Newbie Odyssey Part 1 (AV Receiver)

[Krio]

Hello Guys,

Where to start ? Mmmm let's say that 2 weeks ago i woke up, went to an electronic store and i bought a 55'' Samsung TV .... Awesome !! I m very happy w my TV... it's even a Curve TV !!!! exactly the same as a flat TV but look nicer when is switched off ... All cool till i realized that there isn't a decent sound when i play a movie ... my 50$ plastic speakers are very very bad ... so or i buy an high end Samsung home theater (still with plastic speakers) $1500 or slowly build a decent system spending more .... Clearly i choose to build the system, but i know nothing about Home theater... so here i am asking for some precious advice to some 'Master Guru Theater' V2.0 ...

Seems to me logical to start from the AV receiver since based on that i will choose the more appropriate speakers... i wish to build a 5.1.4 (is 50% Atmos worth it? 5.1.2) . Here i have 4 models which fit my budget :

1) Denon AVR- X4200
2) Onkyo TX-NR1030
3) Pioneer SC85
4) Yamaha RXA-1050

I don't know which one to pick or if there s any other better brand, models ... What is important for me is to have a clear dialog, no distortion at high volume (in case i listen music w my ipod) no compatibility issues with my Samsung TV and a reliable product with good sound...

If anyone can help me i would really appreciate that : Note i live in the Philippines so my room temperature is usually from 28-31 degrees Celsius (82-87 F) ...

Thanks

Krio

 

[tyhjaarpa]

I would go for 5.1 or 5.2 setup. Imo it is not worth to get atmos. Is your 1500 budget for 5.1 setup including receiver? Or do you have separate budget? One way is to get 2.0 setup now in budget and add parts on it when ever you can, that is what many do, including me. What speakers you are getting? Perhaps we can help choosing speakers as well? What size your room is?

Edit: Generally it is good to look for Marantz, Denon and Yamaha receivers.

 

[Krio]

Yes my budget for the Receiver only is in between 1-1,5k USD ... My idea is to buy one piece each month to avoid spend all together a big sum ... i might eventually spend 5k or more but within 5 months ...

What is the difference in between 5.1 and 5.2?

The room is about 20SQM but if i change house i can might have a bigger room ..

P.S. there are Marantz on that price range?

 

[lovinthehd]

5.1 is an actual audio format used for tv and movies, there's also 7.1. 5.2 refers to a speaker format, i.e. the receiver has outputs for two subs (which is often merely an internal y-split of the signal anyways, and you can still use y-splitters, too), the signal remains .1.

 

[Krio]

Ok got it ... still i feel i would need a Receiver Atmos 5.1.4 ready, just in case in a future most of movies will support the format then will be easy to upgrade ...

What about the Yamaha RX-A2050? seems ok for the price ...

 

[lovinthehd]

I'm not planning to put speakers in my ceiling so doubt I'll do much for Atmos or other immersive tech. If I were, or were concerned about 4k standards (am not for several years at least) I'd probably stick to Denon myself for Audyssey XT32, have a 4520 now, so the 4200 would be what I'd look at first (and the Denon with Audyssey SubEQ/XT32 does have two sub preouts each separately adjustable for level and delay, so a useful ".2").

 

[Krio]

So The Denon AVR-X4200 over the yamaha RX-A2050 ... am i correct?

I found in Amazon this model Marantz SR7009 at 1200 USD .. not a bad price

 

[tyhjaarpa]

I myself like Audyssey SubEQ/XT32 as well, so that pretty much leaves you with Denon/Marantz high end models. They are pretty equal performance vise imo and I myself prefer Marantz, but it is pretty much upto you which brand you want to get. Perhaps get the one with cheaper unit that has Audyssey SubEQ/XT32?

 

[Krio]

that s a good help ... now i am really not familiar with SubEQ/XT32 .... first time i hear that ... seems to be a software inside the AVR ?? which helps with sub woofer?

About Marantz what model would you suggest? SR7009 Still? or a different one?

 

[tyhjaarpa]

that s a good help ... now i am really not familiar with SubEQ/XT32 .... first time i hear that ... seems to be a software inside the AVR ?? which helps with sub woofer?

About Marantz what model would you suggest? SR7009 Still? or a different one?

SR7009 is solid unit, SR7010 is newer one but for sound quality they are equal and SR7009 is cheaper.

 

[Krio]

Bingo !!

the Denon X 4200 is identical to the Marantz SR7009 :

http://www.crutchfield.com/S-mrfXly8OBnH/compare_033AVX4200_642SR7009/Denon-AVR-X4200W-IN-Command-vs-Marantz-SR7009.html

so no point to take a Denon.. now the battle is in between the SR7009 and the SR6010 .... i ll compare the specs but either choices should be fine ...

 

[tyhjaarpa]

Bingo !!

the Denon X 4200 is identical to the Marantz SR7009 :

http://www.crutchfield.com/S-mrfXly8OBnH/compare_033AVX4200_642SR7009/Denon-AVR-X4200W-IN-Command-vs-Marantz-SR7009.html

so no point to take a Denon.. now the battle is in between the SR7009 and the SR6010 .... i ll compare the specs but either choices should be fine ...

No unless you can find Denon cheaper. I would go for SR7009 as I believe it is close to same price or maybe even cheaper than SR6010. Unless SR6010 has some features you need and SR7009 is missing them.

 

[Krio]

I think the SR6010 is 4K and the 7009 nope .... that means it won't support 4K movies ??
But the power the 7009 is 125w 9.2 and the 6010 is 110w 7.2 which I am not sure if that s a big difference ...

 

[tyhjaarpa]

I think the SR6010 is 4K and the 7009 nope .... that means it won't support 4K movies ??
But the power the 7009 is 125w 9.2 and the 6010 is 110w 7.2 which I am not sure if that s a big difference ...

Those power numbers wont be critical. But do you really need 4k?

 

[lovinthehd]

Depends if you're worried about 4k being handled by the avr, e.g. you could always get a high def bluray player with two hdmi outputs, one for audio to avr, one for picture directly to 4k display. Usually displays are better at video processing than avrs anyways IMO. I haven't used an avr for video processing in some time as I've got all hdmi inputs these days, no need for legacy upscaling or such.....

The 7009 and 4200 aren't identical in any case; one other difference might be Marantz' supposedly higher quality HDAM circuitry? I'm not sure if the 7009 gets that (think it does).

Audyssey is a room correction software from an outside company, currently Denon & Marantz (same ownership in the D+M Group) are the brands offering it (Onkyo used to). Pioneer has something similar in-house called MCACC and now that they're in same ownership as Onkyo they're going to roll that out in Onkyos (or possibly already have). Yamaha has their own called YPAO. They're not always going to work for everyone's room/tastes, but can be a very helpful tool in setting up your system (and these programs are usually intertwined with the avr's automated setup routine).

 

[Krio]

Ok, basically i went in a shop sometimes ago and they told me that from the media player is always better pass through the AVR for the video because will be a better quality. Now you are telling me that the media player is better than the AVR in that case i would go for the 7009 at the following condition :

The media player (blue Ray 4k) i was planning to buy is Samsung brand (i want use only one remote for TV and player, like -play-pause-forward-backward-) because once sync samsung software is outstanding- small remote with literally a cursor appearing on the curve tv screen which can go at any minute of the movie in a snap or surf net or go to you tube videos etc ...

If you tell me that the player Samsung would do the job then i go for the 7009 but if you tell me that i have to spend 800 USD for a decent player only for upgrade 4k then i ll go for the 6010 and still buy the samsung player at 130 USD (http://www.samsung.com/us/video/home-audio/BD-H6500/ZA).

Would that make sense?

 

[Krio]

sorry i picked the wrong samsung model ;;; this would do Samsung BD-J7500

 

[lovinthehd]

Ok, basically i went in a shop sometimes ago and they told me that from the media player is always better pass through the AVR for the video because will be a better quality. Now you are telling me that the media player is better than the AVR in that case i would go for the 7009 at the following condition :

The media player (blue Ray 4k) i was planning to buy is Samsung brand (i want use only one remote for TV and player, like -play-pause-forward-backward-) because once sync samsung software is outstanding- small remote with literally a cursor appearing on the curve tv screen which can go at any minute of the movie in a snap or surf net or go to you tube videos etc ...

If you tell me that the player Samsung would do the job then i go for the 7009 but if you tell me that i have to spend 800 USD for a decent player only for upgrade 4k then i ll go for the 6010 and still buy the samsung player at 130 USD (http://www.samsung.com/us/video/home-audio/BD-H6500/ZA).

Would that make sense?

I never ask sales people for technical info myself, usually they have little background or understanding IME (there are of course exceptions but hard to tell if you don't already have some background/knowledge).

I did not say the media player had better processing.

My worst experience with a bluray player was a Samsung....never again. Does that bluray player have dual hdmi outputs to enable separate employment of the digital streams for audio as well as video?

 

[Krio]

Mmmm have one HDMI out and one optical out ... is that enough?

 

[lovinthehd]

Mmmm have one HDMI out and one optical out ... is that enough?

View attachment 17916

Depends what how you want to use it....

I meant to ask what this means from your previous post, do not understand it well:
If you tell me that the player Samsung would do the job then i go for the 7009 but if you tell me that i have to spend 800 USD for a decent player only for upgrade 4k then i ll go for the 6010 and still buy the samsung player at 130 USD (http://www.samsung.com/us/video/home-audio/BD-H6500/ZA).