HT Setup Advice

[dartanion69]

Hi All,

I recently moved and had the wonderful experience of the movers packing all of my audio equipment into a single wardrobe box with little to no padding between the units. And they moved all of the original boxes empty. Now that makes sense!?!?

Anyway, they screwed up my Denon AVC 3000 pretty well. I am still fighting with them about replacing it. They have supposedly fixed it, but now the Hall mode doesn't work.

My question is about what to replace this unit with. I want DD, DTS, at least 5.1 and the best sound quality possible for less than $1000. I have considered buying the best machine I can find for this budget and requirements, but the more expensive units tend to have a lot of crap that I will probably never use. I have also thought about getting a more moderately priced unit and use my Carver M1.0t (200 watts/channel) to drive the fronts, my Halfer (115 watts/channel) for the rears, and run the center off the receiver. Would this be a better solution than to go high buck for the receiver to get more power? I will be using Klipsch Heresy II as the fronts, Polk center (2 x 6" drivers and a single tweeter), and haven't decided on what to use for rears (I do have a pair of Polk S4 that may work).

Anyone care to take a crack at some suggestions?

[Woochifer]

Well, losing a DSP mode is hardly reason for replacing the entire unit if it works otherwise, especially if you're happy with the audio performance! But, if replacing the unit will give you that much more surround functionality, then it might be worth swapping out, especially if you're already using outboard amps.

If you're happy with Denon, their current model in that general range is the $1,100 AVR-3803, and the next model down from there is the $800 AVR-2803. The 3803 uses some upgraded components in the digital processing section that you may or may not notice. The thing about basic surround decoding is that every receiver with six-channel preouts nowadays will do DD, DTS, 6.1, DPLII, and a lot of other DSP decoding. If you plan on attaching outboard amps, there are plenty of options in the $500 range that will do exactly what you need. By moving up the food chain, you're mainly buying upgrades in the amp section, and maybe some enhancements in the DSP modes, video switching, and multiroom capabilities. With just about any receiver, you'll get a lot of stuff that you won't use. That's just how it is nowadays.

For what you're looking for, I would suggest looking for a closeout model. I believe that Marantz has had the most recent model changeover, so you might want to take a look at them. Denon did a round of upgrades on their midlevel line before the summer, so you won't see any closeouts from them anytime soon.

[dartanion69]

Thanks for the info. It was not just losing a DSP mode, that is just the most recent issue. The moving company hired a fix it shop that subbed this work out to another shop that fixes TVs. The original problem was that the right channel had no sound. They had it for about 3 months and brought it back to me in the same condition 3 times before it worked. I just got it back and hooked up a week ago and found that the Hall mode doesn't work. I am just ticked that they won't replace it after all the problems I have had and by the way they handled my stuff. Oh, did I mention that the movers idea of removing the cables was to grab a handfull and yank! There were cable ends still attached to the back of this unit and the wall plug prongs were bent over like a claw hammer. The AVC 3000 is an older unit that is only Pro-Logic, but it has been a great unit until this happened.

[Bryan]

The 3802 can be had for $690 or so from 6ave.com. My only question is if you had the original boxes and packing material for the equipment why didn't you pack them to begin with? To me that would have been the best way to go.

[dartanion69]

This move was part of a corporate relocation package. I had already moved and had to wait for my home to sell before our stuff would be moved. Couldn't afford 2 mortgages. I would have moved all my HT equipment myself, but I didn't have room for it until I was able to buy a house after mine sold. I didn't realize that the company that was going to move us would treat our stuff this way. My previous corporate relocation went very well with nothing broken. All my equipment was packed in their original boxes. Not this time. Also, the moving company said they would not insure items that they didn't pack. Nice that they won't replace something that they broke.