Anything worth waiting for?

[655321]

So, my good old Kenwood receiver who's running my Monitor Audio GS 20 fronts and my subwoofer is getting a bit old. Last night the remote control went dead, and what a great opportunity to buy a new one

Anyhow, I had the Denon 3806 in mind, but since my old receiver is still working i am in no hurry. Should I just go with 3806 or should I wait for HDMI 1.3 and the new sound formats? What's the loss here, gonna get a sony SXRD RPTV in the near future.

Thanks!

 

[Iamgud]

It depends, HDMI 1.3 is just sound enhancements, which means you wont need both HDMI and an optical cable to get the full HD sound.

I am about to purchase a HDMI 1.2 TV but I dont think it really matters for the TV. HDMI 1.3 is still only 1080P but I think 1.3 is worth waiting for when buying an AMP as it means buying 2 less optical cables lol and my aim is to make this setup nice and simple.

If you are happy with both Optical cables and HDMI then there isn't much of an advantage of 1.3 unless you are having weird compatabilty issues which 1.3 should fix.

 

[huntere]

I'm not convinced how much of the new formats we'll see. i.e. TrueDD etc

Lets face it many many amps now support 6 and 7.1 but in terms of DVDs a small %age only carry DTS ES etc.

Also in a home situation will be really notice the difference?

I'd buy now. In this game there is always an oppotunity for upgradeitus!

 

[Knyght_byte]

dont worry about HDMI 1.3.....make sure the amp has 8 channel analogue inputs (assuming you have a 7.1 speaker package, if only 5.1 then just make sure it has a 6 channel input) and then wait for a HD player to come out with 8 channel output (or if you only got 5.1 speakers then any bar the basic HD-E1 will do you)......

the main thing you need to make sure of with the MA Gold range is that you feed them enough power....a 3806 is literally the bare minimum you should be using to get anything worthwhile from these speakers.....

personally i'd be looking at something more expensive, perhaps a second hand model......namely one of Denons flagship quality amps...that way the speakers will get the power they deserve.....if you want more advanced processing etc, you can always add a processor at a later date.....

 

[AndyR]

HDMI 1.3 is not just a sound enhancement, its mainly a PQ enhancement. whoever said it was just sound should be sure of their facts before posting... search for hdmi 1.3 on the site and you will find links that give all the details. specifically, colour depth is greatly enhanced which, with a hdmi 1.3 plasma will be a big leap in quality. HDMI 1.3 is about double the bandwidth of 1.2, so you will need cables that are high quality. most will only be certified for 1.2. i dont believe a 1.3 cert is out yet for cables tho. QED do a cable that is 1080P certified, and they say it will handle 1.3.

so if you want an amp to switch your hdmi sources it is worth waiting for hdmi 1.3 - there was an article on this in HCC a couple of months ago. I saw another post on this site saying denon will release such amps in the second half of next year. imo it is worth hanging on. on the subject of audio, as long as your amp has 5.1 / 7.1 and your hd/blu ray player has the same outputs then the amp can accept PCM, and doesnt need to decode the new sound formats. again, at the back of HCC mag it explains this.

 

[AndyR]

Heres the hdmi site/link - http://www.hdmi.org/press/pr/pr_20061108.asp

and the denon news - http://www.hometheaterblog.com/hometheater/2006/12/denons_hdmi_13.html

 

[Knyght_byte]

If you plan on getting lots of HD sources then fair enough, worth waiting for 1.3.....

If you are unlikely to get more than one HD player, dont worry about it.....HDMI 1.3 isnt going to improve a SD quality picture any more than 1.2 or 1.1 can transmit

with your speakers, the main thing you need to worry about is them getting enough power and good quality amplification........its all very well worrying about video capabilities so you do get as good a picture as possible, but not at the expense of wasting such amazing speakers potential