Hi all. I finally took the plunge into the HT world with M60's, QS8's, a VP100 and a yet-to-be-determined sub. Now I'm in the process of selecting a receiver. I know from reading this forum that the AVR-2805 is well-liked among Axiom owners. However, I was hoping to go with something a bit less expensive. The AVR-2105 is about $200 less and has similar specs (minus 10W per channel, of course). But, I haven't read a single post about it in this forum so I'm a bit suspicious.

Is anyone using a 2105? Better yet, has anyone compared it to the 2805? The other receiver I'm considering is the Yamaha RXV1500 (priced smack in the middle), but I'm definitely leaning towards Denon at this point.

Any advice would be appreciated. Thanks!

I think there are some posts over at AVSforum.com regarding the 2105, you might have to search for them, however, it is my understanding that this model if very similar to the 2805. As you said there is a small difference in the wattage specs, and I believe the 2105 has Auto Setup, whereas the 2805 has Auto Setup and Room EQ. I'm sure if it sounds anything like my 2805, you'll be very pleased.

For me, it was between the Denon 2805, Yammy 1400, or Elite 53tx...it can make your head spin trying to make a decision. After talking to a few guys at Axiom, and some comparison listening at a local high end AV company, I selected the Denon. I was not on the THX bandwagon, and so far the Pro Logic IIx has worked very well for me...good luck

cumak, i use the rxv1300 with a set up like yours except for a vp150 vs the 100. sounds great to me.
dan

Denon broke from their previous model number scheme (1802>1803>1804) with this years models (1705, 1905, 2105). From what I can see, it looks like the 2105 sits between the older 1804 (a little more) and the 2803/2805 (a little less). The 2105 leans more towards the 2805 than the 1804. Realizing this highly technical explanation doesn't really tell you much , take a look at this comparison chart from the Denon site.

I'm a Denon fan (I have the 3803) and try to keep up with their products so I can suffer from upgrade pangs and electro-envy . From what I have experienced in a demo and read about the 2105, it is an excellent choice and a great performer. If $$ are a bit tight, there is no reason to regard the 2105 as a compromise to the 2805. The feature set is just not that compelling between the two and doesn't justify the extra $$.

Please understand my comments are based on the "needs" for a HT receiver. There is a whole 'nother place to go to to cover "wants".

I agree the 2105 seems like a wise buy. It is pretty much like my 884 except with Pro logic IIX and it has preouts for an external amp. I don't consider the auto equalization worth any extra expenditure, although pretty much all new recievers are coming out with it anyway. If I were in the market right now, I'd probably pick up the 2105 and some Outlaw Monoblocks, or a nice NAD 2 channel amp. Of course, I'm currently poor and have no need to upgrade at this point in time.

Of course if the 2805 is tempting you then you could look for the AVR-985 which is the exact same receiver at a little bit cheaper price point.

PL IIx is pretty cool....in my humble opinion...but what do I know...

I've heard great things about IIX and I want to try it except that I probably won't be in the market for another 3-5 years. I won't be uprgading until I'm done with school (2 yrs hopefully) and or some new technology (ie. something that outdoes DD or DTS) comes out that is a must have. Plus, I have to upgrade my center, surrounds and CD player (I love the thing but it only has a limited life line left) first.

Thanks everyone for your advice. Nobody had anything negative about about the 2105, and after looking at the comparison chart it seems like the extra features in the 2805 are mostly features that I wouldn't need. That's my voice of reason talking. Still, I have this nagging voice in my head telling me to go with the 2805 anyway.

I noticed that eCost is selling refurbished 2805's for $549, which sounds like a steal and is still within my budget. I think I might go for it. If anyone has had a bad experience with eCost, or refurb Denon units in general, I'd be interested to hear about it. Otherwise, I think I am going to take the gamble and buy one tomorrow.

Either way I have to do something soon. FedEx delivered my Axioms yesterday, and now all I can do is sit here and stare at them...

they sure are nice just to stare at though, aren't they...

I was lucky and found my 2805 locally at American Electronics during employee cost day. I think it was in the lower $600's....Ultimate wanted list price, I don't think so....

I'm not familiar with Ecost, but I know Denon has a number of authorized refurb online stores. Maybe someone else will have feedback, but I think you would be ok taking that route as I believe Denon looks over them and you still get the same warranty, I believe...

good luck

Randy

Cu, welcome. Although all sellers have some bad reports, several members here have had good experiences with ecost refurbs. You might do a search under "ecost". The 2805 should be an excellent buy at that price and suit your needs very well.

I did check on Denon's web site, and Ecost is an authorized dealer. The unit carries a 90 day warranty, as opposed to the 2 year on new units. At least it will be covered for any major defects when it first arrives. Also, if I were to go with a new unit through an unauthroized online retailer, Denon makes it clear that they won't honor the warranty anyway. I checked posts regarding Ecost here and at AVS forum, and it's a mixed bag of reports. However, I tend to believe that people are more likely to post about a bad experience than a good one so the results are probably skewed.

I'm going to give it a try, so in a week or so I'll let you all know how it goes.

I've purchased from eCOST and had no problems at all with them or, for that matter, with their competitor Dakmart.com (also an authorized dealer), which, by the way has the refurbed 2805 (in both black and silver) for $630, but it comes with a one year warranty as opposed to a 90 day warranty. If the warranty is important to you, you might check it out.

One more thing. With either vendor, you should give them a quick phone call BEFORE ordering to be SURE they actually have them in stock.

cu, I've ordered from ecost, a couple of friends picked up some Denon DVD-1600s and my next door neighbor just took delivery on an 1804 on Friday. All good experiences. As stated above, there will be bad experiences with any etailer (except Axiom , but ecost seems to do pretty well.

As far as warranty goes, I added a 1 year warranty to my ecost order for the Denon DVM-4800 for $30 or $40, so you can get some extended coverage inexpensively.

The 3803 I ordered from ecost has been on back order for 2 months. I left my order open, in the hope that I could consider it a Xmas present to myself. I don't have much hope about that, though. It appears that if they don't have a warehouse in your area, you will not receive anything you order which has a 2-5 day truck icon.

Bruce, ecost has a nasty habit of cancelling orders if they don't have/anticipate a particular model for awhile. If you haven't, might be good to check on the status of your order.

Ray,

I called ecost today to see if that bugger was coming soon. The lady told me that it will never arrive since it is discontinued and they won't EVER be getting any more. She said my order should have been cancelled long ago. I only have one question for them. Why was it listed on their web site if they didn't have any to sell in the first place.

Just to make this a bit worse, she has no way to know if they will get anymore or not. If Denon gets a few back from the last spurt of units they sold, they'll ship them out to the ecost/dakmark/pcmall/macmall warehouse for sale. The simple fact is that no one, not even Denon, can say with certainty that something will or won't be available.