New Sony HD AV receivers - the definitive guide!

[trapster]

well after all the problems reported with regard to the 2400es ie stock :-/ and sky problem i was going to get the onkyo875

but after ringing richer sounds and them telling me they were getting no more stock in black,they offered me a

ONKYO 905 in black for £800

so i know this is a lot more money than the £400 sony 2400es but wow is it worth it,i have it hooked up to a set of KEF 3005SE

and i tried i am legend on bluray and wow i am blown away more by the sound than the picture to be honest.

i think i have spent to much money just to watch films but wow i dont need the local cinema any more

SAMSUNG LE52M87 1080p 24fps

ONKYO TX-NR905

KEF 3005SE

PS3 60gig

XBOX 360 ELITE

VIRGIN V+ HD box

ALPHASON APEX APX504-B

wow what great sound and picture from all of the above kit well chuffed

 

[Anonymous]

Hi dfua82

ALL the threads seem to be blaming the Sony STR-DG820 on the Sky HD box shortcoming with HDMI audio. Why does the Sky HD box HDMI only support 2 channel PCM? If I were to purchase a Blue-Ray player I would expect "Uncompressed multi channel linear PCM output with HDMI (up to 8ch)".

I notice that Sky is trying to sell the Sky HD box for as little as £75 now. + £60 installation. Is there a new HD box on the horizon?

For the money I think the STR-DG820 is good value for money. I would not expect it to have a phono in so why handle the Sky HD box shortcomings.

 

[Anonymous]

The reason why the SkyHD box outputs stereo over hdmi was partly to keep the cost down and probably also because the majority of people connect it directly to their television rather than through a home theatre system. It therefore cuts down on support/troubleshooting calls they would otherwise receive, as with LPCM surround as the default those people wouldn't get any sound! Hopefully the next generation of SkyHD will offer a choice, adjustable through the audio set-up menu.

I don't think you can realistically blame anyone other than Sony for not being able to support SkyHD properly, given that it's well known that the SkyHD boxes work this way (ie that you have to use an optical digital connection if you want surround sound). SkyHD came out first, so you would think that part of testing would have involved set-up with popular sources. However, with a fix on the way it can hopefully be put in the past.

Robert

 

[Gort1951]

I remember reading earlier that the lovely Clare said that Sony helped $ky develope the HD boxes so it is Sonys fault and they should have known better when they bought out their new amps. Didn't they expect people to plug in their HD boxes into their amps? Every other brand can use optical in for audio.

Every brand also has new amps out except for Sony.

 

[Andrew Everard]

I don't think Clare said anything of the kind, but Sony and Sky have been partnering to promote HD with subscriptions when you bought a Sony TV, so agreed this is quite an oversight.

 

[Gerrardasnails]

Andrew Everard:I don't think Clare said anything of the kind, but Sony and Sky have been partnering to promote HD with subscriptions when you bought a Sony TV, so agreed this is quite an oversight.

And the fact that with my Sony STR-DA1200ES (effectively the predecessor to the 2400), there are no such issues.

 

[Clare Newsome]

Or indeed with any other AV receiver we've tested!

Slight update to the Sony situation - they have the fix, and have promised to let us know ASAP how/when it's going to be implemented. Watch this space....

 

[Anonymous]

I have an 820 on order from superfi,and ive read somewhere that they are to be released on the 8 september! I wonder if the fix will be in place by then?

 

[Andrew Everard]

coletti:I have an 820 on order from superfi,and ive read somewhere that they are to be released on the 8 september! I wonder if the fix will be in place by then?

Given that today's the 4th, I very much doubt it.

 

[Clare Newsome]

I'd second that - when i spoke to Sony earlier, they were still considering the best way to update the 820s out in the supply chain/already with customers.

 

[Gort1951]

I was looking into getting a Yamaha RX-V3800 which can be bought quite cheap but can not get black in the UK and Europe prices are quite high which do have black.

I wish the Denon avr-3808 would come down in price.

Will the str-da3400es be out at the same time as the str-da2400es?

 

[Anonymous]

so how long will i have to wait i wonder,for my 820?-Am i right in assuming you cannot get them at all at the moment,because of this problem with the sky hd box?,and if you can buy them,where from,and would i be affected as i have a virgin v+ box?

 

[Andrew Everard]

coletti:so how long will i have to wait i wonder,for my 820?-Am i right in assuming you cannot get them at all at the moment,because of this problem with the sky hd box?,and if you can buy them,where from,and would i be affected as i have a virgin v+ box?

As soon as we have more news we will pass it on, but any units currently in the market won't have been modified.

AFAIK the Virgin box doesn't deliver 5.1 over HDMI, so you have to use an optical connection, so yes the same problem may well arise. Can't be more specific as our onlyVirgin customer on the staff is on holiday, so I can't check with him. Anyone have more concrete information?

 

[Gerrardasnails]

Andrew Everard:
coletti:so how long will i have to wait i wonder,for my 820?-Am i right in assuming you cannot get them at all at the moment,because of this problem with the sky hd box?,and if you can buy them,where from,and would i be affected as i have a virgin v+ box?

As soon as we have more news we will pass it on, but any units currently in the market won't have been modified.

AFAIK the Virgin box doesn't deliver 5.1 over HDMI, so you have to use an optical connection, so yes the same problem may well arise. Can't be more specific as our onlyVirgin customer on the staff is on holiday, so I can't check with him. Anyone have more concrete information?

Confirmation about the V+ box - same problem with the Sonys.

 

[Andrew Everard]

Gerrardasnails:Confirmation about the V+ box - same problem with the Sonys.

Merci, M. Escargot

 

[Anonymous]

Hi all

new to What Hi Fi but been following this thread from the beginning.

just noticing that my pre order amp Sony sTR DG820 is being released on the 8/9/2008 from play.com

Does anyone know how to contact them to find out if this will be the fixed version as i can't find any way of emailing them about it.

I am going to suffer with the sky hd bug and my tv has only one hdmi so i was hoping to use the unit as a switcher for sky and my xbox

thanx all

 

[Andrew Everard]

Prof 573v3:
Does anyone know how to contact them to find out if this will be the fixed version as i can't find any way of emailing them about it.

There's a help button and phone number at the bottom of the Play homepage - and no, if it's shipping then it won't be a fixed one.

 

[trapster]

andrew

you say that you cant get 5.1 from the v+ box unless you use optical

well i have the v+ box with a onkyo 905 hdmi from v+ to onkyo and hdmi from onkyo to tv.

i get 5.1 on the bbc hd channel as long as the broadcast is in 5.1 of course,so not sure where you got the idea that the v+ box does not do 5.1 with hdmi.

you deffo do not need optical for it,i should know as i just set up in the last few weeks the 905 with the v+ box i got rid of the optical connections that the old amp used.

hope this helps anyone who has a v+ box and is looking to get the amp

 

[Andrew Everard]

Actually I said AFAIK I thought you couldn't, but was unable to be definite as our only Virgin person was on holiday. Another poster then replied suggesting I was right.

 

[Anonymous]

just a quick noob question re. the 820

When i do get one (fingers crossed) can i use a passive sub or do i have to use an active one?????

cheers

 

[Andrew Everard]

Active one.

 

[Anonymous]

Hopefully the update will be implemented soon as I am also looking at the 820.

Will I receive an email when someone posts on this thread?

 

[Andrew Everard]

No - at the moment email notification is switched off.

 

[Anonymous]

We'll it seems that play.com don't have any stock. I presume that they wont have any untill sony impliment the fix and send them out (theres no estimated time yet)

I'll still keep my preorder though as some places are offering the amp at £300+. i'm kinda worried that when they do get stock they'll increase there price.

Comon Sony pull your finger out i found myself looking at the onkyo amps this morning and thinking to myself i could have one of those now.

 

[Clare Newsome]

As an update, a Sony technician is due in with us tomorrow to fix the two receivers we have in - the 820 and the 2400ES. We will then be re-testing the receivers - not only to check they now work with Sky HD, but also that the update hasn't somehow affected performance.

We're also still waiting on details of how the 820 models already out with customers will be fixed.