2. home-theater
  3. 1207179990

Old top-of-the-line A/V Receiver vs. new mid-level

Howdy all. First time posting here, thanks for any help anyone can offer.

Basically I have been looking at a lot of the older, top-rated Denon A/V receivers as a replacement for my current Rotel RSX-1065. Understand that it performs great, but I am stepping up from the 600 series B&Ws to the 800 series (804S to start in the front, will upgrade to one of the HTMs for center and probably 805S's in the rear). Since I do not have internal decoding on the Rotel for the newer HD audio codecs anyway, I am going from Blu-ray and HD-DVD into a Zektor switcher then into the sole set of analog inputs on the Rotel.

My question is, since I am going analog anyway right now, would getting into an older A/V receiver, like a Denon AVR-5xxx series be a step up for me to feed some better sound into the 800's? In particular, the Denon AVR-5800/5803s have not one but two sets of 7.1 external analog inputs, so I could immediately also get rid of my switcher, as well as what I would think would be a step up in my amplification.

Would love to get something like a Rotel RMB-1096 with RSP-1098/68/69, but I just can't afford that right now. Also, a great condition AVR-5800 can be had for as little as $500-600 on eBay.

Thanks for any opinions!
hasaanchop
ckoffend
684 posts
 
I think a much bigger improvement to the sound will be to stop using the weak link in the AV receivers, that being the amplifier sections. You would be better off running the pre-outs (at least for the mains) into a decent 2-channel amplifier (for better stereo performance) or a good 3-channel amplifier for the 2 main speakers and the center channel speaker.

Outside of the digital processing (for the various surround modes), which you are not using if you are bringing in an analog signal; most of the AV Receivers have pretty week amplification performance. Since you already have the switchers, this would not only be the most cost effective solution to improving the sound, but may also be the easiest approach.

This being the case, I don't believe you will hear much of a difference between the Rotel and the Denon AVRs.
elevick
2,636 posts
 
Start with a nice 5 channel power amp. Keep the Rotel for now as a pre only. This will save you from upgrading again when you decide the denon was a bad move.
gigolo
11 posts
 
since moving up from 600 series to 800 series.need better amplification.am using avr5803 excellent on ht but on 2 channel a little weak.. time to upgrade?????
elevick
2,636 posts
 
Keep the 5803 and buy a nice 2 channel amp for the right and left or a killer 5 channel. If you go with 2 channel amp for now, it will free up some power in the 5803 for the other channels. Just get a 2 channel that you can mate with another 3,4 or 5 channel in the future?

Personally, I'd say go with a really nice 5 channel with those speakers. They deserve it! Sunfire, Sherbourn, Anthem and on and on...
mumbles
83 posts
 
I am using a denon 5803 for both 2 channel and ht and am very happy with it. I replaced my paradigm speakers with Dalis 800s, 400s for rears and 200center along with servo 15 sub and found that the speaker upgrade made a huge difference, and the 5803 still has plenty of power for them. I am also running 16 8"nht ceiling speakers from it's multizone out and there I have to admit it is running a bit thin.Going to add a multizone amp using the 5803 pre outs for the other zones. Also added a CJ MET1 multi channel tube preamp and love it with the 5803. They compliment each other well. I have been wondering how much improvement I would get from a different amp, such as a class or cary cinema11, but am happy enough for now.
I bought the 5803 new and have to live with it for awhile, but I think they are a steal used, fine piece of equipment.
More to discover