[elklown]

Hi - I currently have a 50" Panasonic Plasma, a PS3, and an older Yamaha that is dying. I recently upgraded to two Def Tech 350 Studio Monitors and was thinking of upgrading my receiver to something that had a little more punch.


I watch a lot of movies but don't my living room setup does not lend itself to a surround system. I am trying to decide between a AV receiver with Dolby Digital Virtual Speaker or a stereo receiver with the same. I don't honestly ever see myself upgrading to a anything beyond a 3.1 system.


The stereo receivers have more power, but cannot decode lossless HD Audio. I am guessing that over optical 2 Channel PCM can be decoded by the receiver into lossless stereo or still be used by the Virtual Speaker algorithm, but I worry about things like Lip Sync or being given a cable box (currently just use co-ax) that will limit me on video. I've seen so many of these new HD Audio 2.1 HTIB systems that I see there must be room for some in between otherwise these systems don't make sense.


I am looking at the HK 3490 and AVR 247, as well as the Marantz 1402/1602.


Any thoughts?

 

[Knucklehead90]

If you won't be upgrading past 3.1 speakers then there is little point in worrying about lossless HD audio. The HK 3490 is stereo only so a center channel speaker can't be utilized. It also cannot equalize a sub. It is more powerful than most AVRs. I think you should be looking at a 5.1 or 7.1 AVR even though you won't be using any surround speakers. You never know - some day you might want to use them and a stereo receiver won't cut it. A decent 3.1 is great for movies and most people listening to it don't miss the surrounds all that much.


If you want a stereo system the HK 3490 is a very good one. I've owned 2 247 AVRs - I'd avoid them if I were you. The Marantz models you are considering are not very powerful since they are a slim-line design. Look at Denon 1910 or 1911 - or the Onkyo 609 - 708 or 709 series.

 

[elklown]

Good point. Right now I don't use a center channel and don't seem to have any dialogue or other problems which would require one. I am concerned about the sub being sent a full range signal. On my current sub as a with others the LFE input bypasses any cross-overs so I would need to get a sub that either doesn't or has true RCA low input connections.


My current dying Yamaha is a 5.1 system that puts out 65 watts per channel, I really want something more to take advantage of my speakers but everything in the 90-120 watt range has so many bells and whistles I keep coming back to stereo. The Denon 1911 may be a good fit but it still expensive.


What I'm currently thinking is to get the HK 3490 if I can find it cheap and buying an Apple TV for Airplay and all the internet radio options, running that and my PS3 to the TV with an optical back to the receiver. The HK 3490 also has a decent DAC and Dolby's virtual surround which might help for now.


I am not opposed to a true AV receiver but they are coming so loaded up these days with WIFI, proprietary networking and the like that I'm worried they'll actually be out-of-date faster than a quality stereo receiver. If I go with the HK I suppose if I upgrade later I can put it in another room along with my DefTeck bookshelves since I'll probably want new surround speakers with a new system.



I'm still worried about audio sync issues and lack of additional digital inputs with the HK stereo option. Does anyone know any good 5.1 receivers that are stripped down with 1.4a HDMI and lots of power I can use instead?

 

[Knucklehead90]

A decent AVR would be a better choice if only for bass management IMO. I have a 2.1 setup in my bedroom with an HK 3390 - it has no bass management but the sub amp has a crude crossover dial that can be set with line level or speaker level input. I use the line level input and it sounds pretty good to me. I cross it over at about 90hz and it plays well with a pair of Infinity Cascade speakers.


I'll assume a budget of $500 and under - and recommend some AVRs to look at. Denon 1611, 1911, 591 (5.1) --- Onkyo 509, 609, 708. There are other brands as well that may interest you. I like Denon and Onkyo.