# AVR and Display Choice



## the_rookie (Sep 30, 2008)

Hi,

As most of you know. Have been around for close to a decade. A little off and on over the years, but active.

Started out with a KLH AVR from Bestbuy in about 04' with Sony Towers and bookshelfs. Haven spanned all the way to Polk RTi series, I am looking to add-on to the system with a 11.1 setup.

My current Onkyo 876 is having limitations to my end goal, as well as some technical issues that are beyond my expertise and would be cost ineffective to pursue professionally. So the first item on the agenda is a new AVR.

I would prefer Audssey as the room correction software. But if the mass recommends a different suite than it might be worth looking. So my first choice was the Denon 6300. Looking for a Flagship or tier down from Flagship. I have seem new ones on Amazon for 1800, and 1699 or so on Ebay.

Next item is a Display. I have a Panasonic 46" from 2009 model. I want as large as possible with optimum video quality. Which led me to OLED from LG. But this year Panasonic seems to be entering the ring for OLED. So theres that. The room will be posted in the construction and design forum later. But I am hoping for a seating of 6-7. So what is going to be better? OLED, or maybe Projector. It would hopefully a light controlled room.

So yeah, thanks for reading and hope for some good input. In summary based on my research the LG E7 65", and the Denon 6300 are my first choices atm. Any feedback would be grateful.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


----------



## JBrax (Oct 13, 2011)

It sounds like you're on the right track with the AVR and display you're considering. You mentioned the room will be light controlled. I would personally go the projector route in a dedicated room.


----------



## Todd Anderson (Jul 24, 2009)

the_rookie said:


> Hi,
> 
> As most of you know. Have been around for close to a decade. A little off and on over the years, but active.
> 
> ...



Hey Rookie!

Alright, I'll play along with this... here's my general opinion: 

The Denon you've chosen is a good one, although I wouldn't place a tremendous amount of stock in the Audyssey package. I believe, across the board, that most of the major manufacturers have room correction that can fine tune (but not work miracles)...yes, Audyssey can EQ more of the low frequency spectrum, but whether or not it can help you with your room remains to be seen.. I think you'd be much better off tossing some money at outboard EQ (perhaps a product from miniDSP or finding an old Beheringer Feedback Destroyer) and using REW to tame the low frequencies. As for the mids and highs... a lot of experts will tell you room correction can actually do more harm than good in that realm. My personal experience is that room correction can help in that realm...but everyone's room is different. The most important thing is getting your speakers distance and channel level exact.

If I were you, I'd also checkout the Elite flagship... they are very cool running machines and Elite gear is known for its high performance. I run a Yamaha, and have very much enjoyed the user experience. 

All of that being said, a lot goes into satisfying your own wishes...and if that Denon sounds like a good buy, go for it. I'm sure you'll love it.

As for the display... You can't go wrong with OLED. LG has knocked it out of the park... and both Panasonic and Sony are/will be using LG W-OLED panels in their televisions. I could be wrong, but last I checked Panasonic is not selling its OLED in the US... I have a 65" LG OLED and it's awesome. Most HD look great (I was thoroughly underwhelmed by the broadcast quality of Fox for NFL in my area)... and streaming 4K with HDR will melt your eyes into a pool of happiness.

Projectors open up an amazing theatrical experience, but I'd only run one if your room is 100% light controlled... off the top of my head, I don't believe and sub-$7K projectors are Dolby Vision capable at this time... I think they all only have HDR10 compatibility (the LG OLEDs are Dolby and HDR10)... also, if you want 4K with HDR on a projector, your wallet is going to take a hit. More than likely you're looking at 1080p or some kind of e-shift technology. That being said, a 1080p projector running Blu-ray still looks amazing if you're at proper seating distances.

One comment... if you think you'll primarily be watching movies, then give strong consideration to a projector (with memory zoom) with a cinema scope screen. This could just be a pet-peeve of mine, but I generally haven't enjoyed watching disc-based movies on my OLED because of the black bars on the top and bottom of the screen.

Best wishes on your search... one thing is for sure: whatever you buy, you'll end up enjoying for years to come!


----------



## willis7469 (Jan 31, 2014)

Good words above. I have a question. Is 11.1 to be front and rear heights or wides, or is this full atmos, 11.1.4?


----------



## the_rookie (Sep 30, 2008)

I was thinking wides. Could i buy more bookshelf speakers and use them as the atmos? To keep the same timbre as the rest of the speakers with the same cabinets and drivers?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


----------



## willis7469 (Jan 31, 2014)

Yes you can use more bookshelf speakers for Atmos. Jbrax has a few nice posts of his installation. The reason I asked was, imo if you're going to dive into the upgrade process, is would recommend bypassing all of the faux surround stuff(plIIz height and wide stuff) and just upgrade to Atmos. Not sure if the waf would hold that though.


----------



## the_rookie (Sep 30, 2008)

I plan on having this in a dedicated HT room, not a living room or anything. So WAF shouldnt be an issue. But the whole room design and setup is still open for debate. Looking for an optimum solution. I want natural sound reproduction. In the end i am thinking i will need at least another pair or two of my speakes to have it all timbre matched. I got 2 RTi12's towers, 2 RTi6's bookshelves and 2 RTi FX's for the rear surrounds and a CSi5 Center. Which gives me a 7.1 atm. Which means either a wide front with another set of RTi12s or heights which probably better if i use the RTi6's. And than the surrounds another RTi6 at least. Than Atmos...or not. Nothing is really concrete.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


----------



## willis7469 (Jan 31, 2014)

@JBrax how bout a link to your room?

You could go in ceiling or on ceiling, but IMO atmos is the future and I would build with that in mind. Also, there is no faux surround format that can do what atmos does. It's amazing.


----------



## JBrax (Oct 13, 2011)

I don't have all of the pics on my new phone but here's one showing the matching bookshelfs. WAF could certainly come into play with black boxes everywhere but mines a good sport.


----------



## Lumen (May 17, 2014)

the_rookie said:


> I would prefer Audssey as the room correction software. But if the mass recommends a different suite than it might be worth looking. So my first choice was the Denon 6300. Looking for a Flagship or tier down from Flagship. I have seem new ones on Amazon for 1800, and 1699 or so on Ebay.





Todd Anderson said:


> The Denon you've chosen is a good one, although I wouldn't place a tremendous amount of stock in the Audyssey package. I believe, across the board, that most of the major manufacturers have room correction that can fine tune (but not work miracles)...yes, Audyssey can EQ more of the low frequency spectrum, but whether or not it can help you with your room remains to be seen.. I think you'd be much better off tossing some money at outboard EQ (perhaps a product from miniDSP or finding an old Beheringer Feedback Destroyer) and using REW to tame the low frequencies. As for the mids and highs... a lot of experts will tell you room correction can actually do more harm than good in that realm. My personal experience is that room correction can help in that realm...but everyone's room is different. The most important thing is getting your speakers distance and channel level exact.
> 
> If I were you, I'd also checkout the Elite flagship... they are very cool running machines and Elite gear is known for its high performance. I run a Yamaha, and have very much enjoyed the user experience.
> 
> All of that being said, a lot goes into satisfying your own wishes...and if that Denon sounds like a good buy, go for it. I'm sure you'll love it.


A less-known but equally capable RC solution is Dirac Live. While only a few processors offer the suite, it is available on miniDSP and PC hardware platforms. You can run the cost-effective PC version on your laptop, download the results, then disconnect and forget. Dirac's "claim to fame" is it's capability to make real improvements - not just changes - to soundstage and imaging. So if sound is your primary concern, Dirac is worth seeking out.


----------



## phillihp23 (Mar 14, 2012)

I run the following Polk setup in my HomeTheater room.

Denon AVR4520CI, Emotiva XPA-5 Gen 2, Polk CSi A6 Center, Polk RTi A9 Front, Polk RTi A7 Front Wide, Polk RTi A1 Front Height, Polk FXi A6 Side, Polk RTi A3 Rear, SVS PB12-NSD x2 Front, SVS PC12-NSD x2 Rear, Panasonic PT-AE7000U, Visual Apex CineWhite 100" Screen, PS4, Dish Hopper, Darbee Darblet DVP 5000


----------



## phillihp23 (Mar 14, 2012)

And as for the Denon 6300 sounds good.

I have three different Denon receivers. I Purchased two of mine from Accessories4less website.... haven't had any issues and save a bit of money.


----------



## the_rookie (Sep 30, 2008)

So how often do new AVRs come out? Cuz the 6300 came out around august, and the whole line came out early 2016. So is a new model in the works? Wait and get it? Or wait for the 6300 to drop in price?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


----------



## phillihp23 (Mar 14, 2012)

the_rookie said:


> So how often do new AVRs come out? Cuz the 6300 came out around august, and the whole line came out early 2016. So is a new model in the works? Wait and get it? Or wait for the 6300 to drop in price?
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


It's like chasing your tail. Really up to you when you want to stop.


----------



## the_rookie (Sep 30, 2008)

Well, i am starting to need a newer one...so i suppose as soon as i see a good price on it. Most of my equipment has been bought about 60% off or more. But i have a feeling i wont see the same treatment for the denon.

What about extra juice. Seems alot of Polk Users have Emotiva. For the fronts and wides what should I use? They are rated for 600hp each. So they got guts. The rest of the system is about 125-150 ea. So dont need juice for them.

And the whole display, thinking of a projector. At 120", when will we see Dolby vision and hdr10 and stuff like the LG OLED. I want the 65" E7, but in my grand scheme of things it seems too small.

And the atmos. If i have a 11.2 can I still have extra atmos added on?

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


----------



## willis7469 (Jan 31, 2014)

Is Dolby Atmos Moving Away from Front-Wide Channels? Ask the Editors

https://r.tapatalk.com/shareLink?sh...m/forum/showthread.php?t=2778921&share_type=t
Thought of your thread when I saw this. May not be specifically relevant, but it's very interesting.


----------



## the_rookie (Sep 30, 2008)

So my understanding is, that AVRs are capable of only 11.2 speakers for the most part. Which means 11.2, 9.2.2, 7.2.4, etc.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


----------



## selden (Nov 15, 2009)

That is correct, unless you can afford a Trinnov Altitude32.

Some people have managed to use two receivers to drive a 9.2.4 speaker configuration.


----------



## the_rookie (Sep 30, 2008)

Any projectors out this year with same specs as the LG OLEDs?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


----------



## the_rookie (Sep 30, 2008)

So, next question. Any thing out there AVR wise that has lots of connectivity for composite in? I have a SNES, Gamecube, PSX, N64, and Xbox I want to have connected too, but they have S-Video. Pioneer 901, Denon 6300, Sony 5000, Onkyo 3100, Marantz 7011, Yamaha 3070, Integra R1...and thats all I can think of.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


----------



## selden (Nov 15, 2009)

Unfortunately, as you've discovered, S-Video has been dropped from just about all modern a/v equipment, and multiple composite inputs are starting to get hard to come by, too. To get even 4 composite inputs, you have to get top-of-the-line models like those you've listed. There are other (more expensive) companies that provide receivers with 4 inputs, like Arcam and Anthem, but, again, only in their top-of-the-line models.


----------



## DqMcClain (Sep 16, 2015)

For that many connections in "legacy" formats, your best bet might be to use an outboard switch. I had one a long time ago that was 6 inputs and one output, and had composite/s-video/component IN and OUT. I think it had issues converting composite to component, but there were enough ways around it that I didn't care. 

Now that I think about it, I MAY still have that box lying around somewhere...


----------

