Denon 1803 or 2802 ?? (1 Viewer)

[Richard A]

Sorry for the long post.
I have the opportunity to "upgrade" from a Pioneer Elite VSX-33 receiver to either a Denon 2802 or 1803. I need to choose from either of these two models or a Sony non ES model as I am receiving a "price" from a manager of a store for whom I did some work for. I will be paying approximately $600 Canadian for either of these models....which is about my budget limit right now. I'm looking for component switching, DPL2 and and "ES" capability. My speakers are Axiom m3ti, vp100 and 4 qs4's.
Any opinions regarding these models would be appreciated.
Thanks
Richard

 

[Richard Harvey]

Well, definitely get one of the Denon's if the Sony ES line is out of the picture. I personally own a 2802 and love it to death, but haven't played with an 1803 yet so I have no opinion.

Rich

 

[Stephen Hopkins]

If you plan on using a 7.1 speaker setup, go with the 1803 because the 2802 doesn't support 2 back surround speakers.

If you plan on adding external amplification down the road, go with the 2802, because it has preouts for the L/R/C channels and the 1803 doesn't

Otherwise, they're pretty much the same. Given the 2 at the same price, i'd probably go with the 2802. The preouts are nice, and if you really wanted 2 back speakers you could easily wire them in series, since that's essentially what the 1803 is doing internally when 2 back speakers are attached.

Hope this helps.

 

[Richard A]

Thanks for your help.... I'm moving toward the 2802 but...
I have a question about the rear surround on both.
I believe that both have dts-es discrete, however I'm confused regarding the DD rear center. the 2802 says 6.1 matrix and the 1803 says dd 6.1 ex. What's the difference?

Also, does the 2802 use better components internally, or would the 1803 use higher quality components seeing that it's a newer product?

thanks again
Richard

 

[Stephen Hopkins]

Both decode DD-EX. The 2802 doesn't list it because Denon hadn't ironed out the licensing w/ dobly at the time of production.

As for the 2802 having better components, usually they higher up a product line you go, the better the construction gets. However, these 2 units are so close that i would guess very little differers. As for the 1803 being better because it's newer, i wouldn't count on that. Sometimes the opposite can be true. Sometimes when adding new features from model year to model year, manufacturers are forced to cut more and more corners to keep production costs down.

That said, i have the 1803 and love it. It seems to be built very solidly, especially for a receiver at this price point.

Hope this helps.