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Replace Receiver or not

post #1 of 9
5/31/09 at 3:10pm
Thread Starter 
Hey all,

I'm buying new speakers in the next couple of weeks. I currently have some old Boston Acoustics (VR20s) all the way around with a matching center and am replacing them with Paradigm Studio V.5 all the way around (60s or 100s for the fronts) which should yield a huge improvement in sound for me. My system will stay at 5.1 as I don't really have a room suited for 7.1 sound.

My current receiver is a Denon AVR-5700.. I'm a huge fan of the Denon sound and have owned several of them in the past. If I were to upgrade, my price range would be somewhere around the 4308 or the new 4310.

I understand that by upgrading I'd be getting the latest Dolby and DTS codecs, Audyssey features, and a host of all the latest bells and whistles. So my question is really multi-part:

1) What's the difference, in terms of build quality and sound output, between my old 5 series and the new 4 series? Would I be taking a step down in quality to gain these new features? Or have the components in my 5700 trickled down (or been obsoleted by) the new technology going into the 4 series?

2) Are Dolby TrueHD and DTS MA a big improvement over my existing DD and DTS 5.1 capabilities? Keeping in mind that the speaker change is already going to give me a boost in sound quality?

3) Do you have other suggestions/comments/questions for me? I'm open to ideas here

Thanks for your time

-Dave
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post #2 of 9
5/31/09 at 3:54pm

Re: Replace Receiver or not

1) There is some talk of A/V products adding features but losing a bit of build quality in the process this year. But going from a 5700 to a 4308/4310 should be a huge improvement in sound quality based on Audyssey alone. Not to mention the other benefits like video processing, better dacs (hopefully) and other internal parts, hdmi and better bass management.

2) I wouldn't say it's huge. Think DTS 5.1 vs. DVD-A 5.1. It's worth the upgrade to me but I'm hooked on this stuff! On the other hand, I'm using two older receivers with my two BR players.

3) What BR player do you have or are considering? Otherwise, the basic good quality (but not expensive) cables and wires, and a good surge protector should also be considered.
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post #3 of 9
5/31/09 at 7:15pm
Thread Starter 

Re: Replace Receiver or not

Hey Gene.. thanks for the quick response..

I'm using a Panasonic BD30 for my BR needs.. (I also have an HDA3 for HD-DVD.. oh the shame)

Additionally, I have an Oppo DVD player, a Panasonic RP91K DVD player, a DirecTV HR20 DVR, and a Pioneer Elite CLD-79 (ah the good old days) all piping into a Mistubishi Diamond WS-65815 (CRT based, 1080i).. everything is connected to a Panamax (forget the model #) surge protector and conditioner

I'm using a mix of Better Cables that I've had for a while and HDMI cables from Monoprice..
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post #4 of 9
5/31/09 at 7:25pm

Re: Replace Receiver or not

Looks like you have everything else pretty well covered. That 5700 looks like it was a pretty good receiver in it's day, but I think you would be Wowed! by a 4308/4310. But that's easy for me to say. It's not my money .
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post #5 of 9
5/31/09 at 9:19pm

Re: Replace Receiver or not

I would second the benefits of Audyssey. The difference was night and day moving from my B&K AVR507 to the Onkyo 876. Even my wife noticed and commented on the difference in clarity. Of course your system is different, but in my system, moving down to a much less expensive AVR with Audyssey was a step up in sound quality and I didn't change speakers.

I agree with Gene that moving to the new HD audio formats was not a huge difference.
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post #6 of 9
6/1/09 at 11:17am
Thread Starter 

Re: Replace Receiver or not

Thanks for the feedback guys.. I'm still thinking this over, of course.. I wish I understood the benefits of Audyssey and had a frame of reference for what you're talking about in that regard.

Also, if I do spring for the new receiver.. it looks like the 4310 is more of a successor to the 3808.. given the deals that can be had on the 3808 and 4308, I wonder if the 4310 is worth the purchase..
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post #7 of 9
6/1/09 at 1:31pm

Re: Replace Receiver or not

Quote:
Originally Posted by David Glen
Thanks for the feedback guys.. I'm still thinking this over, of course.. I wish I understood the benefits of Audyssey and had a frame of reference for what you're talking about in that regard.

Audyssey uses an included microhone to automate the speaker calibration process (setting all speakers to the same relative dB output), which was formerly done with test tones and an SPL meter. Not only can it calibrate for a single sweet spot, but it can spread the calibration out to your whole listening area, with designated "prime" and "secondary" seating spots, so as to better conform your sound to your room.
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post #8 of 9
6/1/09 at 6:58pm

Re: Replace Receiver or not

There's much more to it than that. It not only sets the distance and levels, but it also corrects for room modes for every speaker and basically tries to flatten the response and takes out the peaks and nulls so all dialog and sound is closer to the same level. On the higher end models you are talking about, like the 3808 and 876 and up, you can also get dynamic EQ which means it doesn't just set this for reference level and then things get out of whack when you don't actually listen at that level. There there's also dynamic volume, etc.

Someone correct me if I mistated anything, I know Audyssey is much more complicated than even an equalizer, but I think that might give you some idea.
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post #9 of 9
6/8/09 at 8:39am
Thread Starter 

Re: Replace Receiver or not

Well.. thanks to those of you that gave me some feedback..

I decided all the benefits of a modern receiver would be worth the upgrade after reading your comments and poking around in some other threads.. I couldn't decide between the 4308 and the 4310.. so I did what any other respectable, crazy, home theater nut would do and dug deep and bought the 5308.. which seems like a better replacement for my aging 5700 anyway..

Now I just have to wait for delivery and go grab my new speakers (I need to do 1 more listen/comparison)

Thanks again

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