Hi,

New to the forum. However, I have been reading all of the relevant posts diligently. I am torn between the above two receivers. I like the Yamaha, but the 1080p ability of the Sony has me torn. I am more of a video person than an audio person of late.

The question...On a straight head to head, please give me some advice as to which receiver I should choose?

My audio system is about 15 years old, but was state of the art then and for now I am only contemplating changing the receiver. It cost me more than $12K then. My televison is the new 52" Sharp, 92 series.

Advice?

If it were my money, it would be the Yamaha 2700. One major reason is:

"The RXV2700 is equipped with high-definition video upconversion circuitry incorporating high performance video encoder/decoders from Analog Devices. A Time Base Corrector (TBC) transforms degraded analog video signals into a stable format for distortion-free viewing.An Oplus™ de-interlacer converts interlaced video input to high quality progressive video output. It also utilizes Anchor Bay Technologies' ABT1010 scaler engine that can independently scale an image horizontally and vertically to further improve the picture quality on high resolution displays (to 1080i/720p with HDMI output)."

Some very good components in the 2700.

My 2 cents.

pioneer elite 84.

Similar Price, better all around - read a few reviews on it. I have it, I love it.

Sony are not renowned for their AVRs...

None of the above....

Before spending money on video upconversion, go visit an Anthem dealer to see the D2 or AVM50 in action to see what upscaling is all about. This will give you a benchmark in order to compare to the quality of less expensive products.

Don't be fooled by the marketing BS that is flooding the marketplace right now.

I have one of their flagship receivers, STRDA777ES. It's an oldie but a goodie. It was highly rated back in their day. Since then, I hear that their quality has unfortunately slipped. I personally would only consider certain ES models for a replacement....one must have feature is HDMI switching.

Dave

dont discount the elite as 1 poster said none of the above. That would be a mistate. While it dosnt quite have the "balls" my nad 773 has, it's bells and whistles blow the doors off anything I've seen.

Sending 1 HDMI cable to the tv while feeding it 4 hdmi inputs (dvd, hddvd, 6416, and PS3).

I also have a direct tv h10 running SVideo and it upconverts to HDMI flawlessly.

It's only weakness is a crappy remote!

Not really answering your question, but it might be worth it to check Denon's 2807 or 3806

Thanks, guys, for all your advice. Took it all to heart. Anthem looks great, but is really a little over my budget; maybe next time. As to Denon or Pioneer, they seem like great receivers, but I decided to go with the Yamaha. It received consistently good reviews on this and other boards and seemed the best value for money that I could get. Appreciate the help.:p

Enjoy your Yamaha 2700. Let us know what you think of it.

Not sure if this is still applies to Yamaha receivers. They have been known to be on the bright side of neutral. Yamaha receivers 5-8 years ago were not a good match with my forward sounding Paradigm Reference speakers.

The Pioneer 1016TX is basically an entry level Pioneer Elite series. Good value at around $500.

Dave