home audio gurus!

[Mucman]

Here is the situation :

My brother received two DVD players (one was a gift one was won). Neither have any 5.1 decoding, nor does our receiver (Sony STR-D1090). What I am inquiring about is whether to get a new receiver with 5.1 decoding or get a new DVD player with 5.1 decoding (we have a 5.1 speaker setup). We can return one of the DVD players (Panasonic) while we can't return the Sony one. So we are stuck with a DVD player either way so I was thinking of getting a new receiver as the best option, considering ours is 5 years old. What would be the best bang for the buck model that we can find? 500-600 bucks Canadian.

 

[LordJezo]

Well do the DVD players support surround sound output? As in, do they have either an optical or coaxial digital output?

 

[kami]

$500-$600 Canadian is a nice budget for a decent receiver. I paid $500 Cdn for my Yamaha RX-V496 but this was a while ago and you can probably find it for like $400-$450 now. You won't find it at a store like Future Shop...they just carry mainstream (and in the end, lesser quality) models. You'd have to go to an audio/home theater shop that specialized in speakers and audio electronics.
The Yamaha has Dolby Digital and DTS decoding and some nice features. yamaha also arguably has the best DSP (digital signal processing) system in the business.

Also take a look into Onkyo receivers.

RX-V496

 

[Viper GTS]

Buy a receiver, use the digital out on the DVD player to dump your 5.1 audio directly to your receiver.

Problem solved.

Viper GTS

 

[Mucman]

Definitely going with a new receiver now... Audio Review had a lot of good things to say about the Sony DVP-S360 (after the disc detection mechanism was fixed).

 

[need4spd]

Look at that Yamaha or a Denon.... (not sure of the Canadian prices) These two brands are tops among brands of receivers.

Denon has a 1601 and 1801 that are very nice....I have a Denon 1800 and love it!! (Paid around $400 US) Plenty of power for my B&W speakers and Sub.. also it has individual volume control for every speaker.. Fronts, rears, center and Sub-woof.


Enjoy

 

My family's got a Kenwood VR-505 receiver. Some people have told me that Kenwood components aren't very reliable, but we've had ours for about 6 months with absolutely no problems. It decodes DD 5.1, DTS 5.1 and Pro-Logic, of course.

Just buy an optical Toslink cable and connect it from the DVD to the reciever, and then you'll be able to hear everything the director wanted you to hear. Have fun.

Mike

 

[Mucman]

Looks like my bro wants to go with the Sony STR-DE575. He just spent a lot of dough for an engagement ring so by returning the Panasonic he should be able to get the receiver for next to nothing. It is $300cdn at the local FS...

If I had it my way I would buck up a little more but I think he is sort of broke right now

 

[Garion]

If you've got the cash, get something with ProLogic II - Supposed to be pretty awesome for movies (like old VCR tapes) with just ProLogic surround encoding. Of course, if you don't have many of those and will rely on DVD's it's not really necessary.

Check out the Denon AVR 1602 - A great receiver for a very good price. Also heard good things about the Kenwoods.

- G

 

[Huma]

I grabbed a denon 1802 for $650CAD including 1 yr extended warranty.

If you wanna spend less, look into the kenwoods. Ranging from just under $300 to $450 for the 509 with svid/component switching and rf remote.

The denon will sound better, but the kenwood feature set for the price is great.

 

[Goi]

I'd go with the receiver route, but check first if your DVD will do DD/DTS passthrough. It has to have an S/PDIF output, either in coaxial or optical(TOSLink) form. As for choice of receivers, I'd recommend the Outlaw 1050, or the lower end models from Denon(1802/2802). Other decent brands are Yamaha(gimmicky, with lotsa DSP options), Marantz(better for music than for HT/features), Onkyo, and Pioneer Elite(normally overpriced though).

 

[Salvador]

Definitely go with the decoder out of the receiver. IMO, Yamaha makes the best A/V processors. If you wanted to buy a Yamaha now and then upgrade your amps later to use your Yamaha as the A/V Preamp, that would work great. Other brands to consider in this price range would be Denon, H/K or even Onkyo.

Of course, I'd prefer separates, but you have to stick to a budget. I'd say grab a Yamaha and buy a good enough model that will allow you to upgrade later if that's what you're after.

Sal

 

[Muadib]

Sell one of the DVD players, and get a receiver.