Need a receiver and considering Yamaha or Denon, but open to suggestions (specs posted) (1 Viewer)

[skyguy04]

OK, I've given this some thought, and I'm considering all of the AV equipment in my house. I'm thinking that it might be best to let each "purpose" be it's own set of equipment. This way a movie can be going in the theater, different music being played throughout the house, and TV watching in the living room. However, i'm open to any suggestions and feedback. Below are my room configs and my proposed upgrades. I would love some feedback before i go spending money.

Current configuration:

Living Room:

[*]Gigabit networked HTPC as single source for all audio and video (no gaming done here)
[*]40" LCD HD TV (no 3d, yet)
[*]Kenwood VR-407 (capacitors died the other night. Needs replacing)
[*]5 Kenwood 100w 8ohm speakers + Sub
[/list]
Theater/Gaming Room

[*]Gaming PC as single source for all audio and video
[*]Optoma HD20 Projector
[*]100" Screen
[*]Logitech Z5500 surround sound as audio receiver, using 2 in-wall speakers + 2 logitech speakers + logitech sub
[/list]
Whole Home Audio

[*]8 rooms with 2 speakers in each (none powered). Volume control knobs in each room
[*]Currently no way to use any of these because the previous owner of the house took his amp with him. Doh!
[/list]



Proposed upgrades

Living Room

[*]New receiver with the following criteria
[*]At least 5.1 channels
[*]As close to 100w/channel as possible
[*]4+ HDMI ports (1.4+ for 3D)
[*]4k ready
[*]At least 1 x Component In
[*]At least 1 x Optical In
[*]At least 1 x Digital Coax In
[*]Prefer posts over springs
[*]Decode all latest Bluray audio
[/list]
Theater/Gaming Room
No upgrades

Whole Home Audio

[*]Amp that will support at least 9 rooms, probably 10 (i'm going to add speakers to the kitchen)
[*]Possibly multiple zones
[*]Some type of box to connect to my network and pull music from storage, stream internet music, and probably airplay
[/list]
As you can see, i probably don't need a crazy expensive receiver. I'm looking in the $200-$300 range... If I can get networking, airplay, etc., great! However, i don't think i have to have it because all of that can come from the HTPC. It's more important to get noticeably improved (like shocking) audio quality, and reliability (don't want to replace this thing for at least 10 years).

Please give me some suggestions on the above equipment. Will a Yamaha RX-V375 or RX-V573 do the trick? Is Audessey better than YPAO?

Thanks in advance!

 

[schan1269]

So your AVR isn't going to be the base for the rest of the whole home audio?

 

[skyguy04]

Correct, that's what i was thinking at least.... Should it be? I originally thought about that, but then thought i might be limiting myself to only watching TV or whole home audio. Not true?

My original idea was to consider the whole home audio as a second "zone". If i wanted to do this, what would i need?

 

[schan1269]

There are, literally, thousands of ways to accomplish this.

You could leave the "theater" out of this and use this...
http://usa.denon.com/us/product/pages/productdetail.aspx?CatId=MultiroomSystemsIncommand(DenonNA)&PId=DRA697CI(DenonNA) (used to be on Amazon...hhhmmm)

That will need other amps(which it would control) to be able to do 3 zones of audio. Then you'd need a 3 input/10 zone speaker switch.
http://www.amazon.com/OSD-Audio-DSM8-Speaker-Selector/dp/B001YIVJYS/ref=sr_1_4?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1372876456&sr=1-4&keywords=8+zone+speaker+selector (this one is dual source. There are 4 source out there)

And, depending how much cash you are throwing at this, you can have push buttons at the room(mounted with the volume control) to switch the feed from zone 1 to zone 2 or 3, without having to walk back to where the switch is(like the one I linked).

 

[schan1269]

Or, you could, buy a 3 zone AVR...
http://www.amazon.com/Denon-AVR-X4000--command-7-2-Channel-Networking/dp/B00CALM17C/ref=sr_1_1?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1372876706&sr=1-1&keywords=denon+x4000

And connect it to a 2 source/8zone(like linked in the prior post) and be done with it. Let it be the brain of the entire operation.

 

[skyguy04]

Thanks for the reply!

I'm curious, why do i need 3 zones? Wouldn't i just need 2? The living room and the whole home audio?

 

[schan1269]

Or if you want 5.1 while doing two more zones of audio(which the Denon 4000 won't do...it is relegated to stereo only in the theatre while the other two zones are fired up)...

http://www.amazon.com/Onkyo-TX-NR3010-9-2-Channel-Certified-Receiver/dp/B008J834YY/ref=sr_1_2?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1372876932&sr=1-2&keywords=nr5010

 

[schan1269]

Well, do you want the option of the "rest of the house" to have 2 separate audio sources?

If not...you only need an AVR with one extra zone. Then you just have to ask yourself...

1. Do I want to AVR to power it through a speaker switch?
2. Do I want it to feed an external amp into a speaker switch?
3. Do I want it to feed a 8(or 10) channel amp?

There is no wrong answer.

 

[schan1269]

Or you don't need an AVR with "zones" (cause for

 

[skyguy04]

This is very helpful information. Thank you so much for your time!

So if i go with an AVR that has an extra zone. Then pipe that into an 8-10 channel amp. Can i be listening to 5.1 from one source and stereo in the rest of the house from a 2nd source? If so, would the DRA-697ci do that? I like that receiver because i can get it for $250 at accessories4less. Trying to minimize costs w/o sacrificing anything. hah!

 

[skyguy04]

Oh, i see now that the 697 is not a surround receiver. So that's out. What if i go with a 7.1 AVR and pipe the 2 extra channels to a switch?

 

[schan1269]

The DRA 697 is NOT 5.1.

5.1 AVR with 2nd zone typically start at $500 and "are" 7.1(or 7.2).

If you are buying a secondary amp to run the "whole home", I think the Denon 1713(maybe the 1712?) was 5.1 with a "zone 2 pre-out". But it(whichever one it is) is the only one there is. Every other "2nd zone" AVR is 7.1.

 

[schan1269]

You also will need to figure out "what" you want in the 2nd zone. If any of this is "networked audio" you think you want to run via Airplay...

Try again.

I'm sure somebody has a

 

[skyguy04]

I don't think i can run digital the distance necessary anyhow. I think it's at least 100ft to the connection panel for the whole home audio, from where the AVR would be. I've already got analog ran through the walls with a convenient jack right next to where the AVR would be.

 

[schan1269]

In short.

If you want to spend

 

[schan1269]

I don't think i can run digital the distance necessary anyhow. I think it's at least 100ft to the connection panel for the whole home audio, from where the AVR would be. I've already got analog ran through the walls with a convenient jack right next to where the AVR would be.

I'm not talking "AVR to the 2nd zone amp".

I'm talking about the source CONNECTED to the AVR. Meaning your CD player has to have an analog connection to the AVR. Your STB(if you listen to the "radio stations") has to have an analog connection. Your "digital content" from your computer, which I assume you are using HDMI, the 2nd zone audio would have to use the headphone jack into the AVR.

 

[skyguy04]

Can you just confirm that if i got with a 7.1 AVR that supports multi-zone, can i run the 2 channels i'm not using to the whole home audio switch? If so, is it ok to run powered output from the amps into that switch, or is there another non-amp'd output for the 2nd zone?

 

[skyguy04]

I'm not talking "AVR to the 2nd zone amp".

I'm talking about the source CONNECTED to the AVR. Meaning your CD player has to have an analog connection to the AVR. Your STB(if you listen to the "radio stations") has to have an analog connection. Your "digital content" from your computer, which I assume you are using HDMI, the 2nd zone audio would have to use the headphone jack into the AVR.

Ah ok. Interesting... i never thought about using the headphone jack. That'll work! Then i can run airplay via the HTPC

 

[schan1269]

Can you just confirm that if i got with a 7.1 AVR that supports multi-zone, can i run the 2 channels i'm not using to the whole home audio switch? If so, is it ok to run powered output from the amps into that switch, or is there another non-amp'd output for the 2nd zone?

You can have it either way you wish. Depending on the capability of the AVR.