AVS › AVS Forum › Audio › Receivers, Amps, and Processors › Help choosing a replacement AVR - finding it hard to find Front B connections
New Posts  All Forums:Forum Nav:

Help choosing a replacement AVR - finding it hard to find Front B connections

post #1 of 8
6/24/12 at 8:40am
Thread Starter 
Hi,

I am trying to find a (budget ish) replacement AVR for my girlfriend; she currently has a Denon AVR-1907

Her general requirements are basic, 3 HDMI in ports + ideally a dock for iphone. 3d would be good.

The only difficult with picking from a range of these is as well as having 5.1 in her living room she has two speakers in the kitchen that all connect. On her current Denon there are connections for Front A & Front B that enable this to work. All the new range of Denons do not seem to have this feature; and I looked at Onyoko for example while they do have a Front A & Front B if you enable the extra set of speakers it forces the main set into only 2.1 - so not ideal.

Any suggestions on what to get that can handle this setup? Budget is £250 so about $375.
Reply
Reply

AVS Top Picks

post #2 of 8
6/24/12 at 9:07am
The newer model 7.1 Denon AVRs also have this feature, only instead of dedicated Front B speaker posts, the Surr Back/Amp Assign speaker posts can also be used for either Front B or for passing an independent "analog only" source as Zone 2 speakers. The older 1611 would fit the bill.
Reply
Reply
post #3 of 8
6/24/12 at 9:25am
Thread Starter 
Really appreciate that, I see what's going on there now. The only problem is the AVR2113 seems to be the lowest spec model that supports this and it costs £549 which is a way out of my girlfriend's budget.

Any other suggestions of more budget AVs with this feature? One thing we did like about the Denon is it is reasonably narrow for an AV which fits her setup a bit. I know not the most important thing for most people; but is for her!

Cheers.
Reply
Reply
post #4 of 8
6/24/12 at 9:28am
Thread Starter 
On the older model, the 1611 seems to be a DVD player? Did you mean the 1612? Pricing is much better (!) but it seems to be just a standard 5.1 set of speaker connections?

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Denon-AVR-1612-5-1-AV-Receiver/dp/B004W1LWLY/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1340555166&sr=8-1
Reply
Reply
post #5 of 8
6/24/12 at 9:40am
Thread Starter 
Sorry to update this again; but also just seen this:
Quote:
It is not possible to play the digital audio signals input from the HDMI,
COAXIAL or OPTICAL connectors in ZONE2. Play using analog
connections (in stereo).

This seems like a big problem; the whole point of this move is to get everything working from HDMI. Does this mean that is not going to work?
Reply
Reply
post #6 of 8
6/24/12 at 1:50pm
Note that every Denon 7.1 AVR from the past few years has the "Front B" capability I described. The 1611 is 7.1 (while the successors 1612 and 1613 are both reduced to 5.1) and also the first year of HDMI 1.4 models which is why I suggested it as it would be the lowest priced 7.1 model if you can still find one (perhaps refurbished). The next lowest 7.1 models would be either the 1912 or 2113 (which is again why I suggested the older 1611 to meet her budget). Also, note that the "analog only" external source restriction you posted applies to these models as well when the speakers are set as Zone 2; however, would not apply when set as Front B as the Front B will mirror whatever audio is passed to Front A regardless of whether HDMI, digital or analog.
Reply
Reply
post #7 of 8
6/25/12 at 1:19pm
Thread Starter 
Thanks so much for the help here. Just to 100% confirm my understanding, Zone 2 means being able to play a completely separate audio source in another room (and this would not work with a HDMI input) whereas Front B mode means the other room would just be mirroring whatever is played in Front A; and given the general use case here is basically getting the TV sound to play in the kitchen as well as the living room it will work fine. Yay smile.gif

On the search now for one of the AV you mentions.
Reply
Reply
post #8 of 8
6/25/12 at 1:42pm
Yes, your understanding is correct. smile.gif
Reply
Reply
New Posts  All Forums:Forum Nav:
  Return Home
  Back to Forum: Receivers, Amps, and Processors

AVS Top Picks

AVS › AVS Forum › Audio › Receivers, Amps, and Processors › Help choosing a replacement AVR - finding it hard to find Front B connections