Is this upgrade worth it?

[jazee]

I've got a Yamaha RX-V1400. Love it. Only thing I didn't like about it is no OSD over component. My 5-year old HD RPTV just died. Got a 58" Panny Plasma on the way. My other components are Comcast HD Cable/DVR Box, WII, and Oppo 970HD. Everything connected through component. The WII goes direct to the TV with the video signal because there's only 2 component inputs. I imagine it would be worthwhile to use HDMI for the cable/dvr and the DVD player. Not really worth it on the WII, although some day we'll have a gaming system that it probably would make the difference.

The thing is I can still achieve all the switching necessary with the 1400 by programming macros into my remote like I do for the WII where it changes the receiver and TV source since the TV has 3 HDMI inputs I believe and several component.

But then I was thinking, aside from the WII, wouldn't it be nice to just have one HDMI cable from each of the components to the receiver and then just one HDMI cable from the receiver to the TV. I'd a crate full of audio and video cables when I was done and a much cleaner install.

But then I got to thinking, if I switch all the video through the receiver than I can't tweak the picture for each different source. (But I haven't done that before anyway.)

Then I think about all the glitches I've read about in previous year with HDMI. Is the Comcast and Oppo components going to play nice with a Yamaha RX-V663 so I actually won't have to run anything more than an HDMI cable between the components and the receiver?

Then I think, gee compared to the TV, the receiver cost is very little, why not get the latest greatest toy and spend another day re-installing all my A/V equipment.

I'm sure a lot of you have been in this situation before and went ahead and upgrade to a HDMI receiver. Considering my setup do you think I'll regret spending the time and money running into to problems and wrestling with getting everything to work right versus leaving everything as is and just swap the TV out?

Thanks in advance for any insight/advice.

 

[Adam]

Welcome to the forum, jazee!

Ahhh, to upgrade or not to upgrade, that is the question. There are some newer features that you'd gain with the 663 over the 1400. For example, decoding of the latest surround sound formats, as well as HDMI. You've got to decide if those are worth the price tag.

The one reason that I'd recommend that you don't upgrade yet is this:

I've got a Yamaha RX-V1400. Love it.

I figure, if you're still happy with what you have...keep it. Things are continually getting more feature-rich and inexpensive. You might as well wait until you feel that something is lacking before you go out and buy something new. That's my thinking, anyway.

Adam

 

[Haoleb]

Personally I wouldnt use HDMI even if I could in a setup such as that. Maybe things have gotten better but I would rather just stick to component. Its simply more reliable. end of story. From what I have seen, The difference in picture quality, if any, is not worth the extra hassle.

Of course you may feel differently. I am partially biased simply because I hate HDMI for anything other than a basic setup with a dvd player and cable box and a tv. For that its great.

 

[CAVU]

The 663 will do what you want. Go for it!

I went from an excellent old RX-V793 to the 663 and never looked back!

 

[jazee]

I talked to an A/V distributor rep last night who is a close friend of mine. He said the amp in the 1400 is better. I checked the specs and it does look like th 1xxx series amps may be better amplifiers than the x63 series for htr series. The 1400 has .04% THD and the 663 has .06% but I rarely crank my system (I have a wife and children and no dedicated theatre room with an open floor plan).

He said just run an HDMI cable from my DVD player to my TV set, plug the WII component and audio cabled into the receiver and change my source select macros accordingly so it switches the source on the TV when I select DVD.

Those other features are nice though. But I think if I get the next generation WII (which will probably have higher resolution graphics with HDMI) I'd might regret spending the time to upgrade to something with only 2 HDMI inputs?

On the other hand, I can get the 663 at cost ($275 or so) and I can sell my 1400 with all original packaging for about $250 on Ebay! For $25 and an hour or two of time, I'm thinking it might be worth it, but that's the boy who wants a new toy talking in me. But if I plugged my Oppo 970 in via HDMI or the cable box and had glitches/problems I'd be pissed!

 

[GlocksRock]

Do it... you won't regret it. The 1400 may have a better amp, but they will both sound the same, that difference in thd is not audible.

 

[jazee]

I see last year's RX-V1800 has 4 HDMI inputs (essentially a few years upgrade from my 1400) but $700! Ouch. That's twice as much as a 663. Is it twice as good a receiver though? Does the Zone2 functionality work the same on the 663 as my 1400 where you can run two different sources for each zone without an external amp? I think when you do though you like lose rear channel speakers or something right?