It's been AGES, since the time I said I wanted to do a head to head with these two receivers, and believe it or not, I finally JUST got around to bringing the Onkyo into the living room, and have positioned it next to the 2150.

The Onkyo has the disadvantage of having a totally broken off treble pot (from the inside), and I'm not sure of where it was positioned at the time of its demise, but with the bass positioned at neutral, it (the bass) is a tad overpowering and so I turn it down to around 10 o'clock, and it sounds fine.

The Onkyo also has this button named "selective tone" and what the manual says about it is:

Quote:

"Switching on this button lights up the indicator and creates a clear reproduction quality of the ultra low frequencies and high frequencies. (Not effective for the rear speakers and multi source signal.
Not quite sure of what that means exactly, and if it was meant for movie audio reproduction or music. I'm guessing the latter, since why wouldn't it just be a feature that was automatically on all the time ?

I listened to a couple of songs from the Gypsy Kings and a few songs from In Rainbows on both receivers, and I have to say, from the little bit of time I spent, the Onkyo seems to be far from a slouch in the music dept. It's got plenty of power at even loud volumes, and the stereo separation seemed to be quite decent to boot.

The bass might be a bit more sloppy and less musical (if you will) than the 2150, but I'm going to have to ask my wife to help me out with this tomorrow, and A/B the receivers for me, whilst I close my eyes and she switches cables and such.

The Onkyo also has a phono input on the back, but it doesn't specify what type of cart should be used, so I'm a bit reluctant to try it... probably will though. Anyway, this is just the beginning. I wouldn't call what I did tonight a serious analysis. I'd call it breaking the ice and getting ready for a real comparison.

I'll say this though: More than ever, I certainly believe that the speakers are the most vital link in any audio chain. My Energy C3's are easily powered by both of these receivers, but I suppose that the real test would be to hook them up to speakers which were a lot less efficient and power hungry. At this point, I'm really looking forward to getting a much better pair of speakers, and using the Onkyo in a place such as a basement, office or even bedroom if it's big enough, and then putting the 2150 in the living room, until I get a dedicated pre/amp etc..