Yamaha rx-v2095 vs denon avr-4800?

I've had the yammaha for a while. Still works fine but every time I see a local piece of gear I want to try out a new receiver. New to me not new as in bad

Guy local has a denon he is asking $200 for.

I know the two were made around similar time and denon has a tad more power but I really don't know much about the denon receivers. At all.

All I know is this was Japan made and first thx I read.

I have a 4800 and a V2090. I think they both are about 50#s. The 4800 has a warmer sound with fuller bass( a hair looser but nothing like the slow bass of a lot of vintage gear), the Yamaha more detailed (about as detailed as I have ever heard) and accurate. Depends on if you like your music etched or a more rounded smooth sound. I like them both alot but prefer the Denon for its more forgiving and non fatiguing, and you can easily tell it has more power. I use the amp section only using the 6CH inputs. $200 maybe about avg but if your patient you should be able to do better on the price, I got mine for about half that price in excellent condition. I think there are some great deals on them non HDMI monsters.

petes'picks said:

I have a 4800 and a V2090. I think they both are about 50#s. The 4800 has a warmer sound with fuller bass( a hair looser but nothing like the slow bass of a lot of vintage gear), the Yamaha more detailed (about as detailed as I have ever heard) and accurate. Depends on if you like your music etched or a more rounded smooth sound. I like them both alot but prefer the Denon for its more forgiving and non fatiguing, and you can easily tell it has more power. I use the amp section only using the 6CH inputs. $200 maybe about avg but if your patient you should be able to do better on the price, I got mine for about half that price in excellent condition. I think there are some great deals on them non HDMI monsters.

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wow half that price? if I had the chance to buy it for that low I wouldnt hesitate. I just dont want another dead receiver. I have a rx-v2400 that is in need of repair that I need to open up.

I just want to try something different and I havnt had anything other than Yamahas for the last several years . before that HKs

That was over 2years ago, FWIW I have not seen another one for less than about $140 sense then. I would like to get another to Bi-amp to a very hungry pair of speakers but thats not high up on my list. I saw 2 reviews on the 4800 and both did test measurements, in stereo I think it put out like 180wpc @8ohms and over 300wpc @4ohms. Even at $200 (if it is all there and functional) its not a bad deal, you would have to spend a lot more on a vintage piece that can match it. I had about 4 other higher end non-HDMI HTRs pass thru that were not nearly as nice as the 2090 or 4800, so those were used to help out friends setup basement systems. I want to say the Denon 3300 was the next best sounding one but it was a distant third- not that it was bad it was that the two your asking about are getting close the the best HTRs. Based on my experiences and using orig MSRP$, a $500 surround receiver is ok, at $1000 starts getting better but still not as good as stereo only stuff, but once you get the $2000 is where you start getting into real high fidelity. Luckily not too many folks realize the better HTRs can hang just fine with stereo only gear and there is some nice bang for buck to be had. One more thought, the Yamaha will reveal more faults elsewhere in your system and not as easy to match up gear with it, while the Denon will sound better with a wider variety of gear.

I really like Denon AVR's, I've had 3 of them. They're just hella complicated to set up and the owner's manuals are weird and esoteric. But once you figure it out, there's a ton of flexibility and I like the way they sound. I even use mine for 2 channel once in a while and it's very adequate.

I used to sell both Denon and Yamaha, like both of them. I have had several Yamaha AVRs and that is what I use for my HT system and what I set all of my friends and family up with mostly because I know how they work so the set up is painless.

I just picked up a 4800 for 2ch use and really like it. I doubt it and the 2095 are very different in ultimate quality but I think Pete is right about the different sound signatures. I got the Denon for $250 with another 45lb AVR, the NAD T753, both with boxes, manuals, remotes and in excellent+ shape. That was a great deal but you might try to do a bit better than $200 on the 4800. Not that it is not worth but simply because older AVRs are a tough sell and the owner might have to take less.

In terms of SQ, the Denon is better than the NAD but not as good as the Yamaha RX-V1 which makes sense as original MSRP was in that order as well.

yeah, around my parts there is not too many people like me that are smart enough to know what it is when they see it. its not full of all the latest nonsense so I am holding out and will see what I can get it for . I am not paying $200 simply cause I know I cant get $200 for my 2095 and I consider them to be similar.

If I can get it for a good price I will not sell my yamaha and have both.


usually when a nice piece of equipment shows up it sits on craigs around here a while.

I paid $100 for my 2095 a few years ago and I was happy as could be for that. my neighbor has a rx-v1200 or something and he thinks its better but its not. I have a rx-v2400 in a box and its broken but I know its not better than my 2095

Just send the guy a msg with a fair offer, say $80 to 140, and see how he responds. I wasnt impressed with the tuner section in mine much sound wise, but that tends to be the case in all the HTRs I come across. I need to point out that my opinions of these units only apply to being used in stereo mode for music. Never had either hooked to a TV, and were driven by a Luxman TP-117 Pre-amp after initial testing. A seperate stereo pre is the way to go on these in my opinion.

petes'picks said:

Just send the guy a msg with a fair offer, say $80 to 140, and see how he responds. I wasnt impressed with the tuner section in mine much sound wise, but that tends to be the case in all the HTRs I come across. I need to point out that my opinions of these units only apply to being used in stereo mode for music. Never had either hooked to a TV, and were driven by a Luxman TP-117 Pre-amp after initial testing. A seperate stereo pre is the way to go on these in my opinion.

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I dont intend to use it for anything other than music. its ht ability means nothing to me. I dont use the 2095 for that either

the guy doesnt seem to be to eager to sell as I had to email him 2x to get him to reply and he gave me his number and I havnt heard from him back since I sent him a text.

I will wait a little and see before I low ball him. I dont know how his temperament is yet

If your close to a metropolitan area with over a couple million people then no hurry unless your really want it, more will make their way to market shortly. If your surrounded by farmland you may want to be meet him closer to his asking price. I wouldnt even want to guess what it would cost to ship one of them beasts, let alone the delivery goons dropping it from 2 feet instead of setting it down because its too heavy.

there is no where near 2 million lol....more like pop of 200K...I am going to text him again and see where he is at with it. maybe try to get an audition

met the guy today. older man about 58yrs old. I took it for $150 and I feel ok with that. it would have been better for $100 yeah but the old guy just spent $2000 on a new denon and so I feel we both did ok. its mint. been in cabinet all its life. he was original buyer for $2k.

going to hook it up asap. most likely going to see if I can get my yamaha 2400 working and then sell either it or the 2095. I still think the 2095 is better than the 2400 build wise

Congrats! You would be hard pressed to find a better sounding high powered piece for less than that price in a remote area so thats a good deal. After your initial testing try running your Yamaha Pre-outs into the Denons amp inputs and vise-versa. If using the Denon as amp press the 6CH input button on front panel then turn up volume knob to 0 (starts at -72 or something and works its way up to +12 I think, mine doesnt open up until its about -15 but after that its all power on demand). Let me know your impression and if you have any questions.

tried to hook it up last night but no output. not a surprise since I need the manual and remote. bad news is he told me last night he couldnt find the remote. he found the manual..weird..once set up the manual would be the thing lost not the remote.

so Im hoping all my issues will go away when I get manual and remote.

I actually paid $130 for it. no to find a remote.


do you know how to reset this 4800 Pete ?

I dont have remote for mine either but it works fine. I have found every function I needed is right on front panel. Found this for reset procedure.
Switch off the unit and remove the AC cord from the AVR- 4800 rear panel

Wait for 15 seconds

Press and hold the 6.1/7.1 SURROUND buttons and DIRECT buttons whilst plugging in the AC cord.

Check that the entire display is flashing with an interval of about 1 second, and release your fingers from the 2 buttons and the microprocessor will be initialized

I got it working..I went and bought a harmony remote on sale..

sounds good. seems cleaner than my yamaha but it seemed like the yamaha had more bass. but I am not done. I may reset it and start over. I like it though.

Be sure the subwoofer output is set to NO or turned OFF as it will cutoff the low frequencies. Go into speaker setup and scroll through being sure Fronts are set to LARGE.

I finally figured out how to use the remote lol.

I got the speakers set now. Still might need tweeting but I think I'm happy with it.

Sold the yam for $140 which was actually more than I paid. To a girl who is into old audio gear.

And single !

So I'm guessing you like the Denon more than the Yamaha? A single gal into Old Stereos? Hope you got her #.

petes'picks said:

So I'm guessing you like the Denon more than the Yamaha? A single gal into Old Stereos? Hope you got her #.

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yes I did and we are talking..going to go out soon.