# Receiver Dilemma ! Please advise.



## rc2776 (Mar 19, 2010)

I am a proud owner of the Denon AVR-5803 (bought it used last year ...couldn't even dream of buying it when it was new). The sound quality and the power simply rocks, however, for movies and music videos the sound is not as enveloping and immersive as it is in my brother's setup with the AVR-2310 and Polk Satellites and PSW650 sub. Hence I am thinking of some upgrade options.
My max budget is 1K. Hence there is no way for me to buy a AVR-4810 or anything else in that price range. My viable options are to sell the AVR-5803 for about $700 and get the Denon AVR-4310 CI / Onkyo TX-NR3007 or buy the Denon AVR-3310 / Onkyo 876 for about $900 and use the AVR-5803 for amplification. Currently I am using Polk 7600 satellites and a Seaton Submersive sub but plan to upgrade to larger towers such as Paradigm Studio 100 in the next year. My Den/Kitchen is rather large (6000 cu ft) and it opens out to the rest of my open floor plan home. 
Any advice or tips will be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance.


----------



## jackfish (Dec 27, 2006)

The Denon AVR-5803 has preamp outputs, think about adding amplification. An Emotiva XPA-2 for your fronts would change things a bit I would guess. Perhaps even run your fronts and center with an XPA-3?

It also sounds like a speaker upgrade is in order.


----------



## Jungle Jack (Jul 28, 2009)

Hello,
The 5803 is a Battleship. I really am not sure it is the AVR. It does lack Room EQ, HDMI, True HD, DTS-HD, etc, but it should sound great with a BDP being hooked up into the Multichannel Inputs. Have you done a test tone on the BDP using an SPL Meter?

Excellent Subwoofer you have there. Changing up Speakers would be nice and would be what I would spend money on.
Cheers,
JJ


----------



## tonyvdb (Sep 5, 2007)

I also agree that a speaker upgrade may be the best money spent. Adding an external amp to at least power the main channels would also gain you a fair bit of power and free up the receivers internal amps to do the rest.


----------



## Jungle Jack (Jul 28, 2009)

Hello,
Also, you might want to check out the Octava HDMI-6 Channel Input Box. You plug the multchannel Input on the back of your Denon into this box and hook HDMI from your BDP into the Octava.
Cheers,
JJ


----------



## nova (Apr 30, 2006)

Yes, I agree with the others. The 5803 should be fine and if you want the newer sound formats use the analog inputs.

So you have Polk 7600's, and your brother has Polk _____ ?


----------



## rc2776 (Mar 19, 2010)

Thanks for the replies guys. For my current speakers I don't think I need more power. The Rated 170 watts/ channel on the AVR-5803 is more than enough. My only complaint is that surround sound is not as good as it is very the new receivers with Audyssey MultEQ.
I am deferring the speaker upgrade to a later time because in my current setup with an older Projection TV ... I don't have room for large towers. I was all set to buy the Panasonic TC-P65V10 when this 3-D bug bit me and now I will wait for the TC-P65VT25 to be released and for the price to drop to within my means ..so i am guessing another year. Once I get a flat panel the the AV gear will go in a cabinet under it and I will no longer need the Bell-O AV rack which will make room for large towers.
Mark: My brother's setup has the newer Polk 6900s and I gave him my PSW-650 when I upgraded to the Submersive. For his needs it is more than adequate and things sounds rather good.

Yes the submersive is amazing ...but I haven't been able to tune it right yet. I will come back to this forum to seek expert help someday. My REQ readings are messed up. I get a reading of 120 plus DB from 2-20 HZ ... god would have to make a sub to produce those frequencies at that volume. I haven't had time to troubleshoot that.
Thanks.


----------



## nova (Apr 30, 2006)

Could be you just prefer the sound of his 6900's over your 7600's :scratch:
Could be a difference in settings/set-up/placement :scratch:
Could very likely be the difference in your rooms. :dontknow:

You may want to experiment with speaker placement, small changes can make a big difference.
Have you set your crossover? Speaker distance settings? Speakers levels? etc.?


----------



## rc2776 (Mar 19, 2010)

Mark: Unfortunately, I don't have too many speaker placement options in my current setting ..it isn't a dedicated AV room. Based on my experience with the two speaker sets ...the 7600s are far superior.
With Audessy Multi EQ disabled, my brother's setup sounds no where close (mine sounds a lot better) to my setup but with Audessy enabled things improve dramatically. So I am guessing that that these new processing technologies which adjust the sound emanating from speakers based on the surroundings really work. To a purist it might not sound right but to my discerning yet non-audiophile ears they sound really good.
The AVR-5803 only allows adjustments to the speaker level ..and simply adjusting the surround channels is not cutting it. Please don't get me wrong, my setup sounds really well but I feel it can be made to sound better with little investment.
So my question goes back to whether I should buy a new mid priced receiver with good processing capabilities and use my current Receiver (Denon AVR-5803) for amplification or sell the current receiver and get a Receiver with a better amplifier section. 
I guess with everything else in AV ..there is no easy, one size fits all answer.


----------



## tonyvdb (Sep 5, 2007)

rc2776 said:


> So my question goes back to whether I should buy a new mid priced receiver with good processing capabilities and use my current Receiver (Denon AVR-5803) for amplification or sell the current receiver and get a Receiver with a better amplifier section.


With this new information I do think a new receiver would offer you a large improvement over what you have, I also dont think Using your current Denon as an amplifier would really give you any benefit unless you have another location in the house that you would like a small setup.
If your budget will allow the Onkyo 876 is the top of the pile for quality and power, Nothing comes even close unless you spend at least twice as much. It has a huge power supply and amplification section, Auddessy , THX Ultra2 certified and HQV Reon-VX video processing (the best available)


----------



## nova (Apr 30, 2006)

Yeah, OK. I'm with ya.
Course I do have a couple more suggestions/questions for ya 

What I meant by placement does not just mean physical placement in the room. For example, facing your TV, lets call that 0 degrees and that is where your center is. So your L & R mains are likely somewhere around 30 degrees, yes? But, are they aimed directly at your listening position? Are they aimed straight out? Little tweaks in positioning the speakers ie; toed in or toed out can make a big change in how enveloping your system is, even though the speakers are in the same physical space. Same goes for the surrounds.

Just out of curiosity, do/did you use an SPL meter when setting your levels?

Also, rooms can make a huge difference in sound. I have had my exact same system set up in three different houses... all three a very different sound. My 3805 does have room eq, but I never use it. Play with it and check it out now and then but I always go pack to Room EQ:OFF


----------



## rc2776 (Mar 19, 2010)

Thanks for the tip Tony. I have been eyeing the Onkyo 876 since yesterday and was almost ready to buy it from A4Less when I saw that people got it new almost a year ago for $799 or $899, hence I am a bit hesistant to buy a refurb unit for $900.00 I don't mind waiting for a month or two ... and I am hoping the Onkyo TX-NR5007 or Onkyo TX-NR3007 would come pretty close to my 1K budget. Do these newer models have any advantages over the 876 or is it the other way around ?


----------



## Jungle Jack (Jul 28, 2009)

Hello,
Actually Accessories4less now is selling the TX-NR3007 for 1099:http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dl...fadc23d&itemid=120565501946&ff4=263602_263622

However, several people have gotten them for 1050 Shipped so you well might be able to get that price.
I will say that unless you are using a 7.2 or 9.2 Setup, the TX-SR876 probably is more powerful and is definitely cheaper.

The TX-SR876's were available at AC4L for 849 or so, but were almost always the Silver Finish. I will say that at 899, it is still an awesome value and great AVR.
Cheers,
JJ


----------



## rc2776 (Mar 19, 2010)

Jack ... even though I don't plan to have more than 7 speakers in my primary listening area I wouldn't mind an additional two channels for my back yard. Curently, with my AVR-5803 I am having to use a 15 year old Sony Pro-Logic receiver to power the backyard. So a 9.2 receiver sounds quite appealing.
Whn you say SR-876 is more powerful that the X007 series ..are you basing that on the build quality, transformer size and unit weight etc, or the published watts ?
I am seriously thinking about getting the TX-NR5007 unless someone tells me not because of the numerous HDMI related reliability issues that have been reported. Thanks for your tips and advice.


----------



## Jungle Jack (Jul 28, 2009)

Hello,
I have not read very many issues with HDMI reliability in the 007 Series. As far as power capabilities, the TX-SR876's peak Power Consumption is 9.5 Amps for 7 Channels whereas the 3007 PC is 11.6 Amps for 9 Channels. Though slight, the TX-SR876 is slightly more powerful per channel. 

Unfortunately, there have not been any Bench Tests that I have seen of the 3007 and 5007. However, the Bench Test for the TX-SR875/6 is quite impressive:http://web4.soundandvisionmag.com/receivers/2463/test-bench-onkyo-tx-sr875-av-receiver.html

I am a huge fan of the 5007 and if you have use for the channels, then it would make for an excellent AVR. I was just looking at if you were using a 5.1 setup for some reason. In which case, the other 2 channels could be used for a Second Zone. (Backyard) Both the TX-NR5007 and TX-NR905/6 use a Toroidal Transformer which is not used in the rest of the Lineup.
Cheers,
JJ


----------



## Matteo (Jul 12, 2006)

The new EQ's are amazing and do a lot for your room. I currently use the Sherwood Necastle 972 and the surround is incredible, much better than I can get, even from a precise manual setup. I don't think you will get the sound you are looking for from your current receiver, though it is a very great receiver, the lack of EQ is the downside. 
One other option is to just change out your surrounds for some dipole/bipole and see how that works. You could use your current satellites as rears, or in another room for a second zone. For me, EQ disperses the surrounds and opens up the room. You might get similar results if you get rid of your monopole/direct radiating speakers. Just my 2 cents.

matteo


----------

