Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Home Theater A/V Advice

Last Feb our home was destroyed in a fire and we will move back in late Sept. Our prior system was 2 x M22s, 2 x QS8, 1 x VP150, 1 x Hsu Research VTH3, Yamaha RXV2500, Hitachi Ultravision rear projection tv, Panny 5 disc changer. I just ordered the Epic 60/500 and will probably get an Oppo DVD player(good idea?). Regarding A/V receivers, I'm looking at: Denon AVR-3806, Yamaha RXV2600, Pioneer Elite VSX-53TX, Integra DTR-6.6. We've had to make so many decisions on the house, furniture, etc. that I'm a bit burned out. What would you recommend, and more importantly where would you order? Many thanks.

I can't imagine how much you have been through in the last few months. I'm feeling overwhelmed by moving to a new house

I'm about to pick up an Oppo so I'm gonna vote for that being a good idea. Remember that the "newer" 970 is not "better" than the older 971, it just has more features but a less spiffy video section, so unless you really need a universal player I would stay with the 971.

For receivers, IMO any of them will be fine but I tend to steer people towards Denon even though the manuals are challenging. The receivers are real nice.

Being up in Canada I can't help much with "where to buy" unless you live in the Toronto area; hopefully others will jump in.

tpb Welcome, sorry to hear about your loss, I agree with John that the oppo should do fine for a DVD player, as it has gotten excellent reviews, I would also lean towards the Denon receivers, depending on where you live and if you want a new or refurbished items, I'm sure you will get many suggestions.

I have heard good things about the Oppo as well, but I own a Panasonic S97, also a nice DVD player. Heed the advice though that the newer player may be "universal" but seems to take a little step backwards in other areas.

As for receiver, they are all good brands/models. Looks for what features you want/need. I am a big Pioneer (Elite) fan, but I greatly respect the others you have mentioned as well. I would say Denon a little more than the Yamaha, and I know very little about the Integra, but recognize the name.

You won't go wrong with any of them, but you may find that one's feature set is a little more "right" than the others for your needs/wants.

Thanks all - I used this forum three years ago when I did my first real HT system and was given great advice.

We live just outside of Pittsburgh. I was hoping to order the receiver online (I'll order the Oppo direct). Online ordering recommendations for Denon or Pioneer?

2. I also need to get two TVs: (a) 27" to 32" HD for the kid's Den which will be used a lot for gaming and watching sports, and (b) a large screen >50" for the family room which will have the Axiom/receiver hookup. My thought is to get these at Costco given their no questions asked one year return policy.

3. I'm not sure I follow the comments on the Oppo. The recommendations are for the older, more expensive model because???

4. Any recommendations on combo VHS/DVD recorder units? Fortunately all of the old family VHS tapes were in the half of the house that didn't burn and appear to play ok despite smoke/water. We will want to quickly move these to DVD.

Again...thanks.

The older, more expensive model has a high end Faroujda chip handling upconversion and filtering. The newer, less expensive model uses a more conventional chip for video processing. The main point here is that the 970 player is not intended to replace the 971, they are just two different models being sold at the same time.

From the Oppo site :

"Q: What are the main differences between the OPPO DV-970HD and OPDV971H DVD players?

A: While both the OPPO DV-970HD and OPDV971H are excellent DVD players with high definition up-conversion, the OPDV971H emphasizes more on the video performance and the DV-970HD emphasizes more on the overall performance and value."

http://www.oppodigital.com/dv970hd/dv970hd_faq.html#A0

The 970 (new player) has a target purchase group of folks who use outboard / stand alone video processors. It sends video signal via HDMI and Component directly off the MPEG decoder at 480i to the processor. This is a HUGE want for folks who use them. If you do not intend to go that route, then the 971 has better video processing.

Also, the 970 is one player in a very small group of DVD players that will send an up converted signal to a display device via component. Not many players will do this. But, (always a but) this up converted component signal is only for material sources that allow a signal above 480P to be sent via component. Confused yet? Don’t worry it gets worse the more you think you are starting to understand.

The 971 does a very good job and is a great little player. It’s not a rugged, heavy battleship player like the Dennons, but its video processing is superb.

You might also want to look at the HK's. You can buy them on line just about anywhere.

I'm very interested in what you all find with the OPDV971H. I used to have one and ended up returning it. It had two problems, IMHO:

1. The up-converted picture was very noisy on my Vizio 50" plasma. I later found out they both used similar video chipsets so maybe that contributed to it. But dark areas of the picture showed visible and annoying snow on anything besides 480p. Oppo tried to help - they send me new cables, etc. but to no avail.

2. The OPDV971H has DVI output. DVI is compatable with HDMI but no audio is part of that signal. This is more of a shortcoming of my Pioneer A/V - it has no DVI input but does have HDMI. Trouble was, if you pick HDMI it expected audio to come in that way too. Since it didn't, I had to use optical for audio and component for video. Still had snow tho.

-Brian

I'm glad you posted this. I remembered that at least one receiver didn't seem willing to accept HDMI video without audio but I couldn't remember which one.