Which would you pick, Pioneer 49TXi w/47Ai or Denon 5803 w/9000 (1 Viewer)

[Geo]

Subject pretty much tells the story.....
If cost was not a concern, which of these combos would you pick? And why?

Regards,

geo

 

[Ben Stern]

Neither. I'd get an Outlaw pre-pro and power amp.

 

[Jamey F]

I didn't have the funds to be shopping in that store isle , but I would probably lean towards the 49tx. I've read the interface on the Pioneer isn't as proprietary as the Denon. This would make it more future proof. I chose the 3803 over the 45tx, so I'm not what you would call a Pioneer man. I have no experience with either receiver. I'm only going on what I've read of the features.

I agree with Ben though. If I were spending that kinda money, I would go seperates.

 

[Dmitry]

For that kind of money you'd want DVD-Audio *AND* SACD. Denon only has one. Plus, like Jamey said, Pioneer uses Firewire, which is somewhat of a standard connection. And, it's a bit cheaper (quite a bit).

 

[Kevin C Brown]

I'd go separates too.

(I did too! I currently have the 47ai with the Outlaw 950 and Acurus amps, with a Lex MC-8 on the way...)

 

[Geo]

Thanks for all the responses so far.
However I'm not looking for alternatives. I already have a separate pre/pro, the Lexicon MC-12B, so the Outlaw isn't really a factor. Besides from my experiences, I don't think just because it's a receiver it's bad or vise versa.
What I'm looking for is a Flagship receiver with a DVD player from the same manufacture with a digital interface. SACD is not required as I have an extra player if need be.
What I'm really looking for is what you guys think is the best processing and power in one box not two or three plus more cables.

Dmitry,
Yes the Pioneer combo is quite a bit cheaper and includes SACD. Does the Denon have anything on the Pioneer?
Regards,

geo

 

[Dmitry]

Geo,

I did some listening (although I was only interested in the receiver, not the DVD player) and I have to say that at normal listening levels I couldn't say "this sounds better" or even "I like this better". Other than that, you can read spec sheets on both (or all four of them, counting the DVD players) and see if there's anything in the features department that can sway you one way or another. Denon's amps are rated higher, but I believe they are overrated (and maybe more so than Pioneer's). It's all a matter of preference. I ended up with Denon due largely to the fact that I was upgrading from 5700, but if I were starting fresh I may've picked the Pioneer just as easily.

Sorry if I wasn't much help :frowning:

 

[Scott Merryfield]

The Pioneer receiver also has the MCACC auto-calibration feature, which the Denon does not have. This feature is also on my Elite 47TX unit, and really helped with some room frequency response issues.

 

[Till]

Hi Geo,

I don't have too much experience with the Denon other than I found it not as ergonomic and not as nice looking. The proprietary and not really working "i-link" also turned me off. Dolby Headphone would have been a plus though.

Maybe my long review can sway you towards the Pio.

http://pub106.ezboard.com/faussiedvd...ID=407. topic

You'll find much more info there, too.

Till

 

[DanielSmi]

What does the Outlaw combo have to do with the question? Can the 950 play dvd-a or SACD, NO!! This is between receiver/ dvd player combos not prepro/ amp combo, sorry wrong category.

Anyways, there's not much difference between the two if you take away the price ,ability for SACD, MCACC and better DAC's. That's what the 49TXi has over the 5803 but does have two multi-ins (if you're using 49TXi/47ai combo they aren't necessary) and can decode Dolby Headphones; unlike Till I don't see a need for it (it's not because my receiver doesn't have it so I feel a need to say it's worthless because I'm jealous I'm not like that) because I've never watched movie with headphones on especially when I have a 7.1 setup also because when I did try DH with Pearl Harbor I didn't like it. To be fair I've heard from 5803 users the Pearl Harbor was bad with Dh and Matrix which wasn't encoed for DH is much better. The only market I see for DH is in the cars or vans with the dvd screen not high-end flagship surround sound processors with 7 amps. If it's too late to watch a movie and you have to wear headphones then it's too late to watch a movie period IMO.

So in the end I'd choose the 49TXi/47ai. But if money was not option then I'd get both.

Daniel Smith

 

[Geo]

Till and Daniel,
Thanks for your input.
Excellent review Till, that must of taken some time and thought.
One question... do you know if you can switch video sources on the 49TXi, for example can you listen to CD and watch a different source?

Daniel,
You mentioned that the DACs are better in the Pioneer. I thought the Denon had some pretty good DACs?

Regards,

geo

 

[DanielSmi]

Yes you can listen to a cd and watch something else on the 49TXi it's called "video select". I use it to play video games and listen to a cd at the same time.

They aren't that much better but the 49TXi uses BurrBrown PCM 1704 DAC's which are the same as the Denon 9000 and the 5803 uses PCM 1738E which is the same as the 47TX. I believe the 1704 are multibit can do more upsampling and than the 1738 other than that they're the same.

Daniel Smith