HDMI 1.3 and 1080p unconversion in A/V receiver

[av_metal]

I just bought a Sony KDS-60A3000 1080p television and Sony PS3. I have mid-level 5.1 speakers (approximately $3000 for the six speakers) and DirecTV HD. I am trying to determine which features I need in a new A/V receiver. Specifically, I have been looking at the Yamaha RX-1800 ($1200) and Yamaha HTR-6090 (open item for $450, normally retails for $1000).

As far as I can tell, the only difference between the receivers is
1. The 1800 supports HDMI 1.3a and decoding of lossless formats Dolby TrueHD and DTS HD Master Audio; the 6090 only supports HDMI 1.2 (and so of course cannot decode lossless formats)
2. The 1800 supports 1080p upscaling; the 6090 supports no upscaling
3. The 1800 has 4 HDMI inputs, the 6090 only has 2.

But, the Sony PS3 does not support bitstreaming of Dolby TrueHD anyway (it internally decodes it to LPCM) and currently does not support DTS Master HD Audio at all, either bitstreaming or LPCM. And I thought that the PS3 upconverts standard DVDs, so do I really need the upconverting capability in the 1800?

My question is: Is there a reason to invest the extra $750 and get the 1800? The only reason I can think of is that the 1800 would upconvert non-hi def signals from the direcTV receiver, but I am not even sure about that.

Thanks in advance.

 

[Addy]

first, 1200 bucks for a rx-v1800 is ridiculous.. ebay sells them new for 800. You can get a link off this site for a rx-v3800 for 1098. so now theres only a 350 dollar difference for a newer an up to date receiver, personally 1.3a to me is worth 300-400 hundred, the rx-v line is yamahas hi-end theater series. i cant say much more other then if you got the money go for it! there both great receivers,,

some one else here is going to confuse you and recommend a onkyo or denon or marantz just so your confusion can grow!

 

[Seth=L]

I would personally get the HTR-6090 if my budget was tight. If you have a fairly laxed budget, go for the RX-V1800. It looks much nicer and has more features.

 

[landonspop]

You were worned.
If you are on a budget, you can buy an Onkyo 805 at Circuit City on sale for $ 899, which is priced in the middle. They seem to be the best bang for the buck. Read up on that, there are plenty here who swear by them. But, you do want 1.3. I see no reason to buy something that is already out dated. If you shop wisely, you should find a great a/v rec for $1200.

PS I bought a Denon and my friend got a Marantz. Just kidding.

 

[Seth=L]

You were worned.
If you are on a budget, you can buy an Onkyo 805 at Circuit City on sale for $ 899, which is priced in the middle. They seem to be the best bang for the buck. Read up on that, there are plenty here who swear by them. But, you do want 1.3. I see no reason to buy something that is already out dated. If you shop wisely, you should find a great a/v rec for $1200.

PS I bought a Denon and my friend got a Marantz. Just kidding.

In a word, what?

 

[landonspop]

In a word, what?

in a word "read"

If you had read all of the posts, you would have seen, that post #2 spoke of someone suggesting Onkyo, Denon or Marantz for extra confusion.
So, I was serious about suggesting Onkyo, but threw in the other two brands, in the ps, as a joke, refering back to post #2.



I guess this went over your head, or you didn't read all of the posts.

 

[BoredSysAdmin]

1st, in deals section you can find info on how to get TX-SR805 under $700 ($654 - the lowest I saw) and as a proud owner I can vouch for it with my eyes closed.
Do you really need 1080p upscaling? 805 can do 1080p pass-thou. It support HDMI 1.3 and THX2 Ultra, HD-DD and HD-DTS decoding. You mentioned PS3 doesn't do bitstream and doesn't support hd-dts...

Nothing against using ps3 as BR player, but taking in account how noisy it is, you MIGHT want to switch to stand-alone player later on, which you could pick a value model, since you'd already have good scaler/decoder in receiver.