hi, new here and would like some advice please. i am busy replacing all my old sony gear to something more up to date . up to now i've got pioneers lx 5090 and b&w mt 30 speekers but cant decide on an amp! onkyo or pioneer (VSX-LX70 or TX-SR875 ) any suggestions ?   

Hi Michael,

Both amps have good specs, and do virtually the same job, Decisions decisions ? check out reviews, price?, look up manuals on line ? some are harder to set up than others, onkyo i know is strait forward to set up. Good luck. .......Carl.

You can pickup the TX-SR875 for around £699 or cheaper at the moment.

Have a look at av-sales as silver is £599 -  a real bargain

The pioneer's are being replaced at the moment with a new range VSX-LX51/61/71/.

I would however suggest that you listen to a selection of amps at a local hifi store first with your speaker setup replicated where possible. Some will even let you take home an amp for a night trial in return for a swipe of your credit card. Each amp brand tends to have a slightly different sonic style and it is well worth the comparison and effort especially when spending a lot of your hard earned dosh.

Denon are also changing their range - new avr-2809 etc

Good luck

Just so your aware, surround sound amps are not a PATCH on a decent 2 channel amp for playing music. So perhaps in the future you might consider using the av amp for surround sound processing and a 2 channel amp for the main speakers?