Amplifier Advice

[RNHURD]

Hi Everyone,
I'm new to the Hi-Fi forums and was hoping for some advice? I'm looking to upgrade my system in the next couple of weeks, initially with a new amplifier and DVD player. My budget is between $2,000 - $2,500. I'm looking for a good music source, to play movies and a loud output. I plan to run 5+1 speakers in the main room and another 2 speakers in a second zone. After reading some of the posts, I seem to have narrowed it down to a Marantz SR-7500, Denon AVR-3805 or Yanaha RX-V2600 (however I have had a bad experience with Yamaha before). With regard to the DVD player, I plan to use it for music and I hope it has the ability to play copied DVD's without the player locking up (my Sony does that now). Looking at the specs of both amps, I was planning to plug in an IPOD to allow to play/shuffle multiple albums. I'm in Perth, so is there any suggestions to where I can get a good deal, or is on-line ok? I saw a Marantz SR-8500 on Ebay for $2,000, but unsure of the product. I'll be honest, the shops buffle me with stuff I don't understand and tend to bag out the other amplifiers. Any experienced help would be much appreciated! Thank you

[Keith_W]

If you don't know anything about hi-fi, you are much better off going to a dealer. Setting up your system is something which you may not know how to do. Nothing beats having a dealer come round to your house and setting everything up for you. Well, except maybe having a friend come over and do the same thing :)

I like Frank Prowse especially if you get the old man himself. He's been selling hi-fi for years and is a little bit out of touch now (his son knows a lot more). Frank is a really nice guy, not pushy at all, and is pretty honest about things. Other good shops - Vince Ross on Stirling Hwy, and Surround Sounds (also on Stirling Hwy). In fact, all 3 shops are on Stirling Hwy, so you can make a nice Saturday out of it :) Not far from these shops is Simply Hi-Fi in Hay St, Subiaco. But SHF sells higher end gear. Wynn Tatham is the proprietor and he's a bit of a funny character but you will get good advice from him. Audio Synergy is in King St, North Perth but last I heard old Clifford is still all about 2 channel audio. I think he does sell a little bit of HT but not sure.

The nice thing about these smaller retailers is that they still know about service. You won't get service from places like HN or Good Guys. Those guys are paid to move boxes. But even these people are a step above ebay, where you can't be sure if you'll even get the goods as described or not. Take your pick, and don't underestimate the importance of good service when it comes to hi-fi.

The Yamaha RX-V2600 or the Denon AVR-3805 are considered the goods. You won't go wrong with either amp, but I would lean towards the Yamaha because I have one. What problem did you have with Yamaha in the past?

[RNHURD]

If you don't know anything about hi-fi, you are much better off going to a dealer. Setting up your system is something which you may not know how to do. Nothing beats having a dealer come round to your house and setting everything up for you. Well, except maybe having a friend come over and do the same thing :)

I like Frank Prowse especially if you get the old man himself. He's been selling hi-fi for years and is a little bit out of touch now (his son knows a lot more). Frank is a really nice guy, not pushy at all, and is pretty honest about things. Other good shops - Vince Ross on Stirling Hwy, and Surround Sounds (also on Stirling Hwy). In fact, all 3 shops are on Stirling Hwy, so you can make a nice Saturday out of it :) Not far from these shops is Simply Hi-Fi in Hay St, Subiaco. But SHF sells higher end gear. Wynn Tatham is the proprietor and he's a bit of a funny character but you will get good advice from him. Audio Synergy is in King St, North Perth but last I heard old Clifford is still all about 2 channel audio. I think he does sell a little bit of HT but not sure.

The nice thing about these smaller retailers is that they still know about service. You won't get service from places like HN or Good Guys. Those guys are paid to move boxes. But even these people are a step above ebay, where you can't be sure if you'll even get the goods as described or not. Take your pick, and don't underestimate the importance of good service when it comes to hi-fi.

The Yamaha RX-V2600 or the Denon AVR-3805 are considered the goods. You won't go wrong with either amp, but I would lean towards the Yamaha because I have one. What problem did you have with Yamaha in the past?
[/b]
Thank you for the advice - I have been to Surround Sounds in Cannington, but not much stock left as they are closing down. I believe I know a bit about Hi-Fi and that I'm comfortable setting up the system. I'm just unsure of which way to go with the amp - its the HDCD and HDMI that I haven't dealt with before and depending upon which shop you go to, they play it up or down. The Yamaha I had prior (about 5 years ago) lacked power and it was back in the shop on two occassions. What would you consider the main difference between the Yamaha V2600, Denon 3805 and the Marantz 7500 be? I appreciate your advice.

[Keith_W]

Don't know enough about the 3 A/V's to give you an informed decision unfortunately. I'll leave it to someone else.

As for the HDMI/HDCP the reason why you are getting such garbled advice is because there is a lot of confusion about. When I bought my stuff I made sure that HDMI capability was built into the equipment I bought. But that has turned around and bitten me in the ass!

My problem was that my original DVD player, a Cambridge Audio DVD89, had HDMI 1.0. My A/V receiver and plasma had HDMI 1.2. No matter what I did, I could not get the rest of my system to accept input from my DVD player in HDMI. It would work fine in component, just not HDMI. I returned my DVD player and got a Toshiba 6980SY which works just fine.

Can I see a difference between the HDMI and Component connection? No, not really. And a lot of hi-fi dealers seem to believe there is hardly a practical difference, even though there is a theoretical advantage to keeping an all-digital interface chain.

Recently, my justification for going HDMI was shot out of the water when the HDMI consortium introduced HDMI 1.3, which (among other things) sports a different connector making ALL HDMI EQUIPMENT, including anything you buy from the shops right now, obsolete. I am starting to believe there will be a huge consumer backlash against HDMI/HDCP, so I would be quite happy to go component in the future if stuff does not work on HDMI.

[alebonau]

Don't know enough about the 3 A/V's to give you an informed decision unfortunately. I'll leave it to someone else.

As for the HDMI/HDCP the reason why you are getting such garbled advice is because there is a lot of confusion about. When I bought my stuff I made sure that HDMI capability was built into the equipment I bought. But that has turned around and bitten me in the ass!

My problem was that my original DVD player, a Cambridge Audio DVD89, had HDMI 1.0. My A/V receiver and plasma had HDMI 1.2. No matter what I did, I could not get the rest of my system to accept input from my DVD player in HDMI. It would work fine in component, just not HDMI. I returned my DVD player and got a Toshiba 6980SY which works just fine.

Can I see a difference between the HDMI and Component connection? No, not really. And a lot of hi-fi dealers seem to believe there is hardly a practical difference, even though there is a theoretical advantage to keeping an all-digital interface chain.

Recently, my justification for going HDMI was shot out of the water when the HDMI consortium introduced HDMI 1.3, which (among other things) sports a different connector making ALL HDMI EQUIPMENT, including anything you buy from the shops right now, obsolete. I am starting to believe there will be a huge consumer backlash against HDMI/HDCP, so I would be quite happy to go component in the future if stuff does not work on HDMI.
[/b]

yeah I wouldnt get too caught in the whole hdmi/hdcp thing. The new version hdmi stuff is due early next year plus avrs with the new surround formats to take advantage of the new HD format disc players HD-DVD and blu-ray. So best is buy somethgin around the $2k mark or better still somethign like that even cheaper on run out/ s/h or a demo model. Keepign in mind you might toss it in a couple of years time when things have themselves sorted out and its all a lot more common place/affordable and universally accepted.

In the $2k avrs, if particularly after one for 2ch as well the likes of rotel, nad, HK or marantz is probably worth considering over the yam and denons which on the other hand are probably more featured packed.

[RNHURD]

Hi Amfibus - thank you for your post - yes I understand it (not to un-hi-fi afterall) What is your gut feeling: Amplifier... Denon 3805, Marantz 7500 or Yamaha 2600???? I will be guided by what this forum recommends....... I'm buying it this week if possible

[MrCool78]

Hi, Richard H
I use to own Denon AVR 3803 previous model before AVR 3805, It sounded relly good especially if you use for music (2 chn pure direct mode) if you want to use mainly for music then HT go with Denon, You won't go wrong mate.
Now I have Yamaha RXV 2500 also previous model before RXV 2600. For music (2 chn), Denon beat Yamaha interm of smoothness and top end, Yamaha top end is really edgy and grainy in my sytems. For HT Yamaha is better than Denon just in term of spaciousness and bass of the movie. If you consider the price and the value, Denon a bit more expensive than Yamaha, but it's worth it to buy. The reason why I sold Denon coz I just want to try THX from Yamaha, but believe me nothing to do with THX, THX doesn't encode the THX signal to your receiver even you use THX movie(DVD), It means you can use this setup even with non THX movie so this is a bit useless. Use DTS ES this will shake your room (the DVD must have DTS ES format).
For Marantz I have no opinions coz I've never own it. Base on my local hi-fi shop, They carried Marantz and Denon. He(the salesman) said Denon more guts(more power to shake your room) than Marantz especially for HT. For music Marantz is very2 good that's what his opinion, better a little bit than Denon.
So here is the conclusion:
Denon Music 50% HT 50%
Yamaha Music 40% HT 60%
Marantz Music 60% Ht 40%

All depends on what do you intend to use this for?
For DVD i can recommend you Marantz DVD 6600 new model (universal), Marantz DVD 7600(universal) I own this now, very good for music and movie. Also you can pick up as well Denon DVD 1920 (universal) budget entry from Denon, and Denon 2910 (universal) very good too, good review and the top of the range Denon 3910 (universal)
So my last opinion for Denon i recommend you collect the fund and buy Denon AVR 3806 i know a bit more expensive than AVR 3805, but that's really good features, or buy the latest model series AVR 2807, oh man if it's not because I just bought Yamaha RXV 2500 last year, I'll buy this beast AVR 2807( this one has IPOD connection) :yahoo:

Note: I dont have any affilition with Denon Dealer or whoever, this is just my opinion.

Good luck for your searching :)