Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Home Theater Is a home theater receiver worth it in this case?

Hi:

Spent 30 years listening to music and now I have an SACD player and a Dvd-audio player (bought within the last year and a half. I own only 4 SACDS and no DVD-Audio CDs.

My trusty integrated amp is tired and I have decided to buy a AV receiver, because both the SACD and DVD-A formats require them for multichannel sound and to enjoy their high resolution. (I do not watch movies often and hardly rent or buy DVDs.)

According to the above, am I wasting money buying into the belief that the future formats are really worth it and that there will be enough titles out there to enjoy someday? I am currently satisfied with my cd and record collection.

Or should I put the money back into 2 channel sound?

Any opinions?


Thanks,

Intune

Sounds like you'd be best served sticking with a really nice 2 channel system. SACD and DVD-A titles all have 2 channel mixes on them as well, so you'd still be able to enjoy their higher resolution without listening in multi-channel surround.

I rarely disagree with Craig. He is one of the sages of the board.

But I'm going to just to be ornery

So, you have a considerable investment in SACD hardware, but have not even heard the glories of multichannel audio? Without going into some long, rambling treatise, let me just urge you to audition some stuff at a local shop. Go and really listen to how movies, DVDA and SACD *can* sound on a modern, multichannel setup and then decide. I think 5.1 is the present and future of audio.

You'd certainly have more tools in your audio/video arsenal.

Even my wife has been very happy with our upgrade from Dolby Surround to Dolby Digital. Combined with a membership to Netflix, we watch more movies than ever before. I'm getting a lot more *use* out of my audio/video appliances than I used to.

I guess I just think you're passing up some really cool possibilities by not entertaining the notion of home theatre. I moved my old Yamaha integrated amp to the bedroom, and it still serves me well.

If he were open to watching more movies, then heck yeah, make the jump to an A/V receiver! But for nothing more than a few multi-channel audio discs, I just don't think it'd be worth it.

Getting into multichannel audio was what led me to home theater. Although I've always been a movie buff (mostly those of the 30's and 40's), I don't think I'd EVER rented a movie until I got my first multichannel setup. Now I can't get enough. Having a multichannel audio setup GREATLY enhanced my enjoyment of watching movies at home.........and, now that I think of it, caused me to go broke buying all the equipment. Don't do it intune!!!!

If you have surround speakers, an SACD/DVD-A player, but no surround-capable amp, yes by all means get one.

Even if you buy no more multichannel SACD or DVD-As, you'll at least be able to play your stereo CD collection in surround by using Dolby PLII or HK Logic 7. Overall it's not good as discrete multichannel, but it can be pretty good.

You can then try a few multichannel SACD/DVD-A releases, but if you don't continue that your new multichannel surround amp will still be used for stereo->surround reconstruction via Dolby PLII or L7.

I guess I was assuming that he only has a single pair of speakers. By all means, if you've got the full boat of 5.1 speakers, get the A/V receiver.

Intune, check out this post from Alan, both the one linked to and his second post in the same thread. He makes a great case for 5.1 music listening (and thus the AV receiver) without invoking HT. Go for the AV receiver with DPLII or H/K logic 7 following the great recc's abounding on this forum. You know you want to take the plunge!

Birdman

Went the AVR route instead of buying a 2 channel separates system. Tried an Onkyo 800, Sony 2000ES and a HK AVR630 because they can be returned locally.

The Sony 2000ES digital receiver was turned up full volume and I said to myself "this can't be it". I know, why try a Sony receiver, but they have two multi-channel input sets and thats good if you have a separated DVD-A player and sacd player like myself. (Now, what do I do about that?, may have to sell them and buy a combo)

The Onkyo has a nice set of features and sounds good but not as good as the HK AVR630; therefore I am using the 630 for now. I say for now, because I have a pair of Outlaw Mono blocks in the back of my mind along with a Parasound or Adcom preamp.

Oh, the simple days.............................

Intune

I tried to warn ya! Oh well!