Sony STR-DG820 vs. Denon 1909

Foster1984

Prominent Member
Joined
Sep 13, 2008
Messages
2,208
Reaction score
369
Points
466
Location
Barrow In Furness
If you guys had to recommend either the Sony STR-DG820 or Denon 1909, which would it be?

I asked for the Denon for Xmas, but my dad (an avid reader of these forums) thinks I should get the Sony for the price.

What are the advantages and disadvantages of both?

If possible, please try to by objectional rather than just picking a brand,as I know Denon are prefered, but both got 5 stars in What hi-fi?.
 
Hello!

I was looking into a new amp recently and had the same quandary and in the end it boiled down to two things to choose between...

The Sony is cheaper

The Denon has upconverting (so just need 1 hdmi cable from the tv to the amp)

... so in the end I went for the Denon 1908. Not the 1909. Cos that was cheaper and did upconverting!!


reading that back I'm not even sure if it's helpful so I'm really sorry if it isn't! :confused:
 
It is...kind of.

The same things keep popping up for me. The Sony's price, the Denon's upconverting...both are meant to have brilliant sound.

The Sony is described as "budget" but is meant to be amply capable with movies and music. But the Denon does have the pedigree.

So I am completely torn.
 
In this months 'Home Cinema Choice'. The 820 beat the 1909 in a grouptest of 4 amps!!

The Panasonic SA-BX500 won.But Whathifi slated it!!


BTW. I have an 820 and love it!!!
 
What do you have in your system?(If you don't mind me asking?)

I will have a PS3 (acting as Blu-ray and DVD player), Xbox 360, Nintendo Wii and a PVR of some sort. PLus probably more at a later date.

Need to buy something with the requiste connections. The Sony has more HDMI, but I think I need more analogue as only my PS3 has HDMI output.
 
What do you have in your system?(If you don't mind me asking?)

I will have a PS3 (acting as Blu-ray and DVD player), Xbox 360, Nintendo Wii and a PVR of some sort. PLus probably more at a later date.

Need to buy something with the requiste connections. The Sony has more HDMI, but I think I need more analogue as only my PS3 has HDMI output.
Hi Foster.

I have a sony bluray player via HDMI naturally.And an Xbox 360 (non hdmi version) connected via component!

So really only using one of the hdmi in connections.As my TV is straight to my Sky HD box,and optical from there to the amp!!
But i mainly bought it to decode the hd sound formats!

Personally.I think it is a fantastic piece of kit for the price.And i think the only budget thing about it is just that. The price!;)
 
Hi Foster.

I have a sony bluray player via HDMI naturally.And an Xbox 360 (non hdmi version) connected via component!

So really only using one of the hdmi in connections.As my TV is straight to my Sky HD box,and optical from there to the amp!!
But i mainly bought it to decode the hd sound formats!

Personally.I think it is a fantastic piece of kit for the price.And i think the only budget thing about it is just that. The price!;)

What type of sound do you get out of your Xbox 360 using the component analogue connections?
 
Can't comment on the Denon, but I have had the Sony for a week now and its fabulous.

Superb sound quality, really well built, lots and lots of options and setting to play with.

For £250, I think its very hard to beat.
 
Last edited:
I also have the 820 and think it is great for the money.

And although it did rate higher than the 1909 in the HCC review, it is worth noting that this was largely because of the price IIRC and the difficult set-up of the 1909. In terms of overall sound and featues, I suspect the Denon will be ahead of the Sony.

However, if you don't need upscaling and upconversion, analogue inputs or pre-outs, then I think the 820 is the ideal choice. It also has one more HDMI in than the Denon, if that is important to you.

Either way, I am still incredibly happy with the Sony, especially as it can be had for under £250 as opposed to £450
 
My main hesitation is that I have listened to the Denon and think that it's sound field and scope of sound was amazing. I couldn't find anywhere to demo the Sony.

But have also heard very good things about the clarity of the Sony and it's sound precision from What HiFi and HCC (but I do agree with the other poster as to why the Sony pipped the Denon in HCC). But some retailers have told me it is quite bass and treble heavy. Any comments on this?

What are the advantages of analogue inputs and pre-outs? (Im new to seperates systems) Upscaling is not esssential, but would have been nice,as I have an older non-HDMI Xbox 360. But my PS3 will be HDMI for Blu-rays and gaming.

As Im pretty sure i can get hold of the Denon for £405, though this is still £150 more than the Sony.
 
Last edited:
The Sony naturally offers a lot given its cost but the Denon overall is better sounding and has some additional features such as the ability to upconvert analogue video sources to hdmi. However whether it's £150 worth of differences only you can decide really. It would depend to some extent on your sources. Your Xbox 360 (if it's one of the older models without hdmi) would probably be connected using component video and optical digital for surround. The Wii would again be using component video with in that case twin rca phono cables carrying the audio (processed by the av receiver using dolby prologic II to give you proper surround). So on the STR-DG820, you'd have to connect both a component video cable and a hdmi cable to your television whereas the AVR1909 could pass the whole lot over hdmi. I'd say the main competitor of the Denon AVR1909 is probably the Onkyo SR606 (along with the Yamaha DSP-AX763 to some extent).

Analogue inputs are used either with stereo sources (such as a cd player), on in a multi-channel capacity with PCs as as source when they're doing the surround decoding (instead of optical or coaxial digital). Pre-outs are used when you want to have the option of hooking up a separate stereo amp for use as a power amp and in order to help improve music performance (- you connect the front left/right speakers to the stereo amp rather than to the speaker outputs on the av amp/receiver). Budget av amps/receivers especially don't tend to be that great with music sources (although naturally individual user's perceptions do vary).

My suggestion would be to wait until you can audition the STR-DG820 - the updated firmware fixed versions are trickling out in greater numbers which should only increase over time. Hence it ought to get easier for you to demo one. If it sounds good enough to you and things like additional video switching on your television wouldn't bother you then get the Sony. Otherwise take the safe option of knowing that the Denon offers a known performance (since you've already auditioned one) with everything the Sony has in terms of features and more connectivity (minus the loss of a hdmi input) abeit at higher cost.

Robert
 
Last edited:
My main hesitation is that I have listened to the Denon and think that it's sound field and scope of sound was amazing. I couldn't find anywhere to demo the Sony.

But have also heard very good things about the clarity of the Sony and it's sound precision from What HiFi and HCC (but I do agree with the other poster as to why the Sony pipped the Denon in HCC). But some retailers have told me it is quite bass and treble heavy. Any comments on this?

What are the advantages of analogue inputs and pre-outs? (Im new to seperates systems) Upscaling is not esssential, but would have been nice,as I have an older non-HDMI Xbox 360. But my PS3 will be HDMI for Blu-rays and gaming.

As Im pretty sure i can get hold of the Denon for £405, though this is still £150 more than the Sony.

RWNIEL makes several good points and ultimately, it is down to what you prefer. I was not putting the 820 down, I've got one and love it. I was very pleasantly surprised by the performance with CDs and it certainly better than my old Denon 1706 (to my ears).

If it is too bassy or treble heavy......adjust the bass and treble!:thumbsup: You can also change the bass levels by altering the size of the speakers in the Sony's set-up menu......

THe Sony has a lot to offer, as well as a saving of £150 for a BD player or some speakers!:D
 

The latest video from AVForums

Is 4K Blu-ray Worth It?
Subscribe to our YouTube channel
Back
Top Bottom