What's a good Reciever to replace my Denon AVR-3802?

Dannieboiz

Ok the upgrade bug just bite me again. I like the look of the AVR-3805< but the price tag is in ~$600.... I'm trying to keep it between $400-$450 in the used market.


BTW: I must have 5/7 channel stereo. So one with this feature is preferred.

Ricardo

What's wrong with your 3802? What are you looking to change/improve?

Dannieboiz

Absolutely nothing's wrong with it. In fact there's nothing I'd change about the sound and build quality of this reciever. I'm just itching for a more modern look to match with my HTPC.

Ricardo

With $400 I'm sure you'll find something that will make you forget the looks of the AVR

Dannieboiz

HTrookie wrote:

With $400 I'm sure you'll find something that will make you forget the looks of the AVR

SHOW ME!!:rolleyes:

Remember I need to have the 5 channel stereo.... I play alot of music and nothing beats having equal sound in all 5 speakers.

cheddar

Might want to hold off. New denon receivers are just around the corner with a leap in capabilities. HDMI 1.3 and dolby true HD/dts-hd master decoding capabilities. Should hit by the summer. If it ain't broke...wait 'till the new stuff comes out before making a move.

Dannieboiz

cheddar wrote:

Might want to hold off. New denon receivers are just around the corner with a leap in capabilities. HDMI 1.3 and dolby true HD/dts-hd master decoding capabilities. Should hit by the summer. If it ain't broke...wait 'till the new stuff comes out before making a move.

By then I'd have to at least double my budget. hmmm I'm not good at saving money as you can see. LOL

cheddar

Maybe you can get one on the cheaper side of the line. What are your amplification needs?

Dannieboiz

RTi6, CSi5, FX500i (soon to be FXi5)

NHT SubOne (need to replace this like yesterday) Looking @ SVS, HSU and some Velodyne (got a $200-$300 for a used sub)

cheddar

Why don't you just save your coin for a good sub this year? At least it'll make a real difference in your SQ. Combining your sub budget and your receiver budget will buy one slamming sub. Then wait for the cheaper stuff and used stuff to come out next year.

Dannieboiz

That is very good planning, but being a cheap **** that I am I can't convince myself to throw out $500 for a sub, I have a buyer for my AVR-3802 the moment so I figure why not upgrade.

cheddar

Well, no doubt, you can find more updated looking receivers. If you buy the late models of the 380x denon line, you still get hdmi switching, just no hd audio decoding. I'm partial to denon avrs. But you should also look at the regulars h/k etc. You might find something that fits your idea of better looking in another line. The denons haven't changed their basic looks all that much.

Dannieboiz

I went from an HK AVR-500 to the Denon and to me it was an Upgrade. The HK doesn't have 5 channel stereo which was a deal killer for me or else I'd get another one..... also the HK sounded better with my Klipsch speakers than it does with my Polk cause it seem produce a smoother sound while the Denon produce a fuller sound. Maybe because of the different power each put out. 80 watts compared to the 110 watts. On the bench I believe the HK was slightly over rated than the Denon as well if I remember correctly.


Also the HDMI switching isn't very important to me since my TV have 3 HDMI inputs and 2x components... I don't have enough components to use up all of this anyways. Only 1 400 disc DVD changer and with the 1.5tb HTPC that's being put together as we speak which will do ALL of my multimedia... and possibly a blu ray dvd player when it comes down in price.

Any other benefits I may see with HDMI switching beside single wire to the TV?

cheddar

The reason it's important to have HDMI is that the new hd audio tracks can only be passed to the receiver through it. 1.3 gets you dolby true hd and dts-hd master sound. But all of the sony blu-ray disks so far come with something called lpcm which is an uncompressed sound format that from my understanding can be passed to an hdmi 1.1 receiver and properly decoded out to your surround system.

I have a ps3 right now and can only listen to a low bit-rate stereo version of the lpcm track through my optical connection to my 3803. And the signals are full 5.1 tracks at 4.6 mbit/s. Yeah, the upgrade bug is calling me too. But I'm waiting for the stuff this summer 'cause it will do true hd and dts-hd as well.

Hope this helps.

Porter

Don't sell the 3802. Wait until next year and buy a 2807 or the upcoming 2808. It'll be every bit the receiver that your 3802 is, plus the new video features.

Another option is to contact Denon USA and buy a silver front panel for the 3802... they were still making silver versions at that time, for Canada I believe. Most of the Japanese market product was silver or gold.



Or, if you want to get really adventurous, you could disassemble your 3802, remove the front panel, and have it professionally painted to look like whatever you want.

Dannieboiz

alrite I'll take your guys advise. I'll concentrate on my sub now.