Question Help please ... Upgrading but help needed

mikeh71

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Hi all

I am currently in the process of upgrading my system and am on the look out for advice please as I am technical when it comes to computers etc but the Home Cinema thing is a different board game ...

I currently have or in the process of having Q500 fronts, Q200c centre, 3005 Eggs for surround and CI-160QR for atmos with either a Monolith plus or XXL400 sub. I currently own an old Denon 3806 and wondered whether this could be used with another amplifier out there to complement the above. I was looking at Marantz or Denon and wondered if anyone could assist with this.

I am unsure how connections go with an AVR plus power amp etc so any help would be appreciated.

Thanks in advance
 
The 3806 is not Atmos enabled, simply too old for that technology, so a new receiver would be needed. You could use the 3806 to power a couple of channels but you would still have to fiddle with the volume of both new receiver and the 3806. Perhaps the better use of the 3806 would be to use it part exchange. The new Denon X4400 would drive a 5.1.4 without the need for a power amp.
 
Hi Gibbsy

Many thanks for your reply, if I was looking at a 7.1.4 system I guess the X4400 would still be able to carry out this function? Also do you know off hand which companies accept trade-ins?
 
X4400 and SR6012 are both 9 channel amps so you would need a 2 channel amp to go with either to do the full 7.1.4 - alternatively stick with 5.1.4
 
Could I just also ask what do people recommend for a power amp and would it be better to power the atmos or front and centre etc?

Thanks again
 
For 7.1.4 out of the box then you are looking at the new Denon X6400 or Marantz 8012 and both are expensive. You could use a three channel power amp for the front three and personally that's what I would do as the benefit could be better stereo presentation for music with one of those to relieve the receiver's workload. There are also plenty of integrated stereo amps available with HT bypass but this would obviously limit you to just powering two channels.
 
An AVR must have the ability to process the right number of channels. From the Denon X4400 up it can process 11 but the 2400 has a maximum of 7, so that is limited to 5.1.2. I would prefer to sacrifice the rear surrounds to power 4 Atmos speakers as a 5.1.4 as 7.1.4 really needs a fairly large room with distance between the MLP and rear surrounds.

The room plays such an important part of getting a good experience with any speaker layout. My room is L shaped so the maximum layout for me is just 5.1.2. Could you let us know the dimensions and possible positions of screen and speakers in your room.
 
Hi Gibbsy

I am in the process of producing a drawing of the room as this is going to be required as part of the process - basically I am converting our cellar which currently measures circa 4.7m x 4.6m x 2m, give or take, exciting times ahead but just want to start off on the right foot and it is not going to be until around April when the project starts moving in earnest.

Cheers again
 
A dedicated room of that size is just about perfect........slightly envious.;)
 
I power amp'ed the front three in my 7.1.4 setup and I found it drowned out the rears. So I switched amps to amplify all five base channels and the whole setup sounds much more balanced now. I'm not saying it doesn't work amplifying just the front three - but don't overpower them. :)
 
Using power amps on some speakers, does not make them louder than the others. If it does, you need to re-run the callibration software, or use an SPL meter / your ears to adjust the levels until they evenly match.

Adding external amplification takes the strain off of the power supply in the AVR, and provides more headroom so that in the dynamic peaks, those louder passages of audio play back cleanly, without causing the amplifier to clip / distort.

Using your current Denon 3806 as a power amp is entirely possible, it has the necessary Ext in connections and you could use the trigger to have it power on and off with your new AVR. The problem is volume level. You will probably want to have the 3806 set at 0 volume when it is acting as a power amp, so can you get it to power on at that level? If not, you could just leave it permanently powered on.
 

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