Receiver question

[QueBert]

A friend has a Denon 1708 which is not working right for him, we're not getting audio from it. So I'm looking for a replacement for him. He doesn't have a ton of cash to blow, and I'd like to help him get something that's not a POS. I'm looking at the Yamaha RX-V371BL & RX-V471BL. I don't recall the brand of speakers he has off hand, but they're a (the?) Magnolia house brand. Definitely not audiophile, but they sound pretty decent. His setup right now is 1 HDMI and 1 coaxial audio cable since his Denon won't do HDMI audio. I'd like to point him to something that'll do HDMI audio, he doesn't need anything fancy or gimmicky like 3d sound. He's looking to spend $350 or less. Are the 2 Yamaha's I'm looking into any good? I know the v371 is pretty low end price wise and missing a lot, but I'm wondering how it compares to his Denon sound wise.

 

[amdhunter]

I have my eye on this because of the great iPad integration.

I just don't have the money right now since I bought a new LCD.

 

[amdhunter]

edit: double post

 

[NutBucket]

Low end Yamahas may not do HDMI audio either so be careful with that.

Also, there's lots of good refurbs out there. Dakmart sells Denon refurbs and they're factory authorized. Onkyo has their outlets for refurbs as well.

I don't really pay attention to iP____ integration nor do I care about streaming audio so I can't offer much input on those topics.

A feature you definitely want is Audyssey self-calibration for speaker setup. Its an auto-calibration feature that adjusts the receiver settings based on what speakers you have, speaker arrangement, etc.

I would suggest this one: http://www.dakmart.com/Audio-Home-A...SURROND-RECEIVER-W-WARRANTY/product_info.html

I run the same receiver but paid quite a bit more a couple years back. Has all the feature you really need IMHO.

 

[SP33Demon]

I was looking at the Onkyo for 199. Not a bad little receiver on the cheaps.

 

[QueBert]

Low end Yamahas may not do HDMI audio either so be careful with that.

Also, there's lots of good refurbs out there. Dakmart sells Denon refurbs and they're factory authorized. Onkyo has their outlets for refurbs as well.

I don't really pay attention to iP____ integration nor do I care about streaming audio so I can't offer much input on those topics.

A feature you definitely want is Audyssey self-calibration for speaker setup. Its an auto-calibration feature that adjusts the receiver settings based on what speakers you have, speaker arrangement, etc.

I would suggest this one: http://www.dakmart.com/Audio-Home-A...SURROND-RECEIVER-W-WARRANTY/product_info.html




I run the same receiver but paid quite a bit more a couple years back. Has all the feature you really need IMHO.

This is the problem, many don't list if they do audio over HDMI, and even in the manuals a lot of them don't seem to mention anything about this. I'm not sure if it's his receiver that's the issue, or where the audio plugs are in the TV are the problem. If it's the TV we're stuck because he had this stupid custom built unit to house the TV and there's zero chance of getting the TV out and it's impossible to get behind it to plug anything new in. Looks great but ugh bad idea.

 

[Ross Ridge]

I'm not sure if there is any current model year AV receiver you can buy today that doesn't support HDMI audio. Both the RX-V371 and RX-V471 support HDMI audio. A simple way to check is to look for DTS HD or Dolby TrueHD support.

Note that the RX-V371 and RX-V471 are 5 channel amplifiers, but the Denon 1708 is a 7 channel amplifier. If your friend is using surround back speakers, neither of these receivers are a suitable replacement. While the Denon 1708 is missing a number of modern features, it wasn't an entry level model like these two Yamaha receivers, so there could be other reasons why they wouldn't be a good replacement.

 

[Oyeve]

Have you considered repairing the 1708?