Upgrading AVR from Denon 4308

shacla

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Hi,

I am going to be upgrading my AVR to go along with my next TV upgrade which will be a Panny 60" ( ZT60 or VT60 ).

My sources are PS3, extreme PC, iDevices ( AirPlay etc ), and possibly a mid range BD player, Virgin Tivo

Lot's of HD Movies and music of all genres bar 80s pop!! SACD and CD main source of music other than Apple lossless on the file side of things. Also will be my main gaming rig.

My speakers are 5.1 SVS Ultras with PB12-Plus

Have whittled it down to two which after own investigations:

Pioneer sc-lx86
Denon 4520

Have a £2.5K budget so they both nicely sit in range

Pioneer seems tremendously good on paper being and have read very good reviews, although it appears a mixed bag between the two. THX Ultra2 classified seems nice but isn't necessary if the sound of the Denon suits me better I guess. I am kinda used to Denon and am an Audyssey user, but if the pioneer proves better I wont mind switching.

Any advise what be great. I have no budget for speaker upgrades so the abive will be the end system for a few years.

Many thanks
 
With that budget you could look at receivers from anthem and arcam.
 
PSM1 said:
With that budget you could look at receivers from anthem and arcam.

Sorry but I don't know much about other brands, what would they offer me which my two choices wouldn't. Do you have any specific models I should be looking at?

Thanks
 
Arcam is very good with music so would offer great sound quality. The Anthem range has a very good room calibration system and also has good sound quality. So both would represent viable alternatives to the receivers you mention. So you could look at the Arcam 400 or Anthem MX700.
 
Ok so I've just checked both of them out on their respective websites and of the two I think I like the Arcam better although it appears many years old, is the tech not a bit outdated? They also seem a bit limited on HDMI inputs compared to the Pio and Denon latest models.

I've seen a couple of x demo Arcam avr600s which I could prob stretch my budget to if worth it, have they ever been updated to support things like HDMI 1.4, 3D, 4K upscaling etc as per the Pio and Denon specs?

I will definitely add them to short list to test.

Does anyone know of a specific reason why I should not pair them with my speaker config?

Sorry for the many questions, want make sure I understand before I go see and buy.

Thanks.
 
The 600 had a few bugs when new but I believe there is a 1.4HDMI upgrade for it. I think Arcam have also just released the 360 as well.
 
Ok so managed to get a lenthy demo of the Arcam, Pio and Denon over the easter break and have decided to go for the Denon ( once the next pay day comes in ).

For me it had the better feature set and was up there with the sound quality for the music and movies I used to demo. The fact I have always owned Denon and got along well with their sound and config may have pushed me slightly towards being biased but hey...each to their own right :D

It was interesting to demo a slightly more expnsive AVR and I'm glad I did as I certainly did not see what the extra £1500 for an Arcam 600 would give me over the Denon, maybe my ears/eyes have got worse over the years but I just preferred the Denon, but thanks for giving me a further choice to look at.
 
As long as you got the right amp for you that is all that matters. Enjoy the new toy when you get it.
 

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