Denon 1804 upgrade to 2803 or 3803

[cam]

I have the 1804 which is rated at 90x6 but I only run it in 5.1. I could upgrade to the 2803 for another $525 CAN. or the 3803 for $935 CAN. with an exact trade in of the $685 CAN. that I paid for the 1804. I am not interested in 6.1 or 7.1, but would it be worth another $525 for the 2803 or $935 for the 3803 even though what ever amp I use I would be using it in 5.1. The 1804 is 90x6, the 2803 is 90x7, and the 3803 is 110x7. Remember I only need 5.1 so I need to know if the upgrade is justified. I have heard other people going from 90 watts a channel to 110 watts a channel and they were dissapointed. If you were spending your own money would you upgrade. By the way I have a Paradigm PW2200 v2 which is very good in music and HT. If I listen to my movies at -5db under reference do I need to upgrade. Only give me advice if you were going to part with your own money. Thanks in advance. I appreciate all comments.

[markw]

Unless there's something else it offers that you just can't live without, besides that extra channel and a few more watts , I wouldn't recommend the trade.

The problem with this hobby is that it sometimes causes money to burn holes in our pockets and we believe that simply sinking $$ into something will repay us with a multudinous improvement in sound. i.e.. cables

IMNSHO, if you don't want (or can't fit) more than 5.1 and, yes, that power increase is no great shakes, I'd hold on the your $$$ for either a more meaningful purchase or, just simply hold on to it or simply the sake of having it. It might come in handy later.

FWIW, I'm using a 2802 in 5.1 channel mode but that additional channel had no bearing on my purchase decision. I was initially looking at the 18xx series but an incredible buy happened on the 2802. I got it NIB on closeout for LESS than I would have paid for a current model 1803. Otherwise I would have an 1803.

[RGA]

The reasons others are dissapointed is that more watts don't equal more volume most of the time.

Did you know that going from 90 watts to 180 watts will give you a 3decibal increase in volume...and that 3decibals is barely audible. Did you also know that to get double the perceived volume you need ten times the watts. In your case 900 watts per channel. And unless your speaker can handle 900 watts you won't get the double in volume anyway. Most speakers are well under 300.

The reason people by power amps is to be able to play loud levels clearly - which despite the THD ratings of most receivers don't do the job. It is very very vrey very likely that that all of the Denon's have the exact same preamp and that all three will sound exactly the same. The only reason to buy the others is features and possibly a better surround decoder - then again it may be the same in 5.1 for all I know.

You could use the difference to buy a used Rotel power amp and add it to the 1804 if it has preouts...which I don't think it does unfortunately.

[Motoracer5]

I found the 2803 and 3803 to sound very similar if not the same as the 1800 series. Your money would probably be best spent on a power amp(used Bryston, Rotel, NAD, adcom) i used to have an 1802 and it had preouts for the front 3 channels, so im sure yours should. If you get a new reciever take a look at Onkyo if you want more power, and a more powerful sound