Yamaha vs. H-K power?

 

New member
Username: Tonto037

Post Number: 1
Registered: May-05
Reading this site, learning a little, and am led to this question...I have an 80 watt Yamaha RX-595 and am considering a H-K AVR235. Unfortunately I'm not in a position to compare or even hear the H-K itself...so..

Am I foolish to believe that the H-K's high current 50 watts will blow away the Yamaha's 80?

Thanks for any guidance, and the excellent information on this board.

Tom
 

Bronze Member
Username: Vgtvidz

Post Number: 40
Registered: Jul-04
Tonto, from what I've been told, the HK AVR235 would be more powerfull than the Yamaha, I got the RV-350 and im about to change it for the AVR235 because it cant handle my speakers! I'm pretty sure someone will be able to tell you why the HK is better, im not very technical because i'm still new to this =)
 

Silver Member
Username: Dmwiley

Post Number: 598
Registered: Feb-05
What do you mean "blow away"? More powerful, better sound, both or something else?
 

New member
Username: Tonto037

Post Number: 2
Registered: May-05
Dale,

Primarily I'm looking for a little more power. My guess is that that any + or - in sound qaulity may be of little consequnce to my somewhat limited hearing.

A couple of years ago I went from a 100 watt Onkyo amp (TX-901 I think) to the Yamaha and was somewhat disappointed in the loss of power as I'd been led to believe that Yamaha power was rated more conservatively.

Having read comments here it seems that that isn't the case but that the high current H-K is rated conservatively compared to similarly priced competition.

fwiw...I'm undecided on where to place what, i.e. room A with Paradigm 5 speaker set-up & JBL sub, and room B with Cerwin Vega DX-9 and VS-12's.

Thanks for the responses.

T.
 

Silver Member
Username: Petergalbraith

Rimouski, Quebec Canada

Post Number: 512
Registered: Feb-04
Tonto,

Looking at the compilation here:

http://www.geocities.com/Area51/Hollow/3401/ratevsac.htm

it looks like Yamaha are usually overrated a bit and h/k are usually underrated a bit. So it's quite likely that an 80W Yamaha and a 50W are similar in power, but it's not a given which will have more.

What is certain is that the difference should be just about imperceptible. Even going from 100W to 50W is only a 3 dB drop, so you'll not going to see a huge difference. Maybe your Onkyo and Yamaha receivers didn't have the same "0 dB" setting? Maybe you have to (and can) crank up your Yamaha to +10dB to match the 0dB on the Onkyo... I don't know.

I've pushed my h/k avr-325 (note reserved numbers; not the same model as you are looking at) to +7dB or so on typical CD input. It doesn't sound strained but it was nerve-racking. This was using a friend's very inefficient (and 4-ohms) speakers, rated at about 81 dB/1W/1m to get past 95 dB or so in th room.
 

Silver Member
Username: Dmwiley

Post Number: 600
Registered: Feb-05
From a sheer power perspective, I agree with Peter. But there may be a perceptible sonic difference that only you can decide on.
 

New member
Username: Tonto037

Post Number: 3
Registered: May-05
Guys,

Thanks for the input, based on which I'm now steering back toward the 2 channel HK3480 for a music room and sticking with the Yamaha for HT for now.

T.
 

Silver Member
Username: Petergalbraith

Rimouski, Quebec Canada

Post Number: 519
Registered: Feb-04
Sounds like a good plan. I hear NAD is also good for 2-channel.
 

Bronze Member
Username: Virus5877

West Lafayette, Indiana USA

Post Number: 92
Registered: Apr-05
If you wanna splurge, give the Rotel stereo receiver a listen. It's pricey, but it's worth it!
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