is it worth buying a new reciever?

[dafish721]

I have an older Denon AVR-3600 and it still works just fine. I am looking to possiblly buy a Denon AVR-3808CI but am not sure it is the right time to take the plunge. I have a 60 in Sony LCD HDTV that is 3 years old and it doen't have HDMI inputs. My speakers are a nice 5.1 set up from Monitor Audio with a Velodyne sub. My main question is would I see and hear a big difference going for a 7-8 year old 3600 to a 3808CI? Would it be better to wait a year or so when I plan on buying a new HDTV to buy a new reciever?

 

[mtrycrafts]

I have an older Denon AVR-3600 and it still works just fine. I am looking to possiblly buy a Denon AVR-3808CI but am not sure it is the right time to take the plunge. I have a 60 in Sony LCD HDTV that is 3 years old and it doen't have HDMI inputs. My speakers are a nice 5.1 set up from Monitor Audio with a Velodyne sub. My main question is would I see and hear a big difference going for a 7-8 year old 3600 to a 3808CI? Would it be better to wait a year or so when I plan on buying a new HDTV to buy a new reciever?

I seriously doubt you will see or hear differences, certainly not much video differences, especially if the video goes directly to the TV. You do have component video capability, right?

When you upgrade the TV, then maybe you may reconsider an upgrade, but even then, you can run the main DVD video direct to the TV with HDMI and, depending on the DVD/hi-def player can use the 5.1 analog out from the player into the receiver and have your great hi-def lossless audio sound as the player will do the decoding just fine.

 

[dafish721]

The Denon AVR-3600 only has Dolby Digital processing. It doesn't have DTS or any other digital procesing. I have all video hooked via component but the 3600 only has one optical and one coax digital audio input. So when I go between my HD Tivo and the XBOX 360/DVD I have to manually switch the optical plug. I don't know if I am missing any "processing" quality with my abscence of DTS and all the new iterations of Dolby, etc. I current don't have PS3 or a HD-DVD or Blue ray player as I am waiting for the prices to come down and the dominant player to pan out. how much would I benefit from upgrading to the Denon AVR 3808CI?

 

[Seth=L]

My opinion would be keep the 3600 for the time being. When you get a new TV down the road with HDMI 1.3 or whatever HDMI they have at the time; receivers with similar features and power to the Denon AVR-3808ci will be available for a much lower price.

 

[Adam]

I think that you'll notice a nice difference. I used a Dolby Digital-only Yamaha from 1997 for years, and two years ago I bought a Pioneer with the latest surround modes and (important to me) an auto set-up feature.

1. Surround modes: I enjoyed the addition of DTS, if only because I could finally experience it years after it was introduced! On the movies that I have watched, the DTS soundtrack sounds better to me than the DD track.

2. The auto set-up for my Pioneer adjusted a five-band equalizer for each speaker, and that made a huge improvement in how my system sounded to me. My speakers that had sounded bright and harsh with the Yammy became much smoother and more enjoyable. The 3808 has an auto set-up routine, as well, and I believe that it is more sophisticated than that in my $450 Pioneer.

So, yes, I say give it a try. I went from a $1000 Yammy from 1997 to a $450 Pioneer in 2005, and I was very pleased with the upgrade. Technological advances and dropping prices are a great thing. If you're willing to get a higher end Denon, I think that you'll be pleased, too.

All of that said, I'd highly recommend buying from someplace that will let you take it back if you don't notice a big enough difference to warrant the cost.

 

[PENG]

I agreed with most of the comments made on the audio side. I want to add that personally I am disappointed with HDMI. After switching back and forth between component video and HDMI for some time, I settled on component video for the more natural color. My comparisons were done with the satellite receiver box's DVI output (using DVI/HDMI combination cable). I do realize that the results might have been different if I had used Blu-ray/HDDVD instead. My point is simply that one cannot assume HDMI offers better picture quality. It sure is convenient though with only one cable for both audio and video.