Inherited 3 old 5.1 AVRs - which is best of 3 to keep please

[Comten]

Hello all,

Was gifted 3 now-old 5.1 AVRs, trying to determine which to keep and use as a daily driver, which to move to second line, which to use in garage.

I am hoping the collective wisdom here has experience with any/all and can suggest which to use. Thanks in advance for your help!

Note -
Yes I know there are better and now-affordable 5.X/7.X/X.X AVRs out there - but I hate to fill a landfill if all it takes is proper cabling to get value from these.  And Yes, I know - all old and with no phono support, but at least they do FM and all 3 can support the old TEAC CD player and dual-cassette drive I inherited as well.

First up, a Yamaha HTR-5930, supposedly 110W/Ch x 5 and can support an old XM Sat Radio I have that I could potentially use.
Downside to the Yammy is all speaker jacks are the old bare-wire spring-loaded type - and I spent time and energy converting speaker cables to RC jacks on the recevier end... Plus no remote.   Oh well.

Next; Sony STR-DE485, supposedly 80W/Ch x 5, looks to be able to support a variety of 5.1 adjustments; bit more to the right, bit more to the left rear, etc. Also has the dreaded spring terminals, but - it has a remote.

Lastly; the purty H/K AVR-130. Supposedly 40W/Ch x 5, looks to have some cool LFE-per-side soft-crossover settings that you can futtz with. It supports RCA speaker connections vs bare wire, and has a remote that would make a CHICOM space-shuttle pilot envious.

[OldiesButGoodies]

Hello all,

Was gifted 3 now-old 5.1 AVRs, trying to determine which to keep and use as a daily driver, which to move to second line, which to use in garage.

I am hoping the collective wisdom here has experience with any/all and can suggest which to use. Thanks in advance for your help!

Note -
Yes I know there are better and now-affordable 5.X/7.X/X.X AVRs out there - but I hate to fill a landfill if all it takes is proper cabling to get value from these.  And Yes, I know - all old and with no phono support, but at least they do FM and all 3 can support the old TEAC CD player and dual-cassette drive I inherited as well.

First up, a Yamaha HTR-5930, supposedly 110W/Ch x 5 and can support an old XM Sat Radio I have that I could potentially use.
Downside to the Yammy is all speaker jacks are the old bare-wire spring-loaded type - and I spent time and energy converting speaker cables to RC jacks on the recevier end... Plus no remote.   Oh well.

Next; Sony STR-DE485, supposedly 80W/Ch x 5, looks to be able to support a variety of 5.1 adjustments; bit more to the right, bit more to the left rear, etc. Also has the dreaded spring terminals, but - it has a remote.

Lastly; the purty H/K AVR-130. Supposedly 40W/Ch x 5, looks to have some cool LFE-per-side soft-crossover settings that you can futtz with. It supports RCA speaker connections vs bare wire, and has a remote that would make a CHICOM space-shuttle pilot envious.

Of that lot I would take the H&K, maybe followed by the Yammy. 

The missing remote for the Yamaha can be fixed with a universal one. 

The sound of HK will be better at normal volumes than the other two, I predict.

[Sir Thrift-a-Lot]

Of those three I would say the Yamaha is best by a mile.   The HK is nice, but probably under powered unless you are in a small room or have big, sensitive speakers.   That particular Sony is a hunk of scrap (and I'm not a Sony hater), it's just that one was built for cheap all in one box systems.   Find on line pictures of the three with their lids off.   You'll see the difference.

[bmwr75]

Assuming they are all fully functional, I'd keep the one that weighs the most because it is better built.  Am betting that will not be the Sony.  :-)

[gdv]

I agree, of those, the Sony would be last on my list...  I too am NOT a Sony hater!    I have/had some Sony ES stuff that was/were worth keeping...

So either the H/K (I have an AVR 230 which I am using in one of my systems that I like) or the Yamaha...

The H/K receivers are underrated, so don't let the 40 wpc deter you...  Compare/audition the Yamaha vs. the H/K...  Let us know what goes in the house, the garage, & out the door!   

My 2 cents...
George

[OldiesButGoodies]

I agree, of those, the Sony would be last on my list...  I too am NOT a Sony hater!    I have/had some Sony ES stuff that was/were worth keeping...

So either the H/K (I have an AVR 230 which I am using in one of my systems that I like) or the Yamaha...

The H/K receivers are underrated, so don't let the 40 wpc deter you...  Compare/audition the Yamaha vs. the H/K...  Let us know what goes in the house, the garage, & out the door!   

My 2 cents...
George

Agree George.   Here's my take again,  with more detail:

- The HTR series from Yamaha is notorious for being the "economy" version of Yammyy receivers - that said they managed to make them sound decent.  The DSP is great if you are into DSP.   
- The H&K with its relatively small 40 wpc is actually more powerful than the Yammy's 110.  The Yamaha is rated "110 wpc at 8 ohms at 1Khz .9% distortion"  what is that supposed to mean?  Am I listening to 1 Khz tones with it?  The HK is rated at 50 wpc 20-20Khz in stero mode  at less than 0.07% distortion.  that is 13 times greater distortion at the rated level for the Yammy. 
- The short term current capacity of the HK is +-  25 amps,  which is explained by its heftier power supply (the HK weighs 11 kilos,  the Yamaha is only 9 Kg)

So all things considered I would bet the HK sounds better.

[Sir Thrift-a-Lot]

- The H&K with its relatively small 40 wpc is actually more powerful than the Yammy's 110.  The Yamaha is rated "110 wpc at 8 ohms at 1Khz .9% distortion"  what is that supposed to mean?  Am I listening to 1 Khz tones with it?  The HK is rated at 50 wpc 20-20Khz in stero mode  at less than 0.07% distortion.  that is 13 times greater distortion at the rated level for the Yammy. 
- The short term current capacity of the HK is +-  25 amps,  which is explained by its heftier power supply (the HK weighs 11 kilos,  the Yamaha is only 9 Kg)

So all things considered I would bet the HK sounds better.

Nice breakdown.   I didn't look up stats or weights.

[scorpio333]

I'd believe the Yamaha and Sony would be more mass produced units than the HK. Whether that equates to better sound is only a guess.