SpaceBooger wrote:My okyno 7.2 receiver from 2007 is dying. Any video, and therefore audio too, going through it stutters and I don't have this problem with anything directly plugged into the tv.
I am on a budget, under $300, and will only use it for tv/movies not really music. I am looking for advise on these two receivers (fyu, my tv is only 780 not 1080 or 4k)
https://www.bestbuy.com/site/sony-1015w ... Id=4914601https://www.bestbuy.com/site/yamaha-725 ... Id=5017800I think the cheaper one is fine and the other is not worth the extra money for what I need...right?
So, any advise?
Hi Booger, How's the fam? You still encouraging the little one to get interested in retro gaming?
Stuttering video can sometimes be a symptom of an overheating receiver. Does it get warm when you're using it? I'm assuming that you haven't changed the location of your Onkyo, so the amount of airflow hasn't changed. Your old receiver must be long out of warranty, so there's no harm in busting out the screwdriver and taking the case off your Onkyo. See if you can clean out the dust from the inside. While you're in there, give it a quick visual inspection for things like leaky capacitors and broken solder. I think 2007~ish was the timeframe when manufacturers were transitioning from lead solder to lead-free solder. Some of the electronic stuff from this timeframe had bad soldering because the manufacturers hadn't refined their lead-free process yet. But that's not really what you asked for, is it?
SONY receivers vs Yahmaha receiversYou didn't ask about fixing the old one; you asked about buying a new one. Let's talk about SONY receivers vs Yahmaha receivers. I have owned both, and I feel confident that I can give you a meaningful impression of one vs the other.
Design PhilosophyHaving owned both, I can say that SONY receivers are built with a different design philosophy and a different user experience in mind compared to Yamaha receivers. SONY builds a wide range of products that offer a good value proposition to the consumer, and SONY receivers are no exception.
For the price range, SONY receivers offer an excellent value. Can you buy a better receiver? Sure you can! There are myriad better receivers, but they all cost more money. I see that the SONY receiver you linked is currently on sale for two hundred dollars. I feel confident in saying that you won't find a better brand new receiver at the two hundred dollar price point than what SONY is offering.
Yamaha includes every possible feature into their receivers. For this reason, Yamaha receivers always look really attractive on a spreadsheet. Name a feature you want out of your receiver; chances are the Yamaha receiver includes this feature. The Yamaha receiver can decode every kind of surround sound encoding and video format you can name (plus a dozen more you never new existed). A Yamaha receiver is the swiss army knife of the Audio/Video world. The Yamaha
can do practically everything, but it
isn't necessarily the best at doing anything. Sometimes Yamaha falls short on the implementation. Does it have bluetooth? Sure it does. Will that bluetooth connect to your phone? Eventually. Does the Yamaha have a USB port? Sure it does. Will that USB port charge your device while syncing? Maybe.
User ExperienceThe user experience between a SONY receiver and a Yamaha receiver may seem similar, but they're really worlds apart. The Yamaha receiver gives you a hundred thousand options to tune every detail exactly to your liking. The menu tree is laid out in a logical fashion, but it helps to have the manual handy for reference. Yamaha also includes a "YPAO" that (in theory) should help you setup your system automatically. This "YPAO" is a little plastic microphone that somehow tunes the system for you, but to be honest, I never used mine. I trust my own ears more than the five dollar microphone. I figure, what's the point of having a thousand options if you're going to leave everything set to automatic anyway? I defeats the purpose, don't you think?
The SONY receiver gives a completely different user experience. SONY designs their receiver to be setup and ready to play your music as quickly and simply as possible. Everything is plug and play; don't overthink it. You could probably setup the whole shebang without looking at the manual twice. For instance, If you turn on your Blu-ray player, then your SONY receiver will turn on, switch to the Blu-ray input, and turn on your television too. You don't have to program the SONY receiver to do that; it just assumes that's what you want to do. Now to be fair, the Yamaha probably includes the same function, but you're going to have to navigate the menu to program the Yamaha receiver to do this.
ConclusionThis may sound like I'm putting the SONY receiver above the Yamaha, but I'm not. The truth is, I
personally enjoyed spending days on end fine-tuning my Yamaha receiver. I admit it was frustrating sometimes, but it was also satisfying when I got every aspect of my surround system set up
exactly the way I wanted it. I'm also sufficiently self-aware to know that not every consumer wants what I want. I think most consumers wouldn't mind one bit for the SONY receiver to hold their hand through setup. The SONY consumer will be playing music and movies while the Yamaha consumer is still fiddling with settings buried four levels deep in the menu tree.
Buy the Yamaha receiver if you desire exacting control over every aspect of your surround system; Buy the SONY receiver if you want to forget you own a sound system while you watch the Avengers save the Universe.
