Denon "Vintage" AVR-810 Help needed Plz (Upgrade?)

I have read these forums over the years very avidly and this is always my go-to site for AV questions but have never registered before today. I find myself in a bit of a mental overload when it comes to new components and how to upgrade my system or go about getting sound from the TV to my "vintage" Denon. So many products on the market now as compared to when I made my Denon purchases all those years ago! I am a PC Technician (build/repairs) so have a good grasp on the technological for the most part.

Many years ago (approx 19 or so) I spent a lot of time and effort to make smart purchases regarding the then up and coming dolby pro logic for my "home theatre". With a lot of information backing me up I purchased a Denon Avr-810 (80 watts RMS per channel in stereo, with an additional 30 watts to the centre, 15 watts to the rears.) with the Denon 5 disc cd turntable, tape deck and laser disc player. I then purchased an Energy AS-90 powered sub and 2x Tannoy C-10 (fronts), 2x C-6 (rears) and 2x C8 (used as center chan) as speakers. These Tannoys were the older Arena series that use the ICT concept that had a lot of the performance of the pricier Dual Concentric series monitors at that time. I also have hooked up a JVC SVHS HRS7500U, Toshiba SD5109 dual tray DVD player, and my recent purchase of LG BD555C blueray player.

I really still love my receiver and the whole system is immaculate as I am a single female non-smoker who is rarely home to use the system much over the years. However, I have just gotten rid of my 50" Toshiba CinemaSeries HD Projection tv in lieu of a 55" Philips LCD 55PFL5706 smart connect TV. The Philips and the LG BD player are HDMI which puts my poor old Avr-810 to task. The only way I am able to use my sound with the new TV is through the Blue Ray player utilizing either a DVD disc or the USB port with a flash drive on it. I cannot get the TV sound to come through the Denon and thus. to the speakers. I have read about purchasing a Digital Coax & Optical Toslink to R/L Stereo Audio Converter for around $100. I would have to order this product since I cannot find anything locally and who knows if this will even correct my issue adequately?

Do any of you fine people have any advice about this for me? I am on a budget unlike when I made the initial purchases and now as a single gal with a mortgage and bills to pay I do not have a lot of excess cash to spend a ton on new components. My tape deck, Laser Disc and CD changer I have disconnected from the receiver and packaged up probably never to see the light of day again so I only really need to work with the Blue Ray player, TV and possibly my JVC editing VCR I have I wouldn't mind using for old tapes but this is not a necessary component to have hooked up. The Toshiba SD5109 twin disc dvd player I can also live without (and it, along with the vcr, is currently not connected anyway with the new TV) since I have the LG although it is nice to not have to get up to put in the second disc on some of the directors cut DVDs I have and the Dolby Digital decoder worked well with my poor old AVR-810. Plus the HDCD decoder chip makes listening to my old CDs pretty nice although I guess I should just migrate my music collection over to mp3s and get with the year 2012. lol

I have been looking at some of the newer Denon stuff in my price range (Avr-1312/1712, AVR791) and Onkyo (TX-NR509) but the stuff I used to look at like NAD and the higher end items there is no way I can afford if I really need to purchase a new receiver to get everything working as well as possible and to take advantage of the newer sound technologies via HDMI has to offer. I do need something I can use my Energy powered sub with so sub preouts are a necessity. Or, is there any other way I can connect things up so my TV sound will come through my Denon/speakers? I have tried every configuration possible and I think it all comes down to needing that converter that may or may not work.

PS: Yes I am a cave woman and use a regular rooftop antenna for my TV so there is no cable/sat box to deal with atm.

I really appreciate any and all advice!

Thank you so much for your informative reply!

I am looking at the Denon you suggested but it is quite a bit more money here where I live in Southwestern Ontario, Canada. We may have "free" health care but our prices on things (especially tech) are crap. :P It looks like I could get a 1712 at our local BestBuy for $400 plus 15% tax which I guess is not completely terrible although I hate dealing with big box stores and generally try to shop at boutiques for this type of purchase. Any of the local boutiques I have dealt with in the past tend to deal in higher end (and thus more costly) components and do not seem to have this item in stock.

Thank you again for your reply I really appreciate it! The link to the switcher is also something I may think of while I possibly try to save up more cash for an even better receiver although for my usage it might be overkill to go with anything more.

Thanks so much for the replies. I am pretty sure I will be going with the Denon 1712. I do like Denon components (obviously lol) and have no experience with Onkyo other then seeing they have a decent following and seemed to be fairly inexpensive as compared to features. I can get a 1712 for $379 plus 14% tax at BestBuy atm and I think that will be as cheap as I will get one here in Canada where I live. Again, Thanks!

Sorry for the double post but I did not want to have to re-write my orig post and I wanted to update my status on this subject.

There are 2 authorized Denon dealers in my city. I went to one and left more confused then I did going in. lol

I explained I wanted to purchase the 1712. I was then told to go with the 1912 because it has "way more features for only $125 more". When I mentioned the 1712 had Audyssey MultiEQ XT and the 1912 did not and that I was more interested in fidelity than in gimmicks and features since I already have a smart tv and smart bd, I then had the 2212ci pushed on me. The 2212ci is $250 more expensive than the 1712 I originally wanted (and was suggested by jdsmoothie - thanks again) and frankly I would have to save for a while longer and I am not sure if it is worth it to me. It was stressed upon me that the ability to flash it over the net was paramount since Denon "tend to need to have the firmware upgraded for various issues".

As I stated before I am a pc tech and know flashing firmware can be important but not to the extent this salesguy was pushing. I am a gal and very girly girl looking so I KNOW most tech sales guys try to work me until I open my mouth and show I know more about the products than they do. However, in this instance I was unprepared for as much info as I should have had regarding the IN-Command series. My bad. I should have been more prepared but have been very busy as of late.

Anyway, I will be going to the other authorized Denon dealer in my city in the upcoming week and want to be more prepared.

With the speakers I have listed in the first post, will the MultiEQ XT be a big difference considering the ages of my Energy powered sub and the Tannoys or would the 1912 be a better bet for the ethernet/flashing capabilities? Or, would I be THAT much better off waiting a couple of months more (sadly I am not using any audio really right now since I cannot use the tv with it and have not been watching any DVDs as of late which is the only way I can push sound using the tv atm) and going with the entry level IN-Command?

I know much of this is subjective and really a choice I need to make on my own but I think you kind folks will be able to direct me a bit in this situation. I did listen to all of the receivers listed above as well as some WAY out of my price league atm but they also had much newer and far more expensive speakers hooked up to them so I really cannot derive much from that experience. I rather think that the 1712 jdsmoothie recommended IS the way to go for me but I need to have the above questions answered so as to set my mind at ease. I am blonde and you know how WE are. lmao! Thanks again so much in advance!

Thank you so very much for your response! I will go to the other dealer this week and buy the 1712. I also have some questions regarding my speakers with this receiver. At the moment, along with my Energy powered AS-90 I have the 2 Tannoy C10s as fronts, C6s as rears and 2 C8s (mounted above tv on pivotellis - side by side & angled downward) as my center channel. I do know that parallel cuts their impedance in half but I have had them like this since I purchased the avr810 and have had np with it. Since purchasing a real center channel will take me a bit of time to be able to afford what I would like to get, will running those Tannoys as they are now with the 1712 be an issue? Would I be better to just use one of them as a center until I can afford a center or should I use all of them in a 7.1 type config but no center channel and rely on phantom center?

I also want to add that jdsmoothie really works his ass off in this forum as do some other folks (batpig for one but there are many more) who I have seen posting a ton of help. This is a great forum for advice and good karma is due to all you helpful people!

Thank you kind sir! I really appreciate all your good advice and willingness to read walls of text. lol
I will use a single center on the 1712 and I wish you an awesome weekend!