Updating Denon AVR-3600?

[Rudy Gireyev]

I got this receiver last week, albeit without the remote, and am trying to integrate it into my HT setup in place of my Yamaha HTR-5830. The fact that the Denon is twice the size of the Yamaha and weighs three times as much gave it much promise. However, the fact that the Denon does not support DTS seems like a showstopper. Because, when I plug in my Pioneer BDP-51FD into it via the optical cable, and try to watch a DVD (not a Blu Ray) the Denon goes into the dreaded Protect mode after just a few seconds. And in those few seconds that the sound does come out the center channel is silent. And of course, there is no 6 channel direct input, like on the Yamaha or even my Harman Kardon AVR-300. So I turn to you guys for help and advice.
1. Is there any way to upgrade the Denon, and bring it a little up to date?


On a side note I thought that maybe I could somehow utilize it as an amplifier, just in case the answer to the above questions is No. Though yet again I'm not able to see how. It lends itself easily as a pre-amp, but doesn't seem to offer any extensibility as an amplifier. So this would be my second question. Any thoughts on utilizing it as an amp?

Here's a link to the manual for the unit: Denon AVR-3600 Manual

Thanks to all in advance.
Rudy

[Luvin Da Blues]

On a side note I thought that maybe I could somehow utilize it as an amplifier, just in case the answer to the above questions is No. Though yet again I'm not able to see how. It lends itself easily as a pre-amp, but doesn't seem to offer any extensibility as an amplifier. So this would be my second question. Any thoughts on utilizing it as an amp?

Thanks to all in advance.
Rudy

You could use the Denon as a 2 Ch. power amp for just your main speakers if the Yammy has pre outs for the front channels. Run this into the Tape In jacks on the Denon. Of course you won't have any gain control but I'm sure the Yammy has Audacity (or similar) to set the speaker levels. This would take a huge load off the Yammy's power supply.

[Rudy Gireyev]

You could use the Denon as a 2 Ch. power amp for just your main speakers if the Yammy has pre-outs for the front channels. Run this into the Tape In jacks on the Denon. Of course you won't have any gain control but I'm sure the Yammy has Audacity (or similar) to set the speaker levels. This would take a huge load off the Yammy's power supply.

Thanks LDB. However, I don't believe that Yamaha has pre outs. Here's the link to it on the Yamaha web site: Yamaha HTR-5830
Under Product Views you can see a shot of the back of the unit. However, I believe that the Harman Kardon AVR-300 that I also got last week does have pre-outs. This brings up a question though. How could I set the Denon to use all of its power for the two channels? Meaning, are the 5 amps in the Denon separate? Or is it one big amp with something like a crossover?

When I look at the Denon Spec sheet which is on the last page of the manual that I linked above, it states that the unit can go up to 140W per channel in 2 channel mode into an 8 Ohm pair of speakers.

Thanks.
Rudy

P.S. So from your reply I take to mean that there's really no way to upgrade the Denon.