Suggestions for a HD upgrade

[gblades]

Just got myself a Sony 40V3000 LCD TV and I am looking to upgrade my other components. Currently I have :-

SKY
Tivo
Pioneer DVD-636 DVD (fairly old but built in DD and DTS decoder).
Yamaha receiver (Only DD compatible) with 5 speakers and a sub.

I have booked for SKY HD to be installed as the new TV is really showing the quality loss through the Tivo recordings.

Now thinking about the DVD player and amp.
I could get a new DVD player with HDMI, upscaling and built in DD/DTS decoder. Or perhaps wait and get a dual format HD player although I doubt I will get many HD films.
Or I could upgrade my amp with one which has built in upscaling and far more compatible digital audio standards.

Oviously the new amp and (cheaper) new DVD player route will be more expensive but the existing amp may be just too outdated.

Thoughts and suggestions?

 

[sp_harris]

Are you happy with the sound at the moment? if so, then the solution would seem to be a new DVD player that outputs over HDMI to allow your TV to show this at 1080p (maybe a PS3). Other option is some new speakers and keep the amp.

 

[gblades]

That was my initial thought aswell but it would mean the new DVD player would have to have a built in DTS decoder the same as my current one.
If I then got a HD player later that would also have to have a full decoder and take the place of the original DVD player.

I am perfectly happy with my current speakers. I have some tannoy floor standers at the front, Mission 760iSE at the rear, a warfdale center speaker and a paradyme sub. The sub is good but I think the room is too small for it to work well. I took it round to a friends a while ago and watched the matrix and it performed so much better.

Perhaps I will get a new DVD player for now and then perhaps upgrade to a HD player when things have sorted themselves out and then see how the audio format compatibility goes.

 

[sp_harris]

What model is your receiver? Does it have 6 analogue inputs on the back as this would allow you to still enjoy HD sound from certain players?

I agree on the waiting for HD DVD/Blu-ray thing to settle down - I am as well.

I don't understand your comments about:

but it would mean the new DVD player would have to have a built in DTS decoder the same as my current one.

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I thought most SD DVD players would send the sound to the amp as bitstream and let the amp decode the sound.

Are you saying that your amp can't decode DTS? If so is this a problem - I hardly use it at all. My DVD's & Sky HD play in Dolby Digital, Sky SD & Wii play in Dolby pro-logic II Movies.