Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Home Theater Receiver Suggestions: PLEASE HELP!!!

Trey - I think Steve is just pointing out that the sound difference you'll notice in most formats when going from 5.1 to 7.1 is minimal. (and I agree, though I do have 7 channels also)

If you wanted a new receiver for reasons other than the decoding (say you wanted the nice GUI, network streaming, or some other feature that you could only get in the Denon 3808 or any other replacement receiver). If that was the case, you might get more bang for your buck by getting a new receiver first.

However, if you're upgrading solely for the ability to play 7 channels from the HD-audio formats, then I agree, you'd be better off upgrading to the 7.1 sound first, due to the limitations you mentioned with the HD formats.

It's a personal choice, just realize that the differences of matrixing 5.1 sound to the extra 2 channels is pretty subtle. If you ever do 7-channel stereo listening though, the difference is a bit more apparent as the QS8s do really sound nice from all angles of the room when running in that mode.

Jason

I have two yamaha receivers (vsx-680 I think) and I just bought a pioneer VSX 1018 for 499$ CDN at bestbuy.

It's 130w/channel and it has 3 hdmi -in port.
One of the good thing about it is that is upconvert signals to HDMI. So I can hook my ps3 (hdmi), wii (component), xb360 (component) and I only need to use 1 hdmi cable for output. If the signal is 480i, it will be upscaled by the faroujda upscaler and if it'S >= 720p it will send the signal directly to the hdmi output.

Supports TrueHD and all the cool stuff.

Appreciate all the feedback.

My final decision was to buy a Panasonic DMP-BD55K BluRay player for $329. Since it decodes all HD formats and has 7.1 analog outputs, I'll just keep my Yamaha 659 for now. Can't wait to hear Transformers, The Matrix, Iron Man, etc in TrueHD !!!!

Will let you know how it works out.

In that smaller room, you may find you don't need 7.1 if your side surrounds are placed correctly.

I don't really like HK receivers. I do really like Yamaha Receivers. IMO you cannot go wrong with one of them.

I bought a Pioneer Elite VSX-01 several months ago when they came out and I've been really happy with it. It should meet all your needs and you should be able to get it for well under the MSRP of $750. I admit to having a Pioneer bias though, as my last 2 receivers have also been Pioneer. My dad still has his Pioneer hi-fi receiver from the 70's and it runs like a champ.

I'm going to thread-jack a little here. Still somewhat on topic, but with different parameters...

Looking for a receiver with the following:

1) Ethernet for streaming mp3's from pc.
2) superb video upscaling to 1080p
3) able to decode/receive SACD via hdmi
4) built in decoder for latest blu-ray audio codec (Dolby, DTS)

These three things are essential. Any added bells and whistles would be gravy.

I was really sold on the new Newcastle R-972, but I don't think it has the ethernet capability I want.

A brief look online brought up the Denon 3808, Onkyo NR-906, and the Yamaha RX-V3900.

Anyone got any dirt on these options? Do they all cover my requirements?

Well Craig, you've listed four requirements and then said that three are essential, so we don't know which one to drop. Be that as it may, of those units listed I'm most familiar with the 906, and it'll even do all four. In particular, you might note that its Reon video processor does a superior job of upscaling.

oops...I added the blu-ray audio codecs afterward...

That Onkyo does sound dang good.

Considering the pricing of the Onkyo 906, you should be looking at the Denon 4308 which gives you WiFi connectivity and HD radio etc, much closer to the same features of the 906, but if you have standard def inputs and want the best upscaling then the Onkyo is clearly the one to buy.