable. I'm willing to bet the 5009 goes reference before you notice ANY hiss or distortion. I can't play anything above -15 db anyway because of my apartment situation. Hope all this helps with your situation.

butter and jelly please.

I can't really give you quantifiable opinion as I was in a dirty listening environment, a fry's demo room, and my only option was hooking up dual rca stereo inputs between the two. I was actually trying to see how well the Polk audio LSI 25's sounded that were on clearance. Given the circumstances, the difference was like a Honda civic SI with exhaust and a Porsche 911 turbo, if you get my drift. I want to say Lamborghini Murcielago but I haven't driven one and I wasn't on a race track suitable for either comparison. If you have external amps, get the 818. If not I think you should go ahead and get the 3009. I have heard the paradigm studios mated to an onkyo 805 and I really liked what I heard. And I feel confident the 3009 will last me 5 years because I actively cool mine and it has plenty of ventilation.

butter and jelly please.

You're making the right choice. The only reason to get a more expensive receiver is if you ever want to go above 7.1 or add a second subwoofer. You don't need an external amp for your setup.

Yes, unless you need above 7.1, the 818 is the way to go. I personally need 9.1, so I am going with the 3010.

In terms of reliability is the 5009 superior to the 3009?

Thanks for the feedback. This AVR is on my radar.

hoff...I'm looking at Onkyo 818 also...sales guy says it will power 5.1 HT, the living room 2 speakers (sub?), and the patio 2 speakers with different audio in each...is this true or are amps needed? how about an ancient phono RCA input? having trouble breaking the $1K price point and may have to downshift my ambitions....