B&K 307 vs. Denon 5800 Debate

Thanks Justy..... Except what good does DTS-EX do for a 5 channel receiver? DTS-EX is 6.1 and the B&K 202 is NOT a 6.1 capable amplifier/receiver i.e. it does not have 6.1 amplifiers, or outputs which leads me to belive that there is truly NO point in upgrading. What is the point of being able to decode DTS-EX if you cannot listen to it on all six channels?

B&K customers are loyal because this product is likely their first venture into "higher end" audio and they have to justify the price of these "mediocre" sounding boxes
somehow. Then, along comes marketing with the idea of being able to upgrade.

I guess it's like upgrading your PC right? So I could go out today and upgrade my Pentium 233 with a Pentium 4 processor so I have the LATEST technology!!!

Just like updating a B&K to the latest technology!

Oops.. The fitting of the new Pentiums doesn't fit in the P233 motherboard. Wait a second, the RAM is different! Oh No!! The System bios is not Win ME, 2000, NT4 or even 98 compliant? YIKES!!!

SO my main point is be careful when people tell you that you can UPGRAGE your $3000 receivers as new formats come out. It is likely that any new format will require a change in not just software... but hardware as well.

So.. Justy, be careful when you presume that your equipment
will never be outdated.

The dacs can be upgraded,next years dacs will be better ect. Who in there right mind would want to be dvd audio compatible,when there is the superior format sacd which i already have.Bwhite no one said the b&k receivers were levinson beaters.I for one am not interested in adding 6.1 or 7.1 or 10.1 when there are about 5 movies available with 6.1 .All five of my speakers have the revelator tweeters in them,so i am in no hurry to buy one or even two more.By the way Bwhite my speakers for testing the different receivers on the market are probably better than 99% of the home theater buffs and the b&k sounds better period.I have had seperates in surround systyms[before pro logic] iv'e also had many different cdp,dacs,wires cables ect.the b&k receiver is a good deal if you compare what it would take in seperates $$ wise,even the denon is cheaper than seperates.also i paid 1600.00 for my 202 with optional silver face[2900.00]i could put it on audiogon tommorow and get 1600.oo for it.you can open the b&k and in ten minutes move your front two channels two the rear or side and add a two channel amp to the front channels.

BWhite,

OBVIOUSLY the B&K Upgrades are hardware as well as software driven; i think every internal component can be swapped out. Therefore if 6.1, 7.1 or 8.1 channels need to be driven; the amplifier would be upgraded to accomodate.

Okay.. Okay.. I get it... :) Lets look at the size difference between the 202 and the 307. The 307 is MUCH larger than the 202. The 307 is a 7 channel receiver and the 202 is a 5 channel. Justy, how will the extra amplifiers, cards and powersupplies fit inside the 202 box? I believe the B&K 202 (as with most multi-channel manufacturers) uses descrete amplification, which means one 105w amp (plus associated components) per channel.

I think I'm going to call B&K and tell them I want to upgrade my 202 to a 7 channel unit just to see how long
they laugh at me.

Ears, it remains to be seen whether DVD-A is better or worse than SACD. I agree that SACD is a great format but DVD-A hasn't yet been released, so making comparisons at this point is not fair.

You are correct, DAC's can be upgraded and in MOST cases upgrading a 20bit DAC to a 24bit makes a tremendous difference! I encourage all who can do this to do it.

You use ScanSpeak Relevators on your speakers huh? They are highly rated and are used heavily by DIY'ers... So.. Did you build them yourself? I know you reference how much better your speakers are than 99% of the home theater buffs out there but could you give us more detail? I'm also curious why someone who has within the top 1% of speakers of all of us "buffs" out here would settle on a B&K or the "best deal" receiver to drive those amazing speakers!

People should buy what they like. I am not dissing B&K by any means. I think it's a great product and before I did extensive research which ultimately led me to buying separates, I thought it was the ultimate! I loved it! But after comparing the 307 to a Marantz 18ex, I just went limp, and became very bummed out by the B&K. I didn't buy the Marantz but it led me to McIntosh and from there, to Krell.

I still believe the Marantz 18ex is the best sounding "comsumer grade" receiver out there. I'm curious if anyone else has listened and done A/B comparisons between the Marantz and the B&K.

My gripe is with upgrading and the belief that one can simply upgrade to a format (which currently doesn't exist) some day when it becomes available. How can anyone make that claim?