How Often Do most upgrade receivers? - Page 2

I see two very different kinds of audiophiles on AVS:

(1) People who upgrade to meet non-audio needs. Things like bragging rights, money burning a hole in their pockets, insecurity about what they have that could be resolved other ways, etc.

(2) People who upgrade to meet audio-related needs. Defective equipment, equipment that doesn't do things that they actually need done.

AFAIK every mainsteam AVR sold for maybe 3-5 years or more has had HDMI.

Item (1) above in my list. You've set yourself up for this in a way with the unyielding attitude about lossy compression in the thread's OP. If it wasn't for lossy compression even Blu Ray discs would have only a few minutes of video on them.

But some shortcomings can be circumvented pretty nicely.

I feel like an antique some days. A few years back I sold an old (mid-70's vintage) Marantz 2230 receiver for a significant multiple of what I paid for it. Also sold one of two Linn turntables I own for more than I paid. Yet, my 5 year old Pioneer AVR, which undoubtedly sounds just as good as that old Marantz, is more powerful and capable of things undreamed of when the Marantz was new, is worth at most a couple of hundred bucks on Craigslist. Go figure.

A well maintained older audio product will still sound very good. It just won't have the bells and whistles of today's electronics. My cousin still has his Kenwood KR-7600 receiver from college and it still sounds very good. The only thing he's had to replace in 30 plus years is the on/off switch. Yeah no HDMI no remote no music streaming etc. etc. but it sounds great. Bottom line that's what really matters.

And that's what I hate. It's like buying a damn car. Minus the longevity

There's only been one thing added to the HDMI spec since 1.0 that might've required anyone replace equipment, and that's 3D support. In the future 4K support might also force people to upgrade, but that day hasn't arrived yet. It would be premature at this point to upgrade to a new AV receiver because of its support 4K resolutions, this support is only the bare mininum and could have big compatibility problems given that there really hasn't been much other equipment to test it with.

I'm not sure what issues you're refering to, but they're likely a result of particular HDMI implemenations, not issues with the HDMI spec itself. Unfortunately no version of the HDMI spec, old or new, is able to guarantee that in actual practice all HDMI-capable devices will be able to work together properly.

I really wish that HDMI was optional instead of mandatory. The reason I want to upgrade now is 11 channel operation available with the new products and audio content. I think that will make a more immersive experience.

Very good thread. My onkyo 805 is entering its 5th year. I am not sure if I am ready to upgrade. I would like a new projector though since the current Epson 6500UB has pinkish bottom bar.

Prior to the 805 Onkyo , I had the 604 Onkyo less than a year.


So 3D is on HDMI version 1.4? I haven't been to this from for a year now:rolleyes:

That pink bar would piss me off

Yea. The epson has gone back twice (RMA'ed) since new. I have the pinkish bar for the last year in which warranty ran out.

I have a 10+ year old AVR that still works wonderfully. The only reason that I want to upgrade is to get HDMI and support for the lossless formats. Audyssey and DTS NEO:X will be nice pluses, but that is all, they are just plusses. The biggest upgrade I plan to do honestly is move to separate amps. I think that will give me more bang for the buck than anything else honestly,. I plan to get a 5 channel Emotiva XPA-5 for my Fronts and Center (5 channel in case I add wides) and a 7 channel Emotiva UPA-700 for my Front High, Surround and Surround Back channels. Then I will just upgrade my pre pro when necessary to add formats, as in a room my size (16' X 19') I honestly cannot see going beyond 9 speakers, much less the 11 that I will have amp power for.

I'm in the market for a new AVR due to a premature failure in my current unit after only 14 months. In researching options, I noted that NAD has a modular chassis and does exactly what you described - they sell an HDMI 1.4 upgrade via a card swap from previous gen units. As others have pointed out, this design can't cover all possible upgrade options (who knows what kind of resources Smell-a-Vision will need), but all things being equal it's not a bad option to have for incremental improvements.

Doin separates is a good idea. That way u only need to upgrade the pre.

Seems like with a pre-pro, you're often paying more but getting only similar and sometimes less features than with a receiver. In a HT receiver these days it almost seems as if the amp section is sorta thrown in for free.

And, generally it's worth only that, that is free. I'm fortunate to be able to afford to replace my defective Onkyo pre-pro with a Denon 4311CI and didn't lose any functionality at a lower price than the Onkyo pre-pro. The amps are better than most receiver amps but I use Emotiva amps to drive my speakers from the pre-outs.