Help decision needed 606 or 506

[admin_exported]

Panasonic TH42 PV500 that originally had JVC cinema in a box (it was all i could afford at the time), Sky HD and PS3. I have now decided to take the plunge and get a "grown up" sound system and after a bit of research and good deal on some Kef 2005.2 need an amp to go with them. I understand the specification and flexibility differences between the two receivers but wondered if there are any noticable audio at normal volumes or indeed visual differences (upscaling on 606 but not on the 506). My understanding is that the Tv already upscales to a certain extent but is this to 720p/ 1080i? I have been told that so does the PS3 and sky HD ? Would the receiver do a better job than all of them and therefore is it worth the extra £150 or so for receiving better pictures from non HD content and potential for HD audio as well. Does this make sense or am i way off the mark?? Help !!

 

[Andrew Everard]

Audio would be much the same between the two until you play something (eg a Blu-ray disc) with an HD soundtrack from the PS3 using the Linear PCM output. Then the 606 will earn its keep - the 506 doesn't do HD audio.

Picture quality? Yes, I think using the 606's upscaler will give better results from the Sky HD box when showing standard definition material.

 

[Anonymous]

[quote user="Andrew Everard"]Picture quality? Yes, I think using the 606's upscaler will give better results
from the Sky HD box when showing standard definition material. [/quote]

That's really interesting.
At the moment on my system, my Sky HD upscales to 1080i then switched via the amp to my projector, so basically what I see is what comes from the Sky box. If I were to get an amp that upscales to 1080p then what I would get is instead of the frame made of 2 fields it would output a single frame. My question is will the progressive scan output be noticably better and worth the investment?

 

[Anonymous]

I dont think the 606 upscales to 1080p from what i have read (only 720p/ 1080i), although it will pass through 1080p from source. But if there is a noticable difference in picture from non HD content on sky then perhaps it is worth the extra money over the 506.

 

[Anonymous]

[quote user="petefin"]I dont think the 606 upscales to 1080p from what i have read (only 720p/ 1080i), although it will pass through 1080p from source. But if there is a noticable difference in picture from non HD content on sky then perhaps it is worth the extra money over the 506.
[/quote]

Just checked, the 606 will only upscale to 1080i. From what I understand standard definition channels on Sky HD are upscaled tp 1080i anyway, I'm not sure then how the 606 will give better results? I would guess if there's no upscaling to do the 606 will just send the signal as it is and do nothing to it, therefore best option is to plug the projector straight into the Sky box.

 

[Anonymous]

Just figured it out.

Don't let the Sky HD box the upscaling, set it to output normal, then let the amp do the upscaling.

 

[Anonymous]

I like to see if there is a real difference in picture with the upscaling on the 606 before purchase, but have just decided that I am going to have to get the 606 anyway, fathers day and all!