In the market for a new receiver. Is digital audio in Zone 2 still difficult?

Originally Posted by JakeRobb

Hi all, I'm new here.

Before I get started, let me just say that yes, I've searched. And searched, and searched. I have some clues about the answers to my technical questions, but much of what I've found is many months old, and anyway what I'm really looking for here is a recommendation for my specific situation.

I have a pretty weak A/V setup right now: an Onkyo HT-S590. That's the kit that includes their HT-R340 plus all of the speakers, including a passive sub. The TV is a Philips 42" plasma (P42S2), and the sources are an LG Blu-Ray player and an AT&T uVerse DVR. I also have an Apple Airport Express, the original AirPlay device, which I use to stream music from my Macs. It's audio output is hooked to the Onkyo via stereo RCA connectors.

The Onkyo doesn't have HDMI, so everything is hooked up with component video right now. Audio is running over optical from the DVR, and coax from the BluRay.

This is all in a ~15x20 living room with large openings to adjacent rooms. The Onkyo has plenty of power (100w/ch at 6ohms, 110 for the sub) for the volume levels that I want.

I'd like to move the Airport Express to the garage (where I have a separate stereo) and replace it with an AppleTV. At that point, I'll be using exclusively using HDMI inputs to the receiver (and finally taking advantage of my 1080p TV and sources).

My wife and I just built a big deck on the back of the house last summer, and I'd like to add some decent audio out there. My thinking was that I'd get a nice 7.1 receiver that could reassign the extra two channels to a second zone, and then I'd pipe the music out to a pair of to-be-purchased outdoor speakers. I'd like this to work regardless of source selection in either zone -- for example, if my wife wants to listen to the audio of a TV show on the deck while I watch a BluRay movie in the living room, I'd like that to work.

My understanding is that of all the amps on the market, only three models, all of which are from Yamaha, are capable of doing that while playing a difference source on the main zone, unless you want to do some trickery with splitters and adapters so that the receiver gets the audio signal in analog form as well.

My dad has been a Denon guy since I was little, and consequently I've always been a fan. To date, every review I read pegs Denon among the best sound quality for consumer-level equipment. I've been reading up on their latest offerings, and the 1912/2112CI seem like my best option aside from this zone 2 limitation. As an added bonus, I'm comfortable with that price range.

So, here are the questions I'm looking to get answered.

1. Is all of my information correct and up to date? If not, please fill in the holes.

2. Those three aforementioned Yamahas... which models? Are they any good? How do they compare to Denon in terms of sound quality?

3. Given everything I've described, what would you guys recommend?

4. Am I correct to assume that Denon's 2012 models, the model numbers of which confusingly end in 13, will be announced next month and released not long after? What are the chances that the zone 2 problem will be resolved for some/all of these new models? Also, how much do prices on last year's models usually drop if the replacement comes in at the same price?

5. What about my passive sub? Do I have any chance of keeping that, or do I need to plan on buying an active sub at the same time?

Thanks for your help!

Originally Posted by JakeRobb

So, here are the questions I'm looking to get answered.

1. Is all of my information correct and up to date? If not, please fill in the holes.

2. Those three aforementioned Yamahas... which models? Are they any good? How do they compare to Denon in terms of sound quality?

3. Given everything I've described, what would you guys recommend?

4. Am I correct to assume that Denon's 2012 models, the model numbers of which confusingly end in 13, will be announced next month and released not long after? What are the chances that the zone 2 problem will be resolved for some/all of these new models? Also, how much do prices on last year's models usually drop if the replacement comes in at the same price?

5. What about my passive sub? Do I have any chance of keeping that, or do I need to plan on buying an active sub at the same time?

Thanks for your help!

Originally Posted by bladerunner6

Pioneer changed some of the features of their Zone 2, but I really am not sure if it will do exactly what you want.

Originally Posted by Ross Ridge

It seems the only change Pioneer made was to drop Zone 2 from the VSX-1022. The VSX-1021 let you choose from running a second set of speakers in another room as either "Speakers B", always playing the same thing as the main zone, or as independent but analogue-only "Zone 2". With the VSX-1021 you're only giving the option of running them as "Speakers B".

The VSX-1122 seems to still support both options.

Originally Posted by bladerunner6

Post #7 in the thread talks about down mixing digital inputs to stereo and that being a new feature.

Originally Posted by Ross Ridge

If you actually read the specs and/or the manual for the VSX-1022 you'll see that the only change to the Zone 2 feature is that it's been dropped completely.

Originally Posted by bladerunner6

True, but if you read my message, I was not talking about the VSX-1022 specifically.

Originally Posted by JakeRobb

It seems to me that there are all kinds of reasons to have such a feature, and plenty of demand, based on the number of threads I've found, some dating back at least three years, in which people ask about such a thing. I can't figure out why it wouldn't at least be available, especially as more devices go HDMI-only -- AppleTV and many of the Motorola Droid series of phones, to name a few notable examples.

I guess, for now, I just wait for the xx13 Denons to come out before I make any decisions.

Thanks for the feedback, everyone.

Now, off to find a thread about subwoofers, since apparently I'm going to have to buy one.

Originally Posted by JakeRobb

Okay, fair enough for the less expensive AVRs, but I question that reasoning for the high-end models, like the 48xx and 58xx. I can't imagine someone justifying that purchase if they weren't planning on using multiple zones, and I'm sure nobody would notice if they bumped the price of those units by a couple hundred bucks to cover the additional engineering and component costs.

Originally Posted by JakeRobb

Okay, fair enough for the less expensive AVRs, but I question that reasoning for the high-end models, like the 48xx and 58xx. I can't imagine someone justifying that purchase if they weren't planning on using multiple zones, and I'm sure nobody would notice if they bumped the price of those units by a couple hundred bucks to cover the additional engineering and component costs.

Anyway, I suspect that it will be rare that I encounter a situation where my wife and I want separate sources, and the source we want on the deck isn't either the AppleTV or the same source in use inside. My understanding is that this is a non-issue if you're using the same source, right? .