I compared the Panasonic SA-XR50, SA-XR25, and Harman Kardon AVR-125 receivers last night. Wow, it took a lot of work.
I discovered that it was very hard to compare them because I could just switch from one to the other, so take this for what it's worth.
The AVR-125 is a refurb, the SA-XR25 is open box, and the SA-XR50 is new out of the box. None of them were 'broken in'. I have the Athena Point 5 MK II system with extra satellite for 6th channel and SVS 25-31CS subwoofer powered by a Partsexpress amp.
Let's start with TV (analog) first:
I thought the Harman Kardon AVR-125 sounded the 'warmest' of all 3, which gives a perception of a 'fuller' sound. It could be that the Logic 7 or Dolby PLII processing on the HK is superior to that of the Panny's.
To me, the AVR-125 sounded better than the SA-XR25 for analog TV viewing. It was hard to compare these with the SA-XR50 because there are 4 remastering modes. I played around with all of them and couldn't decide which mode was the best. I would rate the SA-XR50 better than the SA-XR25 and either tied with or slightly better than the AVR-125.
One thing that I'm wondering is whether I lean towards the SA-XR50 because I want it to be better. I tried to be as objective as possible, so I'd like to hear other people review this unit.
Now onto CDs through the DVD player:
The Panasonic units sound a lot clearer than the HK. Bass is more detailed and the sound is very very clear,..it sounded amazing. I think the SA-XR50 sounded better than the SA-XR25 in both stereo mode and Dolby PLII mode.
Now onto DVDs. I played the POD racing scene from Star Wars Episode 1:
Again, the HK sounded the warmest and seemed to have very good imagine, especially from the rear surrounds. The bass is not as tight, but for movies, sometimes it sounds better that way (for explosions and things like that).
The SA-XR25 seemed more detailed, but not as 'full' and didn't seem to image the surround sound as well, like when things fly from left to right.
The SA-XR50 seemed fuller than the SA-XR25 and seemed to image better.
I've decided to keep the SA-XR50 because of the remastering modes and detailed sound from digital sources. Bass is definitely 'tighter' on the Panasonic units than the HK when using digital sources. The SA-XR50 also sounds better than the SA-XR25 for TV viewing, so perhaps it is more like the SA-XR45.
I will probably invest in the SA-XR70 when it comes out because I want the DPLIIx for TV viewing
