receiver options and components...confusion (1 Viewer)

[Daryl_hawk]

Hey guys, just want to say really cool site. Learned a lot already. Here's my situation though (and please forgive me if I chose the wrong forum to post in...I chose this cuz they are options on receivers): I currently have a Denon AVR 1603 and am not sure if I am entirely happy with the sound (although it is still decent). I recently had an HK AVR 230 on loan to compare and felt there was a sweeter sound, more defined bass and more umph to the HK. I am thinking though if I were to switch to HK I would want to go to the 330 or 430 for true 7.1 and a few extras since those are becoming more prominent. A couple questions have arisen though that I just don't understand:

1. DAC's: The Denon rep said that apparently Burr Brown DAC's are basically the best and that is what Denon uses (I have recently found out that that is not until their 3800 series though). Is this true that BB is the best? Do you know what other good brands like HK use? Or Marantz or Onkyo?

2. When receivers advertise 32 bit DSP, is that only refering to the sound effect modes like hall, jazz etc, or is that actually referring to the DAC's that decode your movies/cd's etc?? I though for actually decoding music/movies etc 24 bit was the highest? Am i out to lunch?

3. Component video switching: What exactly is the bandwidth of HDTV signals? Am I right in assuming that the bandwidth is different for 720p and 1080i? I noticed that the highest that the HK has is 50Mhz and Denon has 100Mhz. Is 50 MHz adequate for HDTV (720p and 1080i) or do you need something higher like the 100MHz.

All this stuff can be a little overwhelming until you can grasp it so any input would be greatly appreciated. I don't don't want to make a hasty decision and buy uninformed and wind up not pleased again.

greatly appreciated,
Daryl.

 

[Alex-C]

Hi Daryl.

I dont have any answers but I have the same question as you...sort of:

I have a Mits 65" WS with 1 1080i input (no dvi, hdmi) and a couple of component inputs and a Denon AVR 3801.

I would like to know if I get a DVD player that upconverts to 1080i (Zenith makes one) and I have a HD DirecTivo box, can I use the Denon's component switching to send both signals to the 1080i input ?

I dont quite understand if you can component switch a 1080i signal through the Denon....what are the requirements ? Anyone do this ?

 

[Steve Schaffer]

Alex,

You need to know the bandwidth capability of the receiver's component switching. If it's 40mhz or higher you're good to go as far as switching 1080i. The bandwidth spec for your component switching should be listed in the specifications section at the back of your receiver's owner's manual, if you still have it.

Denon 3803 and 3805 series receivers have 100mhz component switching, don't know about the 3801.

 

[Alex-C]

It appears that the frequency response of the component video jacks is 5 Hz - 27 Mhz +0, -3 dB....so ???

 

[Steve Schaffer]

27 mhz isn't considered adequate for HD component video switching.

If you're not averse to the idea, one of the cheap mechanical av switchboxes from Radio Shack will work. These have left and right rca jacks and composite video rca jacks, are mechanical devices so handle plenty of bandwidth. You use the audio and video jacks just for the 3 component video cables and switch audio thru your receiver. They don't have remoted control so you have to get up and mash a button on the switcher, but they are very cheap and work fine as an interim switching solution if you don't want to do a relatively expensive receiver upgrade.

There are, of course, more expensive separate component video switchboxes available with either auto-source detection and switching or remote control, but I don't have any specific info on them.

 

[Daryl_hawk]

So any info or comments on the DAC questions I posted above??

Also, I saw another post somewhere about the video bandwidth and one guy said the receiver has to have 3 times the capability of the video stream (ie. if stream is 30Mhz.....need 90Mhz on receiver). Is this correct??? Just curious cuz this thread thus far, if i understand correctly is indicating otherwise....no I'm confused :frowning:

 

[Jeff Hipps]

IMO, knowing the brand name of the DAC's gives one insufficient information to use as the basis of a decision on quality. All the DAC companies offer a wide range of models with different capabilities and different prices. Burr Brown can be better than Analog Devices or it could be worse depending on the actual models being compared.

All the brands you're considering think audio quality is important and I suspect that all are using quality DAC's.

As to the component bandwidth question: flat to 35 MHz is sufficient for lossless HD switching. Units that are down 3 dB at 27 MHz will lose a small of detail. Most people can't see it.

Jeff