Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Home Theater receiver choice

I know that this topic comes up weekly, but I need some input anyways. I'm helping my dad choose some gear for his home theater. We will probably be going with m80's, qs8's and a vp150. His room has a cathedral ceiling, so I want to make sure that the amplifier is up to the task.

The first choice for a receiver that came to mind is the Denon 3808 or 3809 since many people around here are using it with the m80's in larger rooms and seem to be quite happy with it. But, I got an email from Outlaw Audio today that their 7125 amp is only $800. So I was thinking that, maybe as a second option, I could get a mid-priced receiver with at least three hdmi inputs, bitstreaming capabilities for the new audio formats and the 6 or 8 point Audyssey MultiEQ. The best I could come up with is the Denon AVR-1909 for around $650 or the Onkyo 706 for around $800. I know that he doesn't want to spend much more that $1200 total for the receiver, so this second option is a bit more than he would like to spend.


Questions:

1. If I go with the first option and get the Denon 3808 or 3809, what was the online retailer that everyone around here was calling to ask for the best price to get it down to around $1000.

2. If I go with the second option, does anyone know of a cheaper (cheaper than $650) mid-line receiver with least three hdmi inputs, bitstreaming capabilities for the new audio formats and the 6 or 8 point Audyssey MultiEQ to use as a preamp for the Onkyo amp?

I'd prefer to get the second option for him if I can get it in his budget since it should give him a lot more headroom than with the Denon 3808.

- Nick

In addition to the 6-8 Audyssey, I would look for one that has the newer Dynamic Volume and Dynamic EQ features of Audyssey.

1) 6ave had the 3808ci for around $1K recently, that is what I picked mine up for, haven't checked recently. They are an authorized etailer for Denon.

2) The denon 989 or 2809 (same thing) have MultEQ XT 8 position, Dynamic volume and Dynamic eq, not sure what they can be had for on 6ave.

Multeq XT has higher resolution filters for Room EQ compared to MultEQ. 6ave also gives you additional discounts if you tell them you are a member of the AVSforum.

Looks like the 3808ci is $999 on amazon right now.

Nick, the question about how much maximum power capacity that your father would need would depend largely on how far away he sits(more significant than the total room size), how loud of an average sound level he uses and how wide the dynamic range of the source materials that he listens to is. It's unclear why you think that "headroom" with the 7125 would be significantly more than with the 3808, but in any case only enough headroom is needed as would be used at least occasionally. Unused headroom is simply that: unused.

My suggestion would be to get the 3808 from 6Ave, all the bells and whistles, with good power and very cheap right now. See how it sounds on it's own, then if he needs it louder or feels the amp to be lacking anything(I doubt he will), move to an outboard amp.

Vann's has it for $999.88 w/ free shp..

Vanns link

Looks good, Offer ends Friday 5.22.09

I just pulled trigger..

Johnk,

The fact that the Outlaw 7125 was measured at 125x7 all channels driven from 20Hz to 20kHz and it weighs in at 51 lbs is what leads me to think that it has more headroom than the Denon. The Denon is spec'ed at 130x7, but probably not at under the same conditions as the Outlaw 7125. Furthermore, the Denon weighs in at 39 lbs, which is at least 12 lbs lighter that the Outlaw. So, the Outlaw should definitely have a much beefier power supply.

I realize that unused headroom is simply unused. But, the new Denon AVR-790 that is coming out next month has a retail price of $500. It has MultiEQ, Dynamic Volume and EQ, accepts the new high definition audio formats as a bitstream and has 7.1 preamp outputs. Even if I get it at retail price to use it as a preamp with the Outlaw amp, it is only $300 more expensive than the Denon 3808. I can't see why spending an extra $300 for more headroom is a bad thing.

Note: For anyone looking for an amazing price on a budget receiver, the Denon AVR-590 has MultiEQ, accepts the new high definition audio formats as a bitstream but only has 5.1 and no preamp outs for $350.

- Nick

Nick, have you seen this test

http://www.hometheatermag.com/receivers/708denon3808/index2.html