New AV receiver time

rubberduck · 22 May 2018 at 19:09

Thinking about finally upgrading my trusty Denon 2805... My question is if I was to bite the bullet and go for a mid range model like the Denon 3400 what would I be missing out on in terms of new features that may be released over the next 2 year or are in current top end models that may trickle down to the mid range? FYI I doubt I will ever go beyond a 7 speaker setup.

Obviously I am currently on standard Dolby digital or DTS so this is going to be a massive upgrade for me. That said I want my next purchase to last 10+ years so want to make sure I won't be missing out in any new tech that might be released in the next year or so

Any thoughts appreciated regarding future proofing of AV receivers.

MG42Maniac · 22 May 2018 at 20:10

I picked up an Onkyo 676 earlier this year. Does pretty much every format under the sun. Good sound to boot. My previous one was nearly 7 years old.

crinkleshoes · 22 May 2018 at 20:17

Arcam AVR850

Spook187 · 22 May 2018 at 22:06

crinkleshoes said:
Arcam AVR850

Here we go flash harry has to have his say, the guy wants a 500 notes one, you fire up a 4.5 k one yawn. :rolleyes:

rubberduck · 22 May 2018 at 23:02

crinkleshoes said:
Arcam AVR850

Can't quite stretch to that and is probably not an obvious upgrade path from an amp I purchased well over 10 years ago for around £100. Out of interest what does an Arcam bring to the table over what a £600 amp can muster?

crinkleshoes · 22 May 2018 at 23:26

Fidelity & balance to the audio.

I also think I see improved video processing, although that might be placebo effect.

My last amp was a high end Marantz

Hedge · 23 May 2018 at 06:49

I went from Denon to Yamaha and I was pleased with the result. Maybe consider their range.

james.miller · 23 May 2018 at 07:40

Spook187 said:
Here we go flash harry has to have his say, the guy wants a 500 notes one, you fire up a 4.5 k one yawn.

HAHA. BadBob incarnate. BadBob was a member around 10 years ago, used to do the same thing only worse, he would consistently ignore any requirements in an OP, suggesting monstrously overpriced kit took every chance he could to remind everybody how expensive his amps were, and how big his subwoofer was. Conversing with that guy was like talking to a brick wall lol.

crinkleshoes · 23 May 2018 at 08:35

My sub is rather large too... maybe I’m compensating for something...

lucid · 23 May 2018 at 11:32

rubberduck said:
Obviously I am currently on standard Dolby digital or DTS so this is going to be a massive upgrade for me. That said I want my next purchase to last 10+ years so want to make sure I won't be missing out in any new tech that might be released in the next year or so

Any thoughts appreciated regarding future proofing of AV receivers.

I think the next major thing for the coming 12-24 months will be HDR Plus. This is the enhancement to HDR. It's the open source alternative to Dolby Vision.

If you're not familair with it, HDR Plus works very much in the same way as DD/DTS do with Blu-ray TrueHD/DTS Master Audio sound tracks. The player detects whether the amp is capable of dealing with high def audio. If it isn't, then either the DD or DTS version of the soundtrack is played. DD/DTS are the core audio tracks, so are a fall-back when HD audio decoding isn't available.

HDR Plus works in the same way. If the TV and amp can't deal with it, then the fall-back is HDR. This is the same way that Dolby Vision works.

Although HDR Plus has been around since late 2015, it was limited to some Samsung displays and the content was only available to US online streaming viewers. That all changed earlier it's year.

In March a deal was struck to make access to HDR Plus much more widely available. It increase the number of other manufacturers on board, and it included authoring equipment to help make content easier to encode.

It's still early days for the format though. I'm not sure if it will filter through in revised amp models or new generation equipment in time to affect your upgrade plans.

jpaul · 23 May 2018 at 12:10

lucid said:
HDR Plus works in the same way. If the TV and amp can't deal with it, then the fall-back is HDR. This is the same way that Dolby Vision works.

to allow the Amp to pass through HDR plus (or Dolby vision) will it need more than standard hdmi2.0a/4k support ?

crinkleshoes said:
I also think I see improved video processing, although that might be placebo effect.

you acknowledged it maybe placibo, but unless it offered 4:4:4 scaling, how might amp be impacting video ... it's just pass through ?

lucid · 23 May 2018 at 13:28

jpaul said:
to allow the Amp to pass through HDR plus (or Dolby vision) will it need more than standard hdmi2.0a/4k support ?

Have a look at this https://www.digitaltrends.com/home-theater/hdmi-explained-everything-you-need-to-know-news-specs/

HDR10 Plus and Dolby Vision both use dynamic metadata. That is supported in HDMI 2.1 but not HDMI 2.0

nlyh · 23 May 2018 at 19:58

Answering on the Arcam questions above...

Arcam AVR amps are excellent in terms of sound quality, and in my opinion far superior in that field to other brands (Unless you are going beyond Arcam with crazy priced high end brands). They can be a good option if you are willing to go second hand with your price range. However, some of the older models can have problems in terms of lacking newer features.

The Arcam AVR 380 I have has issues with 2.2 hdcp, so I just have the HDMI cable going from source to TV or whatever and bypassing the AVR. I use coax or optical to send the audio signals to AVR to process which is still fine for my needs. It can be a bit of a faff on though.

If you want something that works out of the box without hassle and with all current standards, then buying something new in your price range would be the best option.

jpaul · 23 May 2018 at 20:19

There don't appear to be any fully compatible HDMI 2.1 amps yet, so full hrd10 plus support seems an aspiration for tomorrow;
also since the hdmi version seems to preodimately dictate the maximum bitrate, not sure the 18Gb/s with current ~~hdmi2.1~~ hdmi 2.0 precludes using hdr10 plus for a typical/slow 24hz movie frame rate ?

edit : fix hdmi version

RSR · 23 May 2018 at 20:31

I've just updated my old Denon AVR3808 to the Sony STR-DN1080 and I have been really impressed with it for the money, sonically its better than the Denon on the same MA speakers and the extra features are a huge bonus.

I will upgrade to a Arcam at some point but only when they release HDMI 2.1 series of av amps, but to date I have not heard anything that sounds as good as a Arcam amp and MA PL series speakers.