Jonesing for new receiver

Oyeve

Lifer
Oct 18, 1999
22,047
877
126
So, I am jonesing to get a newer receiver. My Denon 3805 has served me well but alas I want to go HDMI from my HDTV and PCwHDMI as my PC has a BR player and HDMI out and I want to utilize the new HD sounds. I use and older receiver, Denon DRA-845R that my Denon 45F turntable is connected to and connect line out into an Aux in the 3805 so I can play my vinyl records. As you may realize, these are to very large receivers and I really want to scale back on size. Are there any receivers made today with HDMI and old school turntable rca connectors? Or is "phono" 100% gone?
 

thomsbrain

Lifer
Dec 4, 2001
18,148
1
0
My Denon AVR-988 has HDMI (with 1080p upscaling) and proper phono inputs, which I use with an old Technics direct-drive. They are better quality than the inputs on my old analog Pioneer, too (less distortion from loud sources). You can apply Dolby Pro Logic IIx to the phono input if you want to matrix surround channels, and it runs active bass management for the subwoofer even in stereo mode, unless you select one of the stripped-down direct modes.

From what I saw when I was shopping, there are still lots of options from different manufacturers, but they usually only include the phono input on higher-end models.
 

EvilYoda

Lifer
Apr 1, 2001
21,198
9
81
I wouldn't put too much emphasis on a phono stage as the resurgence of vinyl has a lot of manufacturers introducing ~$200 phono preamps that are damn good quality. Even Stereophile's reviewed a few in the past couple of months. Plus, if you find a preamp that you like with your TT, you'll never have to worry about changing it as it's external of your receiver or future separates.
 

erwos

Diamond Member
Apr 7, 2005
4,778
0
76
My Sony STR-DA2400ES has a phono input. Had no idea it was any different than the others until I tried it on some normal analog stereo... YIKES!
 

Tiamat

Lifer
Nov 25, 2003
14,068
5
71
you just have to look carefully in the specifications for MM/MC phono inputs. My rotel RC-1070, for example, as a pretty good phono stage, however, it isn't a multichannel receiver either...
 

nakedfrog

No Lifer
Apr 3, 2001
61,774
17,485
136
Originally posted by: erwos
My Sony STR-DA2400ES has a phono input. Had no idea it was any different than the others until I tried it on some normal analog stereo... YIKES!

:laugh:
Yeah, that's one of those mistakes you only make once.
 

krotchy

Golden Member
Mar 29, 2006
1,942
0
76
My onkyo 705 has a Phono input on the back. The 706 (its successor) does as well and also has several HDMI inputs and all the processing you could want.
 

thomsbrain

Lifer
Dec 4, 2001
18,148
1
0
Originally posted by: EvilYoda
I wouldn't put too much emphasis on a phono stage as the resurgence of vinyl has a lot of manufacturers introducing ~$200 phono preamps that are damn good quality. Even Stereophile's reviewed a few in the past couple of months. Plus, if you find a preamp that you like with your TT, you'll never have to worry about changing it as it's external of your receiver or future separates.

That's all true, but if your gear is so amazing that it makes sense to pop $200 on a phono preamp alone, then you can almost guarantee that the receivers you're considering are good enough to already have them built-in.