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Not that I was overly unhappy with the 705, it's a nice unit for sure. But I was missing the punch my older Denon's had and wanted something else. I looked into the 2808ci and the Pio 92TXH. Both sounded very nice and had eveything I needed but the choice came down to the Pio as I negotiated the price a few hundred less at my local Abt store (less room to negotiate the Denon).
Once setup and the auto calibration was run, I noticed an immediate increase in fullness of the sound (larger soundstage for lack of a better term). It has the same nice top-end but the bass and midrange seemed fuller and more natural than the Onkyo. Also, it is overall warmer in nature than the onkyo (not that the Onkyo was harsh, just brighter). My subwoofer seemed much better in that it played fuller as well, not just louder. With the Onkyo, the sub only kicked in on really heavy moments in movies, but the Pio seems more sesitive and constant (more like my older Denon did). This may be due to the calibration, I don't really know- I ran the auto calib on both units.
I feel this was a definite improvement to my system. I'm not sure it was a $400 improvement but it's hard to guage such things and I want as good as I can afford.
I will say I am still impressed by the value/ sound of the Onkyo but I feel the sound quality is inferior to this level Pioneer (as maybe is should given the price difference).
My speakers for those interested or curious are Mirage M7-si fronts, MC-ci center and FRX-1 surrounds (4).
Once setup and the auto calibration was run, I noticed an immediate increase in fullness of the sound (larger soundstage for lack of a better term). It has the same nice top-end but the bass and midrange seemed fuller and more natural than the Onkyo. Also, it is overall warmer in nature than the onkyo (not that the Onkyo was harsh, just brighter). My subwoofer seemed much better in that it played fuller as well, not just louder. With the Onkyo, the sub only kicked in on really heavy moments in movies, but the Pio seems more sesitive and constant (more like my older Denon did). This may be due to the calibration, I don't really know- I ran the auto calib on both units.
I feel this was a definite improvement to my system. I'm not sure it was a $400 improvement but it's hard to guage such things and I want as good as I can afford.
I will say I am still impressed by the value/ sound of the Onkyo but I feel the sound quality is inferior to this level Pioneer (as maybe is should given the price difference).
My speakers for those interested or curious are Mirage M7-si fronts, MC-ci center and FRX-1 surrounds (4).
