List of Digital Home Theater Receivers - Page 57

Hello, I too was confused by the use of this term.

Receivers using class D amplifiers, are sometimes classified using phrases like 'fully digital.'

What this means, is that digital (PCM) signals are converted to a PWM signal which is used to switch the power transistors on and off.

Compare this to a Class amplifier whose inputs is an analog signal, which is converted to a PWM signal.

A power amplifier that could pull the same trick, would require digital inputs. If it takes analog inputs, it would not be consider to be 'digital' by this definition.

If a receiver using a class D amplifier has to convert digital signals to analog to drive the amp stage, then it is not considered fully digital.

We could get into complex arguments over what constitutes a digital circuit, but there's no point to that.

The main points are -

* Class D does not mean digital - it's just a convenient letter like A, B or C

* A class D amplifier which accepts PCM signals and directly converts them into the PWM signal without a need to convert the PCM to analog, is consider to be a 'digital' amplifier (or whatever terms people are using for this concept.)

I have an Integra DTR 6.8 receiver that is driving me crazy. I don'tknow whether it is the receiver per se or the way Direct TV works with it, but when dolby digital is on, the receiver clicks loudly and has a noticable delay when switching from 5.1 to stereo and back. For instance, when watching an HD TV news, it goes back and forth repeatedly as news clips and commercials are inserted. And the volume changes significantly when switching.

I have HDMI into the receiver and out to a Pioneer plasma, subwoofer and 5 other speakers.

Are there other receiver makers or models that do not have the clicking, switching delay and volume differential issues? Or is there a problem with the recevier itself?

I hate not using DD due to the sound quality difference..

I have an Panasonic XR-55S, and its awesome. I did some rearranging today, and unfortunately I think I broke something. The component seems like its now missing the red cable. I rechecked everything, and its got to be the receiver. Anyone else have that problem? Any suggestions to try and fix it??

I hate to tell you buddy, but this is a problem with the pannys - I lost the green component on my xr45 and another guy lost red on his xr70 - both after moving some connections - something in the way they wire (or locate) the component connections make them pretty vulnerable to stray voltage. The good news is, the panasonic site sells enough parts to builds a receiver from scratch - you should be able to pick up a new component board and install it if you have some practice with electronics.

Dang! Well, thanks for the info. Because my living room is carpeted, and I had to do a lot of lying on the floor to reorganize my cables, I wouldn't be surprised if I sent a spark into the system.

Any idea what part might have blown? I'll try to find time to open up the system this week and see if there is anything obviously fried. Will I need to do some soldering to put in the new part?

I picked up the JVC 702 unit for my second system and it's quite impressive IMO, a bit more refined output than the Panny XR15 and XR25 I had before.

Any recent news on someone coming out with a competitive digital receiver in the <$500 range? Not looking for anything too fancy, but I need 3 HDMI ins, which pretty much knocks out everything under $1000 it seems

If you don't care about the features associated with the higher end receivers and truly only need an extra HDMI port... you could use an HDMIi switch (like I do for my PS3 and XBox 360). It was about $25 and it automatically detects if something is on (so if I want to switch from my PS3 to my 360, it will automatically switch to the one that is on if I turn the other one off)... in addition to having a very basic IR remote (which I programmed into my Harmony remote).

Namlemez-

I'm pretty sure that the Panasonic SA-BX500 meets your needs. I got mine about two months ago and it's done everything I've needed it two do. I would have liked a fourth HDMI input (and/or a second HDMI output), but I don't think I could have done much better for the sub-$500 price. This AVR has integrated well with my plsma display and Blu-Ray player, also made by Panasonic.

-SUO

Yeah, a switch would be a feasible work-around, but I sort of wanted an all in one package. My TV has 4 HDMI inputs and technically works fine, I was just getting annoyed with my Harmony occasionally getting out of sync on the inputs and wanted only one device to flip.


Thanks for the pointer. I didn't see the BX500 in the original post, so I assumed it wasn't a digital amplifier. I'll do some more reading.

These guys seemed to be not very enthusiast about BX500:
http://www.whathifi.com/Review/Panasonic-SA-BX500/

Wow. That's the most negative professional receiver review I have ever read.

The original post hasn't been updated in over a year it seems.

Well, the SA-BX500 appears to be good enough for Mr. Gouger. Can't be that bad if one of the AVSForum founders is pleased by his own purchase, right?

IMO it's hard to beat the Onkyo 606 or the new 607. What constitues a receiver as being "digital"? I'm confused, this is somewhat new to me.

New to the receiver area of forum so sorry if this was answered...
I am looking for AV receiver that provides a passive HDMI out. Meaning, I want the signal to flow from the source to the receiver to the TV with the receiver "off". I need to be able to use only my TV's speakers as I stay up late & don't want to wake the sleeping kids. I also don't want to run more than one cable run.
Is there such a receiver?

The Panasonic SA-XR700 and BX-500 I know do for sure. I would "assume" just about all HDMI receivers within the last few years have HDMI passthrough.

Every one I looked at doesn't, thus the post. I will look into the Panasonic. Thanks.

I am kinda suprised. I know for a fact the Panasonics do. The SA-XR700 is a 2007 series receiver and the BX500 is current for 2009.

I am almost certain just about any HDMI receiver you find will do Passive HDMI/HDMI Pass Through. I occassionally watch TV without the receiver and do the same thing.

I thought they all did a well.

whathifireview for the panasonic

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I told them they should not audition the AVR with such a highend Bose speaker system.

Is there anywhere left to get one of the old panasonics, or something comparably featured? I need something that can switch between a couple 2 channel analog sources, and has one coax or optical input for 2 channel digital audio. My primary considerations, along with quality are thin profile, and little heat-- something all the XRs had. Is there anybody left doing digital like that? All the 5.1 / 6.1 links from the OP are long out of production.

Is there a list somewhere of all the avr's that supply all the new audio options, but "only" supply video switching? I don't need video processing at all and want a receiver that concentrates its horsepower on the audio side.
thanks

Well I just upgraded from a panny xr 55s. I now have a receiver with pre-outs feeding a behringer a500 amp (putting roughly 180 watts into my 6 ohm speakers). I know people say that amps do not sound different if not run into clipping, but wow this sounds different. I obviously have a lot more power, and am not afraid to turn it up. The sound on the panny would get shrill, but this just keeps sounding good as I turn it up. The sound is somewhat less detailed. Which I consider to be a good thing. I hear what I am intended to hear, and not the screwups in movie's sounds. Ep II star wars at high volumes had distortion and hiss on some of hayden christianson's dialog. Now I can hear it if I get close and pay attention, but I would not have noticed if I had not known it existed with the panny. Harsh dialog (a problem in most movies) is now almost non existent. For some reason the sound is also "fuller" with the new amp, though this is likely because of its higher power handling. This is not to bash the panny, it was detailed, had a low noise floor, and sounded good for the price (and excellent in stereo for the most part). But for people who listen loud, I would definetly suggest separates.

Much depends on speakers, but the SA-XR57 was the most musical receiver I tried (with Gallo Solos), when looking to replace a Class A Pass Aleph, because of the heat it produced.

For movies, I really care less about detail, and I can see how someone might prefer less detailed, but louder sound. (Your description reminds me of an old NAD I had, which was LOUD, but with a sort of "wall of sound" quality - not much detail for music, but for movies it would have been fine.)

Bought Panny SAXR10 many years ago, and loved the concept of all digital receiver.Since BlueRay dvd brought along many new audio formats, I have been itching to want to upgrade with same technology.Thanks to this thread i discovered Panny SABX500 is here, and the price of $299 at J&R is unresistable.Despite one poor review, but there are still many happy posters here.So I just installed the new receiver, and packed away the old one.
Testing it with my Sony Playstation 3, and enjoyed thoroughly with my blue ray movies , up to a totally new level of satisfaction.I am glad I waited and resisted changing my choice of technology for audio processing.

Anyone heard anything on the Panasonic receivers they were supposedly to introduce this year?

Panasonic indicated, when they introduced the SA-BX500, that it will be the first of several receivers.

I've heard the five hundred and like it a lot. I hope we see other digitals from Panasonic. Some with more robust features. We will know soon enough, a little over a month from CEDIA

I thought Panny was getting out of the AVR business?

If so, that means there are two major mass market class D receiver makers. Pioneer and Yamaha ( The Neo unit is theorized to use class D, but I have no seen this confirmed.)