Denon AVR-3805 (A Good Option?)

[Kid Kidd]

My situation is that I have a Family room already wired for 5.1 surround. I have a TV nook above a gas fireplace and an audio rack in the corner. I took a lightning strike last week and need to replace my TV and 2 Receivers. I also have 5 rooms currently set-up with speakers and volume controls that all terminate at my audio rack in the family room. I had two receivers before. One for the family room TV and surround sound and the other to power all the speakers in the other rooms. I'm looking to replace those two receivers with one. The 3805 seems to make sense as it allows the use of 2 channel for zone two.

I do have two needs though.

One is that I have infrared in the upstairs so I can control the receiver and cd player from the upstairs so I need to be able to program a universal remote to turn on the 3805 and operate zone 2. Can this be done. Can I change sources for zone 2 and / or radio stations, cd's. My last receiver I thought would do this but had a manual switch for zone two. defeats the purpose of the infared, hence the purchase of the second receiver.

The other is I was also told the zone two cannot output digital audio or video. Not a big problem as the speakers in the other rooms are usually just for easy listening or a ballgame. Will I regret that?

Thanks for any input you can lend!

 

[victoriacoffee]

IR transmitter

Do a search for IR transmitters. There is a product, which I have, that converts the signal from your remote to fm then back to IR at the units. This allows you to control your system anywhere within your home and quite possibly the yard. Only costs around $50 bucks.

Wish I could remember the name of the product but Clint did review of it as well.

 

[jaxvon]

Yes, all that can be done with the 3805. And here's the review that victoriacoffee was talking about.

 

[Duffinator]

The receiver will not distribute digital audio but none of the other receivers in this price range will either. You just connect the analog connections to the receiver and you will be able to distribute the signal. You can distribute video into one zone but only using a composite (maybe s-video as well). While the two extra channels should be enough to power your other zones you may want to think about adding a speaker selector into the mix. I use a seperate amp with my 3805 to power two other zones and use the extra internal amps for bi-amping. The 3805 should be able to do everything you have mentioned except for the digital distribution. Good luck.