Buying advice on Amplifier

BSM9

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Hi,
I recently purchased a Wharfdale DX-2 5.1 kit and need an amp for it. I will be using mostly a projector at 4k 60Hz and have 2 receivers I am looking at.

1. Sony STR-DN1080 - Used with 1 year warranty
2. Denon AVR-X2700H - New with 6 year warranty

Considering my use case (mostly cinema and games, not much music) which would you recommend?
Especially torn since I can get the Sony for £220 less than the Denon


Thanks
 
Sony is a four year old design and has an inferior room EQ. There are also restrictions as to how you can use speakers in the Atmos domain should you wish to expand to a 5.1.2 set up. I'm not a gamer so will not comment on how either performs in that respect but for movies and with a six year warranty I would go for the Denon.

The Denon is extremely user friendly for first set up. It's up to you if you want to save £220 and take the risk of a one year warranty, which to be honest isn't bad for a used amp.
 
Sony is a four year old design and has an inferior room EQ. There are also restrictions as to how you can use speakers in the Atmos domain should you wish to expand to a 5.1.2 set up. I'm not a gamer so will not comment on how either performs in that respect but for movies and with a six year warranty I would go for the Denon.

The Denon is extremely user friendly for first set up. It's up to you if you want to save £220 and take the risk of a one year warranty, which to be honest isn't bad for a used amp.
Thanks for the response!
Tbh I don't see myself installing Atmos speakers any time soon, so that not a big deal for me. Would the Denon make a reasonable difference on the sound I get from my speakers considering that they are pretty low-end? (DX2)
 
With the DX2s the audio will be limited by their performance and both amps will drive them with no problems. The Sony may give a fuller audio although I've never been a fan of Sony sound. The Denon should give a sharper sound. A lot will depend on your speakers position and how well they work in your room. This is where the Denon would have the upper hand because of Audyssey.

A lot of people consider the Sony to be a more musical AV amp than the Denon and I would agree with this. It is actually a bad time to buy a new AV amp from any manufacturer because of demand and the consequences of the pandemic prices are remaining very high. At this time of year prices have usually tumbled by around 25%, if not more.

There is also the problems associated with the implementation of HDMI 2.1 which may affect you as a gamer and you have to request an external bit of kit from Denon to overcome this problem. Next years models should have this fixed so gamers may be put off from buying new. So perhaps, as a gamer, the option of the Sony may make more sense and go for a new model in a couple of years.

Audio wise though it's basically a toss of the coin as to which one you're going to prefer. I personally like how my Denon sounds and have been a long time Denon user and they do make for a great movie experience as they have great sound steering.

I can't help make your mind up just point out the pros and cons of both. Any chance you could audition the Denon at least?
 
Yh prices seem insane at the moment, timing has been unfortunate. I could ask to audition the Denon I can't imagine it will be a problem, but without the Sony to compare it to (no one has it in stock) not sure if it would help me to decide 😅.
My projector only supports up to 60Hz for 4K anyway (2.0b port I think), so HDMI 2.1 is not a concern.
I'm leaning towards going for the Sony and upgrading in a few years - as my first AV setup I am sure I will be blown away by either. Hopefully prices for Amps/4k120 Projectors drop and HDMI 2.1 will become more mainstream by then.

Do Amplifiers tend to be reliable and last a long time or deteriorate over time? The main concern I have now is that warranty differential 🙃
 
Do Amplifiers tend to be reliable and last a long time or deteriorate over time? The main concern I have now is that warranty differential 🙃
I'm on my fifth Denon AV amp and all have behaved perfectly. I gone from an entry point one to a high end unit. I bought my current unit last February just before lockdown and got it for a good knock down price, so glad I did as used ones are going for more than I paid for the new unit. Crazy.

With a six year warranty I assume you are talking about Richer Sounds and it will give you peace of mind as well as a good supplier to deal with.
 
Totally agree. Even if only for a year(ish), IMO the extra money for the Denon will be worth it. Particulalry given, from what I can see, those speakers are 84dB sensitivity.

Just a question, can you stretch to an AVR-X3700 or (even if you don't need recent HDMI) and X3600? This could give you a lot more upgrade options in the future. E.g. can do 4 heights, has better Audyssey correction and has pre-outs for external amplification.
 
Totally agree. Even if only for a year(ish), IMO the extra money for the Denon will be worth it. Particulalry given, from what I can see, those speakers are 84dB sensitivity.

Just a question, can you stretch to an AVR-X3700 or (even if you don't need recent HDMI) and X3600? This could give you a lot more upgrade options in the future. E.g. can do 4 heights, has better Audyssey correction and has pre-outs for external amplification.
I am relatively new to this, so could you elaborate on what you mean by particularly since they are 84dB? Also, the speakers are 4 ohms rather than 8 would this be a factor to consider?
I could potentially stretch to to a 3700 but I don't think that the price difference is worth it in my use case. The preamps could be useful in future but if I was going to go with atmos/better speakers it won't be for a while and I would probably buy a new amp.

Is the different in room correction between the sony and denons something which makes a big difference?
 
Answered reversed:

Room correction is a very emotive subject on AVF (!) but I would certainly say (especially using the MultiEQ phone/tablet app) that Audyssey will achieve better results than the Sony's EQ.

The sensitivity of a speaker, put simply, is how loud it is under given conditions per watt of input. 84dB is a pretty low figure. If you're interested, there is a lot more on this in the thread I linked you to. If you kindly ask Mr Wolf on that thread, and supply him the figures, I think he would work out an estimate of the "headroom" your system would have. The thread explains what to do.

For example, the distance to each speaker is very important... setting up 5.1 in Wembley Stadium you might find both AVRs would be inadequate!

Sony tend to not "follow the standard" when quoting power figures but this link here could be useful:

 
Answered reversed:

Room correction is a very emotive subject on AVF (!) but I would certainly say (especially using the MultiEQ phone/tablet app) that Audyssey will achieve better results than the Sony's EQ.

The sensitivity of a speaker, put simply, is how loud it is under given conditions per watt of input. 84dB is a pretty low figure. If you're interested, there is a lot more on this in the thread I linked you to. If you kindly ask Mr Wolf on that thread, and supply him the figures, I think he would work out an estimate of the "headroom" your system would have. The thread explains what to do.

For example, the distance to each speaker is very important... setting up 5.1 in Wembley Stadium you might find both AVRs would be inadequate!

Sony tend to not "follow the standard" when quoting power figures but this link here could be useful:

Thanks for that I'll have a read. The more I think about it the more I want to get a 3700 but then I remember the 💰 difference 😅
 
Hyperfi list B stock items (1 year warranty) for 3600 £750 and 3700 £800. Depends how much you think the warranty is worth?

Similar to Gibbsy, I've had a lot of Denons and had no problems but you could be that unlucky one 😟
 
Hyperfi list B stock items (1 year warranty) for 3600 £750 and 3700 £800. Depends how much you think the warranty is worth?

Similar to Gibbsy, I've had a lot of Denons and had no problems but you could be that unlucky one 😟
About speaker sensitivity, I might have missed it but couldn't see what thread you were referring to, is it this one?

HyperFi looks like a decent option, I will definitely consider it. I need to have a think but thanks all for your help so far :)
 
No you haven't missed it, just I am an idiot! I waffle on here so much, got my threads mixed up... this here is the one where Mr Wolf has run my amps through his calculator and he talks about sensitivity and the importance of it:


Of course, sensitivity is not the "be all and end all" at all with a speaker. The relevance is in how much power you have to be able to achieve the sound levels you want in your "home cinema".

You can see, for example, that our listening levels in our lounge are lower than most peoples. This means we are not as power hungry in amplification and are less sensitive to sensitivity!

We watched "The Ice Road" and "Escape from Pretoria" on Prime at the weekend and, honestly, volume set at -25dB sounded loud, with Audyssey on, dynamic EQ off, dynamic volume off and no boost in any channels. But everyone's ears are different!
 

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