A New Home Cinema Receiver

[astral]

I am thinking of buying a new home theatre receiver.

My current setup is long in the tooth and does not support HDMI or digital audio.

Reading reviews on the web I have two models in mind:

1. Sony STR DA2400ES

2. Denon AVR 1910

both seem to have good reviews for their price range.

Does anyone have direct experience of these models,

or recommendations in the same price range.

Thanks

[Nordlys]

Do they sell that Sony in Thailand?

And how about Marantz and Pioneer?

http://www.mrzstandard.com/index_electric.asp

http://www.pioneer-thailand.co.th/

Edited January 16, 2010 by Nordlys

[powderpuff]

I'm a big fan of Yamaha. Piyanas sell all brands.

http://www.piyanas.com/pro_cat.shtml

Oppps - no Sony.

[Benjie]

I'd go for denon, yamaha, marantz or onkyo.

[richm7]

Go to someone who has the receiver set up for you to listen to, preferably in a listening room. Trust your ears. One man's meat is another man's poison.

[Nordlys]

I have a question.

Is there a benefit at all if any, to adding an AV amp with digital input to your system when you already have a good analogue pre and power amp designed for pure audio if you're not keen on building a home theater with multi channel surround system? I've recently got rid of my DVD player for BR but the sound output level for some reason has been lowered (need to turn the volume knob more than when I used DVD player) and while the picture quality has certainly improved the sound hasn't seen as dramatic an improvement as the picture. AV components being generally so cheap compared to pure audio so the cost is not really a big concern for me but the space is as there is no more space left in my rack for another component and while I can add another shelf to the rack I'd rather avoid it unless absolutely necessary as it raises the TV placed on top shelf and subsequently the view point. My pre amplifier does not have digital input so the sound from BR player comes from its analogue output via RCA cable instead of HDMI.

[powderpuff]

Just went down to Mister Balance on a computer related matter. He has a Yamaha RX-V 3000 in the window. Perfect condition. 30,000 baht. I bought it to upgrade my RX-V800.

This baby is totally sweet with 96-24 DAC's. Japan made unit. Pristine condition.

Nordlys. Wish I could help you. Are you running it HDMI ?

My hi-fi & my home theater share nothing in common.

[Nordlys]

Nordlys. Wish I could help you. Are you running it HDMI ?

My hi-fi & my home theater share nothing in common.

I said the audio out from BR player is via analogue RCA cable. Visual is through HDMI to LED TV but of course I turn the TV speakers off when I watch BR/DVD movies. My home theater and sound system share the same amplifiers and speakers because of the space constraint (I live in a condo and have no dedicated listening room nor home cinema).

[chrgrims]

I have a question.

Is there a benefit at all if any, to adding an AV amp with digital input to your system when you already have a good analogue pre and power amp designed for pure audio if you're not keen on building a home theater with multi channel surround system? I've recently got rid of my DVD player for BR but the sound output level for some reason has been lowered (need to turn the volume knob more than when I used DVD player) and while the picture quality has certainly improved the sound hasn't seen as dramatic an improvement as the picture. AV components being generally so cheap compared to pure audio so the cost is not really a big concern for me but the space is as there is no more space left in my rack for another component and while I can add another shelf to the rack I'd rather avoid it unless absolutely necessary as it raises the TV placed on top shelf and subsequently the view point. My pre amplifier does not have digital input so the sound from BR player comes from its analogue output via RCA cable instead of HDMI.

in theory there will be a benefit. But i am not sure how useful it is.

I am trying to think why the output of the BR is lower than the dvd. i cant say i know a good reason, except that the output level of the BR is too low. Maybe you can try another BR player and compare. 

On a sidenote: you might want to consider adding 5.1 sound. You should be able to have your normal output for the 2 normal channels, and then add a separate amp(s) to get the central and surround sound. I say this because this would be the solution i would choose with your system. you have an excellent stereo system, so you just want to add the others to get 5.1. btw, just skip the sub. AFAIK, the signal is the same to the stereo outs, so you are not missing anything. The difference in final output is the physical characteristics of the speaker, and you have all that is needed already in this regard.So, this would only mean the addition of one amplifier and 2(or 3) speakers. 

[Nordlys]

Thanks for the inputs, chrgrims.

I guess the only way I'd know what difference digital A/V amp would make if any (as compared to analogue audio amp), would be to actually test with one.

The low volume output isn't so much of a problem as my power amp has more than enough power to drive the speakers for home theater use, but the only problem being the buzz noise produced by my parallel line conditioner (PS Audio noise harvester) when the line noise level is so high that I hear from the speakers (when I turn the volume level high), which for some reason I don't hear when the input source is CD player.

As to surround system I guess not only am I not interested in elaborate system that's only good for home theater and does nothing for my sound system (and my entire A/V system is pure audio oriented, less of a home theater) but the space simply doesn't allow it, not to mention the cables running everywhere in my living room. I do have several SACDs with multi-channel recording, a feature my old, cheap Marantz SACD player supported but when I upgraded it to top-end Marantz SACD player it became a strictly two-channel player like most high-end CD/SACD players are.

Edited January 18, 2010 by Nordlys

[astral]

I have a question.

Is there a benefit at all if any, to adding an AV amp with digital input to your system when you already have a good analogue pre and power amp

Unfortunately that system was left behind when my wife and I split up.

Even so the Harmon Kardon AV amp in the old system was nearly 20 years old............

All I have at the moment it a consumer Sony DVD/amp system that is starting to give problems.

A shame, as for its price it has a pretty good sound.

Lack of suitable inputs are also a problem.

I want HDMI out for the TV.

HDMI in for my WDHD player, and a second HDMI in for a planned HD satellite receiver upgrade.

For the moment DVD will be composite in, but I hope the upscaling will be a benefit?

[Nordlys]

HDMI in for my WDHD player, and a second HDMI in for a planned HD satellite receiver upgrade.

For the moment DVD will be composite in, but I hope the upscaling will be a benefit?

I thought you need a DVD player with HDMI out to upscale the DVD video.

astral, whether or not you find the WDHD player to be useful, why not just give BR player a try as they too upscale DVD video. I was pretty impressed with the DVD picture quality when I recently replaced my DVD player (without HDMI) with BR player. And like Benjie said BR players can be found for less than 10,000 baht in Thailand, actually as cheap if not less than DVD player with HDMI out. And BR movies aren't as expensive as some people make it out to be even in Thailand (if that's your concern). Last month I bought BR discs for 900 baht and they give 50% discount on every 2nd disc purchased. That's actually cheaper than how much I used to pay for imported DVDs (region 1 & 2).

Edited January 18, 2010 by Nordlys

[powderpuff]

Stopped by Pinaynas today. They have a Denon AVC A11 XV; used at 85,000 baht. Powerful machine that has every concievable input, 1394 firewire. LAN. 4 HDMI.

Pinayas also sell Oppo.

[astral]

I thought you need a DVD player with HDMI out to upscale the DVD video.

Not according to the advertising and reviews.

The latest machines will upscale composite video to 1080.

To be honest I do not play DVD very much.

Most of my viewing is recorded on the satellite box,

or torrent material played on the WDTV, high def being the choice where I can find it.

[Benjie]

Composite video won't go that high, Component Video may do on certain machines.

[basjke]

I thought you need a DVD player with HDMI out to upscale the DVD video.

Not according to the advertising and reviews.

The latest machines will upscale composite video to 1080.

To be honest I do not play DVD very much.

Most of my viewing is recorded on the satellite box,

or torrent material played on the WDTV, high def being the choice where I can find it.

I'm also looking for an AV receiver for some time and decided I will go for the Marantz SR 5003.At the moment in promotion for 19.900 at piyanas ( comes from 26.000) it has 7.1 channel,true hd and all the other new sound formats,3 hdmi 1.3a,multi room,1080p upscaling and many more features.Think the price is also unbeatable as it is sold in europe at a higher price.

Take a look for the specs here .

[astral]

SR5003 reviews here.

http://www.testfreaks.co.uk/receivers/marantz-sr5003/

[basjke]

SR5003 reviews here.

http://www.testfreaks.co.uk/receivers/marantz-sr5003/

How much is the Denon in thailand?

Edit to add: I found out the price alreaqdy at piyanas 29.900.I think will still go with the marantz for 10.000 less.

Edited January 20, 2010 by basjke

[Benjie]

The Marantz amps are pretty good, I'd generally recommend them as good value for money.

[lennoxgilby]

I have installed and optimised more Denon dvd players than I care to remember, and I can tell you that (at the price) the 1910 is one of the greatest machines I've used in terms of build quality and spec.

It was also the lowest priced machine of its kind (some five years ago) to be released with the all important HDMI output, although check the native resolution of your tv for an indication of the potential to be gained from an early machine such as this. For example, you don't mention whether your telly has an HDMI input (I'm guessing it does) however if not, and you're running hi-def on a component cable you will not be getting the full picture (excuse the pun!!) If I remember rightly, that machine outputs 1080i and 720p resolutions whereas nowadays most new lcd's and led tv's have the ability to display 1280i and p resolutions and higher...

As for a receiver choice, there's not a lot in it to be fair. I'm a huge fan of both Denon and Yamaha. It all comes down to the number of other components you are running through it. For build and features, the two aforementioned can't be beaten.

Good luck

[JackA]

I think the Marantz is nice as well, but keep in mind that they have the following limitation:

ACOUSTIC EQ MODEs are not used during playback of Dolby TrueHD, Dolby Digital Plus or DTS-HD signals.

(which means there's not enough processing power to apply the audyssey settings when running in above modes).

Look at page 40.

http://us.marantz.com/SR5003_U_EN.pdf

http://us.marantz.com/SR6003_U_EN.pdf

Also one of my biggest gripes with AVR's is their (in)ability? to run 4 ohm speakers. I managed to bring Onkyo NR876-906 / Denon AVR4306 / Pioneer LX81 into protection mode after an extended listening trial on my Dynaudio Contour 3.3 (4 ohm - 89dB). Yamaha 3900/DSP-Z7 and NAD 775/785 didn't have that problem.

So keep this in mind as well, when choosing an AVR.