Not sure what HT system to buy??? Help!

[st600r]

More than a novice, but not an audiophile. Have older Yamaha surround system but will not work with new HDTV. New TV ONLY has HDMI out. NO HDMI on older Yamaha.

Looking at Denon DHT-590BA, which is a Denon AVR 590 PLUS Boston Acoustics MCS90. Price seems to be around $550.00. I might spend a "little" more money if I get a marked increase in performance or features. I think I am OK with 5.1. Not sure I would care about a 7.1 system, although I have never heard a 7.1.

Is the Denon 590BA a good deal for the money? Is there something just as good for less money? Is there something better for just a bit more money?

Thanks for any feedback that would help.

[Swish]

More than a novice, but not an audiophile. Have older Yamaha surround system but will not work with new HDTV. New TV ONLY has HDMI out. NO HDMI on older Yamaha.

Looking at Denon DHT-590BA, which is a Denon AVR 590 PLUS Boston Acoustics MCS90. Price seems to be around $550.00. I might spend a "little" more money if I get a marked increase in performance or features. I think I am OK with 5.1. Not sure I would care about a 7.1 system, although I have never heard a 7.1.

Is the Denon 590BA a good deal for the money? Is there something just as good for less money? Is there something better for just a bit more money?

Thanks for any feedback that would help.

...I have a 7.1 system and love it, although it's not hooked up now as I'm moving soon and it will eventually be in my new HT room. However, the 7.1 isn't really needed if you're going to use your mainly for movies. I have a decent number of cds recorded in DTS 5.1 format, and for those, it's stellar. I have a Rotel RSP1098 processor if you were curious.

[Mr Peabody]

The 590 has all the latest decoding and will upsample analog input signal to digital so only one HDMI to TV is needed. It will do what you want. If your budget permits I would personally seek better speakers, maybe entry level Paradigm or B&W. One of the guys here also says Mordaunt Short is excellent and they are priced very well. None of these speakers will still allow you to be at around $500.00 though. Actually the entire speaker package would probably run more than that but it would be money well spent.

[rob_a]

I did own the Denon 998 once, way under powered. I would go with Onkyo over the Denon. Their entry level stuff seems a little better in my opinion.