How much do I spend to upgrade my receiver

[admin_exported]

I have a Pioneer VSX D2011 receiver. This DTS/THX Select receiver got 5 stars in What HiFi in Jan 2003 and has served me well. WHF said

the levels of detail on offer are amazing

and

its about as clear a five star product as can be

So, my question now is how much would I need to spend to upgrade? Forget video switching/upscaling for the moment, and forget adding any more speakers. I want to upgrade the quality. How much better would an Onk 905 or 876 sound? What about the new Pionner receivers? Are they on a par? I don't want to strive towards an upgrade to find that it is just a sideways step? I have multi channel in so will be looking to get a blu-ray player with on-board decoding to give me HD audio.

Do I wait until Arcam give us a musical receiver that is the best of both worlds?

Whay do you think?

 

[Dave_]

i'm holding out for the arcam avr 600 personally, due out in november but it's a pricey option at 2.3k.

 

[Anonymous]

The new Arcam certainly looks promising, but of course until we can review it we'll have to reserve judgement. In the meantime, Pioneer's £1500 SC-LX81 would be our suggestion for you. Although from broadly the same price class, it's certainly not a sideways step over your existing Pioneer - the processing and decoding are significantly better, and its ICEpower amplification gives it notably more speed and energy. Of course, it'll also accept all forms of high-definition audio via HDMI. Assuming you've not yet got a Blu-ray player, look for one that'll stream HD audio via its HDMI, and you'll be sorted.

 

[Anonymous]

Cheers Andy. That makes sense. What about the Onkyos? Might they be classed as a sideways step?

 

[Anonymous]

Andy

How about a 71 instead of the 81? It's a little cheaper but still seems to be essentially the same receiver.

 

[Anonymous]

It does indeed, although I can't say for certain as you'd expect - not until we've tested it. On that front, we're trying to get a review sample organized, but then again we've something of a Pioneer backlog to get through (new 50in plasma, new 37in LCD). Still, we've put in a product request, so watch this space.

 

[Anonymous]

Sorry Andy, What was your thought on the Onkyo? A sideways step perhaps?

 

[Anonymous]

Anyone else think the Onk might be a sideways move?

 

[Anonymous]

Anyone?