Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Home Theater Denon 3310 or Pio Elite SC-25 anyone?

The Denons are excellent units and one of the side benefits is you can learn a foreign language from their owner's manual.

Japanish.

I was thinking "confusish"

Get the one that you feel offers the best feature set. Personally, I would not get a receiver based on if it had Audyssey or not. However, why I like Denon and would prefer it to Pioneer in this instance is due to the fact that I know Denon units are reliable, have excellent feature sets and from what Axiom has responded to about Denon AVR's is that they in fact use beefy power supplies in their units which are suitable for more demanding loads at higher volumes like the M80's and such.

Neither has features (for me) that make the decision a slam dunk. Prices seem to be similar on both. I may end up w/ a Denon just to change it up.

Now I've got to keep an eye out for online deals from authorized dealers. Preferably out of state w/ free shipping, I want to avoid the 10% sales tax we pay in my area of CA.

You probably won't see the best price from 6th ave online. You've got to call and talk to a live person, and be sure to tell them you are an AVS Forum member. They are an authorized Denon reseller and you will get the manufacter's warranty. They were great for me when I got my 3808ci - don't know where they are for prices on the 3310. Shipping was free and they don't charge CA sales tax.

-Dave

Ah, good advice Dave.

Oldskool,
I have about a year's experience with the SC-05 and some recent experience with the SC-25. Here's some real world experience I can share (please feel free to PM me if you want more details or have questions):
1 - the ICE amps are great - I am not saying they sound better than the Denon, but you seem to get more headroom for the same money based on my research. But as I'm sure many will point out if you stay within the headroom most good amps will sound equivalent
2 - I love my SC-05 but have been annoyed with the SC-25. It seems that some SC-25 units have a glitch where they won't wake from a long standby time with a remote command. Physically pressing the power button makes wakes it up, but off overnight it's likely to happen again. Very annoying. And Pioneer has been completely unresponsive to my service calls (though my local dealer is helping me out).
3 - Global crossover only. You can't cross the fronts at a different point than the surrounds or center. Also annoying but not huge deal for my setup.
4 - As has already been pointed out, no video upscaling through HDMI inputs. Again this is fine for me as all my sources are HD, but may not be for you.
5 - No on screen GUI except for initial setup. Volume, sound settings etc... are only displayed on the front of the unit, not on screen.

So for me personally I am happy with my SC-05, though I definitely would not get the SC-25 based on my experience so far with it. When it comes time for me to buy again I will go with a good flexible processor and an A1400-8 or similar.

I basically would agree with Peter where the ICE amps are great, but the rest is a mixed bag.

Cheers,

Seems like Pioneer feel asleep while designing that receiver. To not have independent crossovers or even basic upscaling ala Faroudia like my 3808 on a avr this late in the game is a shame.

Yup, I think they did fall asleep and I am NOT happy with the Pioneer customer service. I have lodged 2 calls with them where they take my info and say a tech will call me back - but I have not received one call back. My SC-05 is fine for my particular needs and application right now, but definitely lacks flexibility for future or other applications. It's just that the specs on the ICE amps are so darn good... Also standing wave correction in the MCACC is also quite good in my experiemce. But otherwise many drawbacks.