Quote:

Greg,

I’ve got a headache that just won’t go away from researching this very question you ask for the past couple of weeks. I’ve read more stinking manuals, called more “tech support” technicians (that don’t know shee-it), read more friggin internet forum posts and exchanged more PM’s with folks than I have in the past five years since I first discovered this internet forum world.

Nothing is definite. Nothing is without problems. Nothing works exactly as it is advertised to work.

Even the few HDMI equipped AVR’s that have the least amount of reported issues and are considered the most reliable…..have problems.

All that being said, these are the units I’ve narrowed my search down to.

The current line of Denon’s appear to be the most reliable considering HDMI audio (2807 and up). They will post process 5.1 PCM streams to extract 6 / 7 channels. I can not confirm if they do this by down mixing the 96/24 data streams to 48/24 or not. If they do downmix, you might as well stick to optical or coax and not worry about HDMI if you insist on 7.1.

Yamaha 1700 and 2700 are in the same boat as the Denons. They are also considered reliable and perform post processing. It is confirmed that these units down mix 96/24 data streams.

All the new line of Marantz AVR’s are doing well (user comments) but they are so new that there just isn’t that many owners around to test them out and report back. I can not confirm if they do any 5.1 post processing or not.

There are NO separates on the market that offer HDMI audio processing and only switch, with the exception of the Anthem D2 and AMV 40/50.

What you need to do if figure out what extra functions you want in an AVR first. This is just me making a suggestion based off my research, but I would stick to the three brands I listed above and pick one of their units with the features you want or need.

I would not wait for any 07 new models because you will just end up being a beta tester for that manufacture. The others have been out long enough to where others have already reported issues and firmware fixes are already being developed to address them.

…….good luck.



I could have written paragraph #1 for you if you know what I mean. I also agree about not wanting to beta test 2007 model receivers. The Onkyo's I have looked at have only been shipping for a few months so they are new enough, but not so new as to be uncharted territory. I think . . .

I am considering the Denon 2307CI but the 2807 is out of my price range. Any thoughts on that model? What I want is for the HD audio played back on my Toshiba A2 through the HDMI to be at least 5.1 in uncompressed Dolby TrueHD, assuming that is available on the disk. I can't go with 6.1 or 7.1 in my current room so I am not worried about that capability.

I think the Onkyo 604/674/804 are good for 5.1 over HDMI, but the 604 is the one that gave me, emphasis on me, lousy LFE. If the Denon 2307CI will do what I want, maybe I'll make that move. Then again, CC will allow me to return the 804 if I dont' like it so maybe I should try it first. If I am happy, then I am good to go and if not, I can still get the Denon.

This bleeding edge stuff has it's limits.

Greg