Replacing Onkyo 805 for 3D

[FunkyMonkey]

Ther eis nothing wrong with my Onkyo 805 receiver, but if I buy a 3D TV at Christmas (fingers crossed!) then I will need a receiver with 3D pass through.

However, 3 years ago, I spent £800 on the Onkyo 805 and I don't want to spend that kinda money again. Question is, are there any receivers out there that allow 3D pass through, direct DSD to analgoue conversion, and give as good a performance as the 805 for less money (assuming you get more bang for your buck in 2010 than you did in 2007)?

Thanks. Guess budget is £500, and I have Tannoy DC2 speaker package.

 

[daveh75]

I think the money would be better spent on a BDP with two HDMI outputs, like the Pana BDT300. A £500 AV amp would be a downgrade on your current sent up IMO.

 

[FunkyMonkey]

daveh75:I think the money would be better spent on a BDP with two HDMI outputs, like the Pana BDT300. A £500 AV amp would be a downgrade on your current sent up IMO.

Not what I wanted to hear given I have a 3 month old BDP S470. Although your logic is irrefutable. So I think I may have no choice but to increase my budget. I was hoping that in the time frame of 3 years, I could more pefromance for less.

 

[Sliced Bread]

Seconded! Also the Tannoy / Onkyo combination works well together. Do you want to upset that balance?

 

[FunkyMonkey]

Foudn this potential solution.

http://www.superfi.co.uk/index.cfm/page/moreinfo.cfm/Product_ID/6763

 

[simonlewis]

How about the onkyo 608 within budget & 3D compatable.

 

[Anonymous]

FunkyMonkey:

daveh75:I think the money would be better spent on a BDP with two HDMI outputs, like the Pana BDT300. A £500 AV amp would be a downgrade on your current sent up IMO.

Not what I wanted to hear given I have a 3 month old BDP S470. Although your logic is irrefutable. So I think I may have no choice but to increase my budget. I was hoping that in the time frame of 3 years, I could more pefromance for less.

3 month old. Couldn't it develop a "fault"

and need a replacement/refund. Not ethical I know but a thought...

 

[FunkyMonkey]

NSYGrinner:

3 month old. Couldn't it develop a "fault"

and need a replacement/refund. Not ethical I know but a thought...

It's been faulty out the box, i.e. pretty p*ss-poor DLNA compatibility.

 

[chudleighpaul]

Forget 3D it is waste of money

 

[FunkyMonkey]

chudleighpaul:Forget 3D it is waste of money

Saw a demo by Panasonic last year. And saw Toy Story in 3D at cinema recenlty. While the film was not enhanced by 3D, it was still nice, but mroe impressive were teh 3D trailers, which made much of the 3D factor.

I was well impressed. More important to me than the initial outlay is teh lack of content. This was of concern to me when Blu Ray first came out, but the 3D content is even more severely lacking, and at least when Blu Ray first came out there WERE a steady trickle of titles every week.

I think 3D content will be more prevelant via Sky, but I am loathed to give them robbing so-and-so's any more of my money.

 

[FunkyMonkey]

slewis:How about the onkyo 608 within budget & 3D compatable.

I wonder if the 608 has DSD->Analogue capability, and also how it compares to the 805 for sound. SACD is important to me.

 

[Sliced Bread]

FunkyMonkey:
chudleighpaul:Forget 3D it is waste of money

Saw a demo by Panasonic last year. And saw Toy Story in 3D at cinema recenlty. While the film was not enhanced by 3D, it was still nice, but mroe impressive were teh 3D trailers, which made much of the 3D factor.

I was well impressed. More important to me than the initial outlay is teh lack of content. This was of concern to me when Blu Ray first came out, but the 3D content is even more severely lacking, and at least when Blu Ray first came out there WERE a steady trickle of titles every week.

I think 3D content will be more prevelant via Sky, but I am loathed to give them robbing so-and-so's any more of my money.

For me it just doesn't transfer to TV's. I've seen some LG demo's with both types of 3D and the picture seemed less stable than the cinema.

Not really a fan anyway. Most films seem too OTT, but maybe that is because it is fairly new. A bit like when surround sound first came out and EVERYTHING had to come from the rear speakers...and when you look at the early colour films and the film intro's were flashing colours, just to leave you in no doubt, that what you are watching is indeed colour.

Maybe it'll mature with age and finally be used for artistic merit.

 

[Andrew Everard]

FunkyMonkey:I wonder if the 608 has DSD->Analogue capability

Yup.

 

[FunkyMonkey]

Andrew Everard:

FunkyMonkey:I wonder if the 608 has DSD->Analogue capability

Yup.

Andrew. Thanks for this. I don't mean to doubt you, but someone over at another forum (I searched on Google and found a posting from a few weeks ago) said they quoted a response from Onkyo suggesting there is a PCM stage involved.

If you, from personal experience, can verify it definitely has a DSD direct mode, then I would be both grateful and well chuffed!

 

[Andrew Everard]

Well, in common with most receivers, the Onkyo uses the same converters for all digital inputs, including DSD, rather than having dedicated DSD-to-analogue conversion built-in. In this case 192kHz/24-bit converters are used.

But yes, it does accept a DSD input over HDMI, and yes it does sound rather good when playing SACDs; I use the old TX-SR875 for just this function, in combination with the Cambridge Audio Azur 650BD player, and have no complaints whatsoever about the sound produced.

 

[FunkyMonkey]

Andrew Everard:

Well, in common with most receivers, the Onkyo uses the same converters for all digital inputs, including DSD, rather than having dedicated DSD-to-analogue conversion built-in. In this case 192kHz/24-bit converters are used.

But yes, it does accept a DSD input over HDMI, and yes it does sound rather good when playing SACDs; I use the old TX-SR875 for just this function, in combination with the Cambridge Audio Azur 650BD player, and have no complaints whatsoever about the sound produced.

I am very happy with my 805 performing this duty using my Sony BDPS-470 and in particular I treasure the fact it can convert from DSD to analogue without having a PCM step in between. This is subtle but important because in fact most SACD sources convert from DSD to PCM first then use common DAC components to convert from PCM to analogue.

However, some DAC chips, including the ones used in the Onkyo 805, but NOT 806 which was released a year later, and not Onkyo 705 or 605 which were released in same year as 805, allow this. My point is just because a receiver accepts DSD and converts to analogue it does not mean it will convert direct to analogue. I want to avoid the PCM step to maintain as much purity as possible.

 

[FunkyMonkey]

 

[Chewy]

Stick with the 805, and as suggested in an earlier post, get one of the 3D blu-ray players that can split the sound and video output, if you really want 3D.

IMHO 3D is a complete waste of time anyway. Where I've seen it running on a normal sized screen, the usual lounge based viewing distance makes the 3D effect completely ineffective.

Yeah it has a bit of WOW at the cinema on a massive screen (though a headache and eyestrain inducing WOW), but that is lost on a sub-60" screen at living room seating distance.

I predict 3D will die a death within the next couple of years unless one of the manufacturers can make it work without the need for 3D glasses!

 

[Anonymous]

FunkyMonkey:
Foudn this potential solution.

http://www.superfi.co.uk/index.cfm/page/moreinfo.cfm/Product_ID/6763

Doesn't say if it's (HDMI) 1.4 compatible, I'd guess not given the "heavily discounted" price, it'll be old stock thats suddenly of limited use.

1.4's a bit new, give it a few months, and cheap 1.4 compatible splitters will be in all the shops.