Yamaha RX-V 1400 or Denon 3805

[egreen1976]

I am deciding between (so far) the yamaha 1400 and the denon 3805. i have 2 sets of speakers boston accoustics (main room) and Mirages. Which receiver would sound best with these brands? Also I have an old yamaha that i like but don't love. It is very reliable though. I like that the denon has 3 componant video ins. But the Yamaha is THX select. Does that matter? I listen to music and watch movies equally. HELP PLEASE!!!

 

[Leprkon]

the video inputs are pretty useless if you have a decent TV. If you can feed the video signals direct into the TV, that's the best way to go. Keep in mind there is no "upconvert" or a video signal.. it will NEVER be any better than the original source.. Regardless of the advertising, a VCR run through a "video upconvert" will never look any better than a VCR. It may actually look worse, as you now have elctrical pieces and possibly some digital processing being done.

The ONLY and I repeat ONLY value to video upconvert is the ability to use one cable and one input on your TV. If you have the TV inputs, why add another piece in the middle ?

if that's the only strength one receiver has over the other, I'd be looking at the strengths of the second as my primary option.

(did I mention that I'm not a fan of video upconvert ??)

 

[BMXTRIX]

That's probably subject for a different topic - as video processing goes on inside every plasma, dlp, and lcd on the market to make the video signal fit the screen and often times outboard processors do a lot better job with the video than the on board processors. As well, the conversion from composite to component provides a more stable wiring system which can more cleanly carry the signals from your equipment to the display device. Finally, upconversion allows on-screen menus to be displayed on the component inputs of the display device.

All that said: The RX-V1500 is the new Yamaha receiver and I am a big fan of all the functionality it offers. You may not care about zone 2 or 3 functions or things like that though, so there are lots of other great offerrings out there for your money. But, Yamaha will give you that reliable, daily watcher, that you can run for 10 years pretty darn consistently. At 800 bucks, it won't kill your bank account the way really top notch gear will. I'm not sure where 'really top notch' begins, but I'm pretty darn sure that 800 bucks isn't it. Rotel offers some pretty bang for the buck audio gear that I would place more in the 'top notch' category. Still more than 800 bucks though.

Oh, and it looks like the Yamaha 2500 (out sometime next month?) is more a head-to-head competitor with the 3805. It's MSRP is $999.00 with 3 component switching and a whole lot of other bells and whistles. There is a preview from CEDIA here on this site with a back panel photo to drool over.

 

[Leprkon]

Begging your pardon, BUT...

As well, the conversion from composite to component provides a more stable wiring system which can more cleanly carry the signals from your equipment to the display device.

The signal still has to get from the original device to the receiver. The wiring is ALREADY unstable. You are merely adding more layers of uncertainty by adding MORE wiring.

Most TV's allow the receiver to be set up as it's own video input. You can run the on-screen menus from there via your TV's remote. It's not like you have hit 6 consecutive home runs against Roger Clemens to get that menu to show up.

 

[egreen1976]

As for sound quality, which do you guys prefer? that is most important to me, And which is the best match with boston accoustics?

 

[Duffinator]

Switch Hitter

As mentioned below the Yamaha 1400/1500 are not a good comparison to the Denon 3805. The 1400/1500 is closer to the Denon 2805. The Yamaha 2400/2500 is a better comparison to the 3805.

Both sound great for the price. The Yamaha has more DSP's and many think it sounds better for movies. Many think the Denon's are slightly better with music.

I have a 3805 and never planned on switching my DVD or HD through the receiver. But to clean up my cables I decided to switch my Sony DVD (480P)and TiVo /DirecTV unit through the receiver using a component cable to my TV. And originally my HD/DirecTV directly to my TV. I have a Toshiba 56H80 and the picture from my DVD player looked fine with no degradation in picture quality that I could detect. Plus my wife (remember the WAF) loved how easy it was to switch sources. So now I have my HD switching through the receiver as well. The ALCS game in HD that just finished on FOX looked terrific as usual and I will continue to switch both DVD and HD through my receiver.

Beleive me, I was totally against using the receiver for switching any video sources knowing the degradation of the picture quality was sure to follow. But it works great.

 

[Shinerman]

I have the Yamaha 1400 and I also have Boston Acoustic VR965 mains. I love the sound I get with this combo. I was running the Bostons off an older Onkyo receiver at first and there was a significant improvement in sound when I switched to the Yamaha. Now, I am not sure if this improved improvement was due to Yamaha's "sound" or just a better amp and better processing.

I think you would really be happy with either receiver but my personal vote would be for the Yamaha because I really love the sound I have now with my system.

Shinerman