AV Receiver recommendations?

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cgrew

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#60510 27-Apr-2010 09:31

Hi there I am thinking about investing in a new AV receiver, I currently have a Yamaha RX-V465 and I have been eying up the Denon AVR-1910. I have a Whafedale Diamond 9 5.1 surround sound setup and my budget on a new amp would be around $1200-$1500.

Is there enyone out there that owns the AVR-1910? What speakers do you have hooked up to it and how does it perform? I have read alot of good reviews on the Denon AVR-1910 and am keen to get some second opinions on this particular amp?

So.. feel free to post your opinions on the Denon and other receivers that would be as good as if not better..

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#323415 27-Apr-2010 09:41

What's your main concern with your current setup? Looks like a perfectly fine system to me. I bought the Yamaha RX-V465 6 months ago and am more than happy with it - what don't you like about it?

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cgrew

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#323421 27-Apr-2010 09:53

redjet: What's your main concern with your current setup? Looks like a perfectly fine system to me. I bought the Yamaha RX-V465 6 months ago and am more than happy with it - what don't you like about it?

My main concern mate is that my current amp is slightly under powered for my speaker setup. Reason being is I recently upgraded my speakers from much smaller Onkyos to the Diamond 9s. The wharfedale Diamond 9 floorstanders alone are 150W each, in total the 5.1 surround setup is about 800 watts. The RX-465 is only 105x5 watts per channel.

I went into Top Hi-Fi in Christchurch to ask what would be a good amp to power my speakers and they pointed me towards the Denon AVR-1910 - so I've been doing abit of research and wondering whether or not it would be worth upgrading my current AV receiver..

What do you think?

grolschie

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#323423 27-Apr-2010 09:54

Hello. A friend loaned me his AVR-1910 to demo with my Acoustic Energy Neo 3's and Neo Centre and my old sub and rear speakers. Sounded good. Nice and clear. The Audessy microphone auto-EQ thingamee was good. The HDMI video features (upscaling, switching and whatnot) didn't really interest me. There was one quirk I found during setup to do with my TV and the HDMI, but no deal breaker. I didn't buy it though because I couldn't justify the upgrade ($$$) from my current receiver which is a entry level Onkyo. You might also want to consider the AVR-790 which is almost the same with only a some minor limitations (I have read) if you can get it cheaper. Just my $0.02, YMMV, etc. I hope that this helps. :-)

You might want to read:
http://www.whathifi.com/Review/Denon-AVR-1910/
http://reviews.cnet.com/av-receivers/denon-avr-1910-black/4505-6466_7-33650441.html
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=1152799 (very long thread)

cgrew

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#323427 27-Apr-2010 10:05

grolschie: Hello. A friend loaned me his AVR-1910 to demo with my Acoustic Energy Neo 3's and Neo Centre, and my old sub and rear speakers. Sounded good. Nice and clear. The Audessy microphone auto-EQ thingamee was good. The HDMI video features (upscaling, switching and whatnot) didn't really interest me. There was one quirk I found during setup to do with my TV and the HDMI, but no deal breaker. I have seen this amp selling for $1500. I didn't buy it though because I couldn't justify the upgrade ($$$) from my current receiver which is a entry level Onkyo. You might also want to consider the AVR-790 which is almost the same with only a some minor limitations (I have read) if you can get it cheaper. Just my $0.02, YMMV, etc. I hope that this helps. :-)

You might want to read:
http://www.whathifi.com/Review/Denon-AVR-1910/
http://reviews.cnet.com/av-receivers/denon-avr-1910-black/4505-6466_7-33650441.html
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=1152799 (very long thread)

Thanks that does help, What Hi-Fi gave the AVR-1910 a really good review. Basically I'm trying to find out whether the retailer that suggested the upgrade would be better for powering my speakers knows what he's talkiig about. He seemed to believe the Yamaha amp doesn't have as good as powering as the Denon.

Here's his email that he sent me:

Absolutely worthwhile upgrading, it performs much better in every area.

You have the things like full 1080p pass through (the 465 only offers 1080i pass through) which is good for blu-ray, banana plug connections for all speakers (not just the front speakers).

I used to have Diamond 9 floorstanders they're a pretty good speaker, if anything the RXV-465 may be a tad under powered for them as the type of power supplies Yamaha use currently don't offer the actual power that the specs suggest.

Overall the Denon is of much better build quality, which ultimately means better sound quality and an amp that should last much longer.

Hope this helps.

What's your opinion on this e-mail?

wreck90

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#323439 27-Apr-2010 10:18

check out the onkyo 707.

I'm looking at that now. I currently own a 606, but the problem is that the video upscaling performance is poor.

Also, I already ran out out of inputs on the 606 - sky / ps2 / freeview / dvd and it is maxed out. I wanted to chuck in a wii, and maybe a network media player but need to upgrade.

The 707 rectifies both problems.

Does anyone know of a negative about the 707?

Oops, except power is 100w so no good for you.

cgrew

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#323450 27-Apr-2010 10:31

wreck90: check out the onkyo 707.

I'm looking at that now. I currently own a 606, but the problem is that the video upscaling performance is poor.

Also, I already ran out out of inputs on the 606 - sky / ps2 / freeview / dvd and it is maxed out. I wanted to chuck in a wii, and maybe a network media player but need to upgrade.

The 707 rectifies both problems.

Does anyone know of a negative about the 707?

Oops, except power is 100w so no good for you.

Read this review on the 707 http://hometheatergears.com/onkyo/onkyo-tx-sr707-review/

I'v owned an Onkyo amp before they are good but I've been really happy with the Yamaha RX-V465.

Whether or not I'm going to upgrade from the Yamaha I'm still undecided at this stage...

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grolschie

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#323458 27-Apr-2010 10:49

re: The 707, Some Onyko's run quite hot - mine does. The power wattage ratings are somewhat harder to compare.

re: The AVR-1910, it runs 90w quite clean power (0.08% distortion, rated 20hz - 20,000hz), whereas the RX-V465 is rated at 1khz (no mention of distortion), which doesn't show whether it can maintain the 105w cleanly at all frequencies.

Is the Denon going to be more powerful? Not sure, but they are said to have decent power supplies.

Possible solution: Phone TopHifi and ask if you can arrange a time to take your Yamaha into the store and test it on some speakers, then try the Denon on the same setup. It should give you an idea. Or you could take some speakers in also perhaps.

If you need more power, then that kind of puts your into a different budget, e.g. the 3310, 4310, 4810 or 5308 (120w, 130w and 150w rated with 0.05% distortion).

cgrew

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#323465 27-Apr-2010 11:00

grolschie: re: The 707, Some Onyko's run quite hot - mine does. The power wattage ratings are somewhat harder to compare.

re: The AVR-1910, it runs 90w quite clean power (0.08% distortion, rated 20hz - 20,000hz), whereas the RX-V465 is rated at 1khz (no mention of distortion), which doesn't show whether it can maintain the 105w cleanly at all frequencies.

Is the Denon going to be more powerful? Not sure, but they are said to have decent power supplies.

Possible solution: Phone TopHifi and ask if you can arrange a time to take your Yamaha into the store and test it on some speakers, then try the Denon on the same setup. It should give you an idea. Or you could take some speakers in also perhaps.

If you need more power, then that kind of puts your into a different budget, e.g. the 3310, 4310, 4810 or 5308 (120w, 130w and 150w rated with 0.05% distortion).

Yes that is a good idea, I might arrange a time to take my receiver in and compare the two amps on Top Hi-Fi's setup. And so far I have read alot of reviews saying that the Denon has very good power. Unfortunetly my budget won't let me go for the other models you mentioned.. as much as i'd like to though :)

So far it's looking good for the Denon AVR-1910..

redjet

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#323469 27-Apr-2010 11:11

cgrew: My main concern mate is that my current amp is slightly under powered for my speaker setup. Reason being is I recently upgraded my speakers from much smaller Onkyos to the Diamond 9s. The wharfedale Diamond 9 floorstanders alone are 150W each, in total the 5.1 surround setup is about 800 watts. The RX-465 is only 105x5 watts per channel.

I can understand where you are coming from but I'm still not convinced that you are going to gain a lot but upgrading. As others have suggested it might be best if you can somehow test drive the new amp with your speakers.

Also for the record I've got these Kef surround sound speakers with my 465 and they sound amazing:
http://www.amazon.com/KEF-KHT2005-3-Subwoofer-Satellite-System/dp/B001AR3S8I/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1272323271&sr=1-4

cgrew: You have the things like full 1080p pass through (the 465 only offers 1080i pass through)

This is incorrect, the 465 does do full 1080p.

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cgrew

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#323505 27-Apr-2010 11:57

redjet:
cgrew: My main concern mate is that my current amp is slightly under powered for my speaker setup. Reason being is I recently upgraded my speakers from much smaller Onkyos to the Diamond 9s. The wharfedale Diamond 9 floorstanders alone are 150W each, in total the 5.1 surround setup is about 800 watts. The RX-465 is only 105x5 watts per channel.

I can understand where you are coming from but I'm still not convinced that you are going to gain a lot but upgrading. As others have suggested it might be best if you can somehow test drive the new amp with your speakers.

Also for the record I've got these Kef surround sound speakers with my 465 and they sound amazing:
http://www.amazon.com/KEF-KHT2005-3-Subwoofer-Satellite-System/dp/B001AR3S8I/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1272323271&sr=1-4

cgrew: You have the things like full 1080p pass through (the 465 only offers 1080i pass through)

This is incorrect, the 465 does do full 1080p.

Yes I agree with you but Yamaha don't state what their true power/distortion rate is and Denon do have good power but it will probably be best to put the two amps to test. And secondly the retailer got that wrong about the pass trough - I know that the RX-V465 supports full 1080P pass through.

cgrew

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#323509 27-Apr-2010 12:04

redjet:
cgrew: My main concern mate is that my current amp is slightly under powered for my speaker setup. Reason being is I recently upgraded my speakers from much smaller Onkyos to the Diamond 9s. The wharfedale Diamond 9 floorstanders alone are 150W each, in total the 5.1 surround setup is about 800 watts. The RX-465 is only 105x5 watts per channel.

I can understand where you are coming from but I'm still not convinced that you are going to gain a lot but upgrading. As others have suggested it might be best if you can somehow test drive the new amp with your speakers.

Also for the record I've got these Kef surround sound speakers with my 465 and they sound amazing:
http://www.amazon.com/KEF-KHT2005-3-Subwoofer-Satellite-System/dp/B001AR3S8I/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1272323271&sr=1-4

cgrew: You have the things like full 1080p pass through (the 465 only offers 1080i pass through)

This is incorrect, the 465 does do full 1080p.

Also you and me have very different speaker setups, the KEFs in my opinion would be better suited for the RX-V465 then what my Diamond 9s are..

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cgrew

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#323525 27-Apr-2010 12:14

Also the only negative thing I guess about the Yamaha RX-V465 is that only the front left and right speaker outputs are banana plugs, the rest are not. Apart from that I love the RX-V465 but I will have to test out the Denon AVR-1910 to really see if would be better..

redjet

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#323534 27-Apr-2010 12:25

cgrew: Also you and me have very different speaker setups, the KEFs in my opinion would be better suited for the RX-V465 then what my Diamond 9s are..

Agreed. I think test driving will be your best bet. Make sure you post the results here as I'd be interested to see how you get on.

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cgrew

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#323600 27-Apr-2010 13:34

redjet:
cgrew: Also you and me have very different speaker setups, the KEFs in my opinion would be better suited for the RX-V465 then what my Diamond 9s are..

Agreed. I think test driving will be your best bet. Make sure you post the results here as I'd be interested to see how you get on.

Will do mate. As for now ill be injoying what I have and I know that my eyes will be melting and my ears will be deafened for when I buy Avatar on Blu-Ray and watch it.

1gkar

722 posts

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#323813 27-Apr-2010 18:36

Question:

Does the AVR-1910 allow decoding of Blu-ray TrueHD & DTS-MA signals?

The reason I ask is I notice you are into BDs, & if you are going to invest in a new AV, then you would want to future-proof (or now-proof, in your case).

If so, then I do recommend Denon. I have an earlier model -AVR-1803- & does the job on my setup very nicely. As I utilise an HTPC, it is not such an issue until I upgrade to an ATI graphics card capable of bitstreaming full HD sound.

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