Trying to find cheaper hdmi receiver...

I'm in the same delema as you. I'm wavering between the same AV receivers. Have you come to any decission yet or narrowed down the choices yet?
I guess what confusses me most is the upconversion through the receiver. I'll soon have a 1080p Tv and I'd like to take advantage of it. I beleive the TV will do the upconverting so is there any reason to have a receiver do it for you? I'd like components to enter the receiver and go to the TV, and if the TV upconverts I can't figure out why any receiver would upconvert.

I'm also in the market for a new receiver to get ready to make the jump to the new sound formats. I've done a lot of research over the last few weeks.

The 2307 will do everything that you require.

These definitions apply to receivers.

UPCONVERSION: Taking an analog input (component, S-Video, or Composite) and converting it to digital and sending it out through the HDMI out.
720p in=720p out.
1080i in=1080i out. etc.


Upscaling: Taking any of the inputs digital or analog and converting them to a resolution of your choice. Example: converting 480i to 720p or 1080i.


The only knock I have found with the 2307 is that it wont deinterlace the OSD signal. So why it will upconvert your analog sources to the HDMI out. It wont convert 480i to 480p.

The problem with this is that a lot of TVs wont accept a 480i input into their HDMI. This means you wont be able to see your On Screen Display without hooking up another connection to your TV (component or S-Video) just for this purpose.

If you check your TVs manual it should say whether it will accept 480i over HDMI if it does everything should work great for you. If it wont and you dont want to use another connection you could step up to the 2807 or 987. They will deinterlace.


I hope this helps I have read about 3 receiver manuals plus a couple of 40 page threads over the last few weeks

P.S. If I had a nice 1080p TV I definitely would prefer that it do the upscaling and just have the receiver be the pass through. This is exactly how most of the under $2000.00 dollar receivers work.

Thanks for defining upconversion and upscaling. I had been using them interchangably. I've ordered a Samsung HLS6187w and have not read the manual yet. Maybe I can find it on-line to see if its HDMI will accept an 480i input.
While the Denon 2307 upconverts, is it necessary if the TV is in 1080p? Won't the TV's native display of 1080p be used no matter what the input is? So a receiver that has an HDMI output that would go to a TV that accepts 480i be displayed at 1080p? I still think I'm not understanding why there is a market for upconverting and upscaling receivers. Am I wrong in thinking the TV does all of this for you?

I bought the Onkyo 604 from Circuit City for 475 a few weeks ago, reasonable price for an entry level receiver with Hdmi 1.1.

Those two receivers are the same ones that I got to before selecting the Denon 2307ci. The Denon was the better sounding to me. I found the Pio to have what I have always heard from Pios over the years. A bit too much shrillness in the highs. I am extremely pleased with the Denon. It does a superb job for me, converting analog to digital and putting that out on HDMI. I prefer not having the upconversion in the receiver.

The 2007 Consumer Electronics Show starts this Sunday where we can expect many new A/V receivers to be announced including models supporting HDMI ver. 1.3 inputs and also decoding for the new lossless Dolby and DTS audio formats (also expected are announcements for increased support support by Blu-ray and HD-DVD hardware and software). I would suggest you wait a week to see what new receivers are planned.

Ron Jones

Yea I think I'm gonna get that Denon also. I actually like that it doesnt upconvert anything, that way your TV can do the deinterlacing. Most likely your TV has a superior deinterlacer anyway.

Prices just dropped!

I bought that Onkyo for $380 at CC but returned it a week later. I am convinced it is not handling LFE properly. As many know, the .1 channel needs to be boosted by 10db in order to get proper LFE's. Compared to the HK AVR240 I was trying to replace, the Onkyo 604 I bought had very low output of LFE. Maybe mine was defective but quite a few other people aren't pleased with the LFE either.

I have since looked at the Marantz 4001 which doesn't have enough inputs if memory serves me correctly, the Denon 2307CI which is a tempting purchase but I think the setup's are less intuitive than the Onkyo and also the Onkyo 804. The 804 is more more money than I want to spend but maybe it will drop in price after new announcements as the CES.

FWIW.

Greg

I am sure Marantz 4001 has hdmi version 1.1, which does not carry audio.

I have an HLR-5667 and it does NOT accept 480i over HDMI. But mine is only a 720P set, not sure if the 1080P sets are different, plus yours is a whole year newer. Post over in the owners thread for the TV, someone there should be able to answer you quickly.

That is incorrect - the Marantz DOES carry audio via HDMI. The only limitation due to HDMI 1.1 is the playback of SACDs in its native form. As long as SACDs are converted to PCM format (for example - Oppo dvd players), they too can be played via HDMI 1.1.