Upgrade at last! But on a budget!

[nickers1969]

At last the time is here to upgrade from my Marantz SR4300 AV Amp.

The rest of my system is as follows:

• 
  Denon DVD 2910
  Monitor Audio Radius R90s (front) and R45s (rear),
  Monitor Audio Silver RS (centre)
  REL Quake sub,
  Sky HD
  Hitachi 32LD7200
  Playstation 3
  Nintendo Wii

Question? Denon AVR1909, Sony STRDG820 or Yamaha DSP-AX763? (all around the same price point at Richers)

I'm kinda discounting the Yamaha due to lack of HDMI inputs unless someone tells me it is that much better than the other 2.

Love to hear your opinions.

(and yes! the TV is the next upgrade when i can afford it!)

Cheers

Nick

 

[Anonymous]

my mate just got a onkyo 606 for under £330 at rs, or if your not that bothered about true hd sound superfi are are doing a arcam diva hdmi for £380

 

[nickers1969]

The budget being £300! If i was going higher i'd go for the Sony 2400es - but my better half is holding the purse strings on this one!!

I am looking for the HD sound primarily

Ta!

 

[Anonymous]

the other option would be the denon 1909 it has all the hd inputs you need plus its only £299 again at richersounds

 

[nickers1969]

The Denon is my gut feel - but i'd be interested in pitting it against the much cheaper Sony STRDG820 (£230!)

 

[Anonymous]

if that is the case just go to your nearest branch and test them both and make up your own mind i know the denon has had a good review but not too sure about sony ive never really liked any of their products

 

[Anonymous]

i guess the reviews say it all.


SONY STRDG820 HOME CINEMA RECEIVER

The Sony STR-DG820 (strdg820) home cinema receiver with HDMI switching and HD Audio has landed! This receiver features powerful seven channel amplification and the latest Dolby Digital TrueHD and DTS Master Audio decoding, for the most exciting and sophisticated sound from Blu-ray players.

whathifi.com

October 2008

February 2009

 

[nickers1969]

I know what you mean - apart from the PS3 of course.

Interesting that the retail price of the Denon is SO much higher than the Sony - i'd assume it was better!?

 

[Anonymous]

i know what u mean but ive had the older denons and they were a pain to set up but acording to the reviews its a good return to form for the denon it was priced as the same as the 606 which is a awesome bit of kit, the only option would be is go into richer sounds and be really cheeky and tell them you only have £300 can they do the onkyo 606 for that price. remind them about the currant climate.

 

[Anonymous]

I went into Richer Sounds before Christmas to enquire about the Sony 820. It wasn't on display and the salesman seemed reluctant to sell it to me! He pushed the Onk 606 which was selling for £350 and handed me the WHS&V review as evidence that I should shell out the extra. I tried to tell him that the earlier WHS&V review of the Sony was equally good but he wasn't having it.

I did get the 820 (from superfi) and am very happy with it; for the money it's a good bit of kit, but it is a *budget* receiver - your speakers would seem to deserve better than the sub £300 amp, shame your other half can't be pursuaded to let you spend the additional necessary - try pointing out it's only the equivalent of another pair of shoes on top ;-)

 

[Big Aura]

or just lie* and say it was only £250.

*lying is leads to shiftiness, shiftiness leads to suspicion, suspicion leads to questioning, questioning leads to arguments, arguments lead to .... suffering...

 

[Anonymous]

oooh that doesnt sound good the branches must vary, the guys at leeds are cool as hell and always willing to help plus it doesnt help that their is a massive shortage of the sony around the company. i agree whats a extra £30 for a good few years of good home cinema set up it will pay for its self

 

[Anonymous]

genius plan but somehow they know they always know !! and they know if your lying and have mad ways of getting the truth out of you.

 

[nickers1969]

Hi - thanks for your comment - my initial thought was that the Denon 1909 would be offering more bangs for bucks as i would be buying a £450 amp for £300, ie not a budget amp! Ideally i'd like to stretch £80 for the Sony 2400 which takes me out of the budget range also - but we are finding the times tough at the moment. The only reason i'm getting this budget is because the Marantz is actually cutting out during Coro St!

 

[Anonymous]

bite the bullet and get the 1909!!!! and do people actually still watch coro or the depressing eastenders

 

[Big Aura]

I got a then 'bargain' on my 1909. It started off life at £450, I got it from £406.50, then the price crashed. I haven't heard it against any of the others in the £300 range, but the bods on here love the Yamaha (I've only heard one in passing, but at the time I was buying had my heart set on Denon).

 

[nickers1969]

My gut feel has always been for the 1909! So i concur! Hurrah!

Unfortunately having a 12 month old daughter with an aversion to sleep means that Coro and Eastenders is actually the best entertainment available - you don't need to think!

 

[Anonymous]

good choice and i know what u mean about not thinking about it they should be all banned including that bloody emmerdale whats that all about

 

[Big Aura]

luckily my job means I'm rarely home pre-8:30. All I have to contend with is the Eastenders re-run on Beeb 3 at ten o'clock. It's probably worth "untuning" beeb3, but then I lose Family Guy.... tough decision...!

 

[Anonymous]

i'm looking at the same price point as yourself. Once i seen the Sony in the flesh i discounted it - it looks very 'budget'.

The Yamaha (763) is the top of the wish list at the minute, closely followed by the Denon 1909. the 2400es is just outside my affordability right now. I didn't really see the Onkyo (606) as giving anything more than the Denon.

 

[nickers1969]

I was interested in the Yamaha but i really need 3 hdmi inputs! However - if it were significantly better than the Denon in terms of sound??

 

[Gerrardasnails]

nickers1969:I was interested in the Yamaha but i really need 3 hdmi inputs! However - if it were significantly better than the Denon in terms of sound??

I don't think you will get much difference between the three in sound. The Sony is budget and therefore it will probably look it - the Denon has a couple of amps below it and even the 1508 and 1509s look nice. One thing to think of is the Denons are not the most user friendly. I have had two Sonys now and they are really easy to set up and use. I have relatives that have the 1508 and 2808 and they are a pain!

Sony are upping it's prices soon. I would bite the bullet and get the 2400! You will not be disappointed! If you shop around you might get a deal - best I've seen is £365 delivered.

 

[nickers1969]

Thanks and yeah - i'd heard they weren't the friendliest! Whereabouts did you see the 2400 for £365? Good price.
Now if I can persuade the wife that baked beans and beer would be a far better choice than beef and burgundy!!!

 

[Anonymous]

I have a Denon 1907 and would agree that the the setup menus are not that friendly but is still pretty easy to set up .....

On another note today i had an audition of both the 1909 and the 2400 having read a lot of the comments on here it was an interesting audition.

Once i got passed the person in the shop who was trying to convince me that a standard DVD will be output as HD Audio on the amp, everything was ok.

Anyway i listened to to the opening of The Dark Night standard DVD DTS Neo sound and the battle between the green goblin's son and spiderman on Blu Ray.

Both amplifiers are very good and quite different, which one you would prefer i guess is a matter of taste, which is why you should listen to them before you choose.

My overall impression was that the Sony is big and bold and the Denon whilst not quite so bold has a lot more subtelty.

For me i chose the Denon was close but what swung it for me was that in the really chaotic part of the Spiderman battle when the action was busy and a lot going on in my opinion the Sony sounded a little harsh where the Denon was smoother. That and the difference in price tag swung it.

so before you splash the cash i would go and hear for yourself ...