Bought Denon 2105 on Spec, Fiber Optics Question

[hershon]

After going to another 2 Stereo Places in LA (Northridge) & hearing Rotell, Pioneer & various Denon receivers, the only one I was impressed with & this may be based on total nonsence as the speakers were all different & God knows what the tone settings and audio settings were, the only one that I liked was the Denon 2105 (I preferred this to the 2805 which may be because of the speaker set up). I used "Norwegian Wood" as my reference. Again, I might have liked the other systems better if I was listening to everything under the same settings & speakers. I decided to take a chance & purchase the Denon 2105 & the Denon 1710 DVD player (the bad thing about this is it doesn't play DVD-A's but I only have about 4 of them anyway & I bought the Denon because the sales person recommended that I was best sticking to the same brand for sound quality), as I basically got $100 off as there was a store sale. I could have gotten the Denon 2105 for I'm guessing another $200 less if I bought it online, but the thing is, the store had a 30 day return policy & given everything I thought that was my best option. Once I get the system set up to my Orb speakers, I'm going to try to do as close of an immediate sound comparison with my JVC DVD receiver as I can. I'm going to hook up my second Orb set that I used in the bedroom to the Denon, so I'll be able to do a faster comparison as I'll have 2 systems hooked up in the exact same location. If I notice a significant improvement, obviously I'm going to keep the set, but if it's not significantly better in terms of sound quality, then I'm going to return everything. I'll report my results once everything is hooked up (it might take me a while to set the Denon up as there are alot of controls).

My biggest question & I definately can use some help here is, I bought a $200 Optilink 3
optic cable as the salesman said that this may affect the sound quaity. He actually recommended I buy the middle $80 model, the $200 one was the best the store carried.
I actually bought both as I figured I could return the $200 one if I don't notice a difference.
What do you recommend. Is the $200 Optlink 3 the way to go or do you know a cheaper brand that I will get as good audio quality? Any comments welcome.

[elbarono]

An optical cable is a type of digital connection. There is no 'sound' passing through the cable, just pulses of light. The pulses of light represent 1's and 0's. In order for the signal to be affected, the cable would have to be so bad that the 1's were getting mistaken for 0's, and/or vice versa. I don't think that is likely to happen with any quality cable, and I don't think a quality cable costs $200.

[hershon]

What cable would you recommend? Thanks

An optical cable is a type of digital connection. There is no 'sound' passing through the cable, just pulses of light. The pulses of light represent 1's and 0's. In order for the signal to be affected, the cable would have to be so bad that the 1's were getting mistaken for 0's, and/or vice versa. I don't think that is likely to happen with any quality cable, and I don't think a quality cable costs $200.

[drseid]

What cable would you recommend? Thanks

Quite frankly, why not just buy one of those AR Toslink cables that go for about $15 at Best Buy....? I say that because you get higher quality construction than the cheapy Toslink cables that frequently come with DVD players... Sound quality will be the same on all of them, quite frankly.

BTW, as for your salesperson's comment about all the components should be the same, as that provides optimal sound quality...? That is total BS, I am afraid. That said, as Denon makes some of the best DVD players out there, in this case it looks like the "advice" may pay off, but it won't be because of any special "advantage." The only advantage is just that Denon makes good products. :-)

---Dave

[hershon]

I may have unintentionally misquoted the salesman here- after I had paid for everything, I all of a sudden had a Beavis and Butthead flash and realized I didn't ask the salesman whether or not the Denon DVD player played DVD-A & so when I asked him he said they didn't. I then was contemplating buying another DVD player & about the only one under $250 that played DVD-A was a Panasonic. The salesman advised me for the best sound on a denon receiver, I should stick to a Denon DVD player. Given that, DVD-A isn't all that important to me, I figured I'll stick to this & as it was only about $125 with the sales discount, if I ever replaced it I wouldn't lose any sleep. So my appologies, if I didn't explain this clear enough.

I started to attach my full bedroom set of 5 Orbs to the Denon and I started setting it up a bit, for which I confess II'm not 100% sure if I did this right. As I live in an apartment building, its too late now to hear the system on the speakers. I did listen to a CD via a headphone and also played the same CD through my JVC receiver via my headphone & I didn't notice much difference, if anything my JVC was warmer. Hopefully, this doesn't mean anything as the only thing that counts is if the sound will be significantly better hearing them on the speakers. I hate to say this, and everyone is just disregarding this as it sounds like I'm brain dead, but I'm beginning to think the JVC player for my tastes produces a better sound with Orb speakers than any other expensive receiver set up. If in fact that is true, the only thing I can attribute to that is that the owners/creators of Orb, specifically recommended for the best sound of Orb speakers to use the JVC RX-31DSL DVD receiver & maybe they knew what they were talking about. I'll try to get a more objective view when I listen to things in the morning & have both the Denon & JVC cued up to play the same CD album (albeit they're both CDR's of "Rubber Soul" for uniformity). Even then, if I don't notice much difference, my statement will be qualified as perhaps I need to tweak the Denon's settings like I did the JVC.

Quite frankly, why not just buy one of those AR Toshlink cables that go for about $15 at Best Buy....? I say that because you get higher quality construction than the cheapy Toshlink cables that frequently come with DVD players... Sound quality will be the same on all of them, quite frankly.

BTW, as for your salesperson's comment about all the components should be the same, as that provides optimal sound quality...? That is total BS, I am afraid. That said, as Denon makes some of the best DVD players out there, in this case it looks like the "advice" may pay off, but it won't be beacause of any special "advantage." the only advantage is just that Denon makes good products. :-)

---Dave

[shokhead]

I may have unintentionally misquoted the salesman here- after I had paid for everything, I all of a sudden had a Beavis and Butthead flash and realized I didn't ask the salesman whether or not the Denon DVD player played DVD-A & so when I asked him he said they didn't. I then was contemplating buying another DVD player & about the only one under $250 that played DVD-A was a Panasonic. The salesman advised me for the best sound on a denon receiver, I should stick to a Denon DVD player. Given that, DVD-A isn't all that important to me, I figured I'll stick to this & as it was only about $125 with the sales discount, if I ever replaced it I wouldn't lose any sleep. So my appologies, if I didn't explain this clear enough.

I started to attach my full bedroom set of 5 Orbs to the Denon and I started setting it up a bit, for which I confess II'm not 100% sure if I did this right. As I live in an apartment building, its too late now to hear the system on the speakers. I did listen to a CD via a headphone and also played the same CD through my JVC receiver via my headphone & I didn't notice much difference, if anything my JVC was warmer. Hopefully, this doesn't mean anything as the only thing that counts is if the sound will be significantly better hearing them on the speakers. I hate to say this, and everyone is just disregarding this as it sounds like I'm brain dead, but I'm beginning to think the JVC player for my tastes produces a better sound with Orb speakers than any other expensive receiver set up. If in fact that is true, the only thing I can attribute to that is that the owners/creators of Orb, specifically recommended for the best sound of Orb speakers to use the JVC RX-31DSL DVD receiver & maybe they knew what they were talking about. I'll try to get a more objective view when I listen to things in the morning & have both the Denon & JVC cued up to play the same CD album (albeit they're both CDR's of "Rubber Soul" for uniformity). Even then, if I don't notice much difference, my statement will be qualified as perhaps I need to tweak the Denon's settings like I did the JVC.

So you got the 2105,cool,its a nice reciever. You dont judge anything with headphones except the headphones. Remind me how many other expensive reciever setups you've listened to? So they made speakers that sound best with THAT reciever? Not likly. Get a Radio Shack spl meter and setup the Denon right. Spend a buck and get a DTS music disc and enjoy how good it will sound and put the JVC in the bedroom. Those DVD-A disc's you have still might work if they are also in DTS,just get into the disc menu and choose DTS if its there. Make sure you try the 5 channel stere on the Denon,i like it alot. Hope you got a good deal on the Denon,the cheapest i've seen is 499 at GG but they did have a open box for 429,not a bad deal. Take those cables back,if you had that much to spend,you should have gotten a better DVD player with DVD-A. Just use a basic dig toslink or coax. RS has them.

[Geoffcin]

After going to another 2 Stereo Places in LA (Northridge) & hearing Rotell, Pioneer & various Denon receivers, the only one I was impressed with & this may be based on total nonsence as the speakers were all different & God knows what the tone settings and audio settings were, the only one that I liked was the Denon 2105 (I preferred this to the 2805 which may be because of the speaker set up). I used "Norwegian Wood" as my reference. Again, I might have liked the other systems better if I was listening to everything under the same settings & speakers. I decided to take a chance & purchase the Denon 2105 & the Denon 1710 DVD player (the bad thing about this is it doesn't play DVD-A's but I only have about 4 of them anyway & I bought the Denon because the sales person recommended that I was best sticking to the same brand for sound quality), as I basically got $100 off as there was a store sale. I could have gotten the Denon 2105 for I'm guessing another $200 less if I bought it online, but the thing is, the store had a 30 day return policy & given everything I thought that was my best option. Once I get the system set up to my Orb speakers, I'm going to try to do as close of an immediate sound comparison with my JVC DVD receiver as I can. I'm going to hook up my second Orb set that I used in the bedroom to the Denon, so I'll be able to do a faster comparison as I'll have 2 systems hooked up in the exact same location. If I notice a significant improvement, obviously I'm going to keep the set, but if it's not significantly better in terms of sound quality, then I'm going to return everything. I'll report my results once everything is hooked up (it might take me a while to set the Denon up as there are alot of controls).

My biggest question & I definately can use some help here is, I bought a $200 Optilink 3
optic cable as the salesman said that this may affect the sound quaity. He actually recommended I buy the middle $80 model, the $200 one was the best the store carried.
I actually bought both as I figured I could return the $200 one if I don't notice a difference.
What do you recommend. Is the $200 Optlink 3 the way to go or do you know a cheaper brand that I will get as good audio quality? Any comments welcome.

After that confusing demo that you did. It's almost impossible to test receivers for sound quality in a setting like that. Just to make you feel betting I've been unable to hear any significant difference in ANY receiver at the same price point. Heck, it's even hard to pick out the sound of a flagship receiver from a $700 unit. (that I HAVE done)

I am a little surprised that the Denon DVD player doesn't do DVD-Audio. Denon makes some outstanding DVD players, and I think it's a mistake on their part not to include DVD-Audio on their lower priced units.

If I were you I would return the $200 toslink cable AND the Denon DVD player. Tell them you want to exchange them for a BETTER Denon DVD player, one that does have DVD-Audio. I'm listening to DVD-Audio right now, and it's superior to CD sound in EVERY way.
A good unit like the Denon will probably use to 24/192khz DAC's for upsampling on regular CD's too, so you will get even better CD sound with a DVD-Audio capable unit.
I can't stress enough how much a quality source makes for better sound.

[Lensman]

After going to another 2 Stereo Places in LA (Northridge) & hearing Rotell, Pioneer & various Denon receivers, the only one I was impressed with & this may be based on total nonsence as the speakers were all different & God knows what the tone settings and audio settings were, the only one that I liked was the Denon 2105 (I preferred this to the 2805 which may be because of the speaker set up). I used "Norwegian Wood" as my reference. Again, I might have liked the other systems better if I was listening to everything under the same settings & speakers. I decided to take a chance & purchase the Denon 2105 & the Denon 1710 DVD player (the bad thing about this is it doesn't play DVD-A's but I only have about 4 of them anyway & I bought the Denon because the sales person recommended that I was best sticking to the same brand for sound quality), as I basically got $100 off as there was a store sale. I could have gotten the Denon 2105 for I'm guessing another $200 less if I bought it online, but the thing is, the store had a 30 day return policy & given everything I thought that was my best option. Once I get the system set up to my Orb speakers, I'm going to try to do as close of an immediate sound comparison with my JVC DVD receiver as I can. I'm going to hook up my second Orb set that I used in the bedroom to the Denon, so I'll be able to do a faster comparison as I'll have 2 systems hooked up in the exact same location. If I notice a significant improvement, obviously I'm going to keep the set, but if it's not significantly better in terms of sound quality, then I'm going to return everything. I'll report my results once everything is hooked up (it might take me a while to set the Denon up as there are alot of controls).

My biggest question & I definately can use some help here is, I bought a $200 Optilink 3
optic cable as the salesman said that this may affect the sound quaity. He actually recommended I buy the middle $80 model, the $200 one was the best the store carried.
I actually bought both as I figured I could return the $200 one if I don't notice a difference.
What do you recommend. Is the $200 Optlink 3 the way to go or do you know a cheaper brand that I will get as good audio quality? Any comments welcome.

I hope the 2105 lives accomplishes what you hope. It's a great buy in the Denon line and, despite the apparant watts-per-channel rating, actually puts out significantly more power than your current JVC. Before you get into comparing them:

1. I'm with everyone else in urging you to return that $200 optical cable. As Elbarono points out, the signal through that cable is ones and zeros. In addition to the ones and zeros that represent the music, the signal also transmits a parity bit for error correction. This essentially means the cable will either work perfectly or not at all. Thus any cheap cable will work just as well as long as the receiver produces sound. Like any cable, good connectors help keep the ends from breaking or pulling off under use/abuse, so the expense of $15 for an AR cable or perhaps even a $30 Monster cable can be justified. But $200? No.

2. Again, as others have said, when you return the cable also return the DVD player and get a better one. The reason? Aside from the DVD-A issue, the 1710 you purchased is not equipped with the Faroudja scaling chip that would give you a better picture on your HDTV set. The 1910 which does is only $80 more. You could also go with Shokhead's original recommendation of the 5-disc 1815.

3. Understand that in addition to the optical cable, you will also want to connect analog RCA cables to the DVD player for listening to music. This way you can use the superior Burr-Brown DACs in the player. If you only listen to the player through the optical cable, the sound will be no better than that of any cheap player you connect to the 2105 because you'll be using the receiver's DACs.

4. Properly setting up of the Denon is critical to the quality of sound you'll hear from it. Fortunately the 2105 has an auto setup feature with microphone to help you. This makes things a lot easier. Just be sure to read and follow the instructions carefully.

[hershon]

I've started another thread on this as quite frankly for my Orb speakers the sound a JVC DVD 500 watts receiver- RX-DV31SL, produces superior sound quality for my tastes, whether people don't like me saying this or think I'm an idiot, I don't care, I know what my ears hear.

After that confusing demo that you did. It's almost impossible to test receivers for sound quality in a setting like that. Just to make you feel betting I've been unable to hear any significant difference in ANY receiver at the same price point. Heck, it's even hard to pick out the sound of a flagship receiver from a $700 unit. (that I HAVE done)

I am a little surprised that the Denon DVD player doesn't do DVD-Audio. Denon makes some outstanding DVD players, and I think it's a mistake on their part not to include DVD-Audio on their lower priced units.

If I were you I would return the $200 toslink cable AND the Denon DVD player. Tell them you want to exchange them for a BETTER Denon DVD player, one that does have DVD-Audio. I'm listening to DVD-Audio right now, and it's superior to CD sound in EVERY way.
A good unit like the Denon will probably use to 24/192khz DAC's for upsampling on regular CD's too, so you will get even better CD sound with a DVD-Audio capable unit.
I can't stress enough how much a quality source makes for better sound.

[shokhead]

Well then,why did you buy something else? I guess i forgot why. If it was for your bedroom,imo you overbought. You know,watts isnt what its all about. I guess you now have a room full of good A/V stuff.

[hershon]

Well then,why did you buy something else? I guess i forgot why. If it was for your bedroom,imo you overbought. You know,watts isnt what its all about. I guess you now have a room full of good A/V stuff.

I bought (& returned) the Denon2105 because quite frankly I got greedy & didn't realise what a good system I had- I've done the same thing with women and it has backfired on me. In this case, as I said, Iwas very happy with the sound quality of my JVC receiver when listening to my Orb's but thought I might even be able to get even better sound by improving on my receiver. The end result is, for my Orb Audio system, the Denon 2105, does not improve the quality for my ears from my JVC system and therefore I returned it. I can only speak for myself. Maybe someone else would hear the 2 systems differently through the Orb speakers, but I've got to do what is best for me.

[N. Abstentia]

I just find it very odd that you cheapened out on everything EXCEPT the one thing you should have cheapend out on. You paid $200 for a $10 optical cable but got a substandard DVD player! I've never been a fan of Denon players, you can get a better player for less money.

[hershon]

I just find it very odd that you cheapened out on everything EXCEPT the one thing you should have cheapend out on. You paid $200 for a $10 optical cable but got a substandard DVD player! I've never been a fan of Denon players, you can get a better player for less money.

You may be totally right. I relied on the salesman at the store and as I heard the system on that DVD player so I went with it.

The problem I'm beginning to perceive, is that maybe there is no universal right and wrong answers in regards to (some) audio matters & people hear things differently. For instance, Lensman & some other people seem to feel that for digital connections, its not really the DVD player that's affecting the sound but the receiver, a salesman at Shelly's a very high end store in LA says the opposite, you don't like Denon DVD players, etc., God I'm going mad!

[N. Abstentia]

You may be totally right. I relied on the salesman at the store and as I heard the system on that DVD player so I went with it.

The problem I'm beginning to perceive, is that maybe there is no universal right and wrong answers in regards to (some) audio matters & people hear things differently. For instance, Lensman & some other people seem to feel that for digital connections, its not really the DVD player that's affecting the sound but the receiver, a salesman at Shelly's a very high end store in LA says the opposite, you don't like Denon DVD players, etc., God I'm going mad!

Well, Lensman is right..when you're using a digital connection you're bypassing the DAC's in your player and you are relying completely on your receiver to do the decoding.

[kexodusc]

Hershon: It's clear to me you are looking to upgrade your system....why not upgrade the one area you can be sure will make a huge difference...SPEAKERS...If you can buy a $200 cable and a DVD player and a receiver, it sounds to me like you should have no problem at all buying speakers that suit you.
I'm sure the Orbs are fine, but to me, buying cables and players and receivers to improve a system's sound is the least effective way to do it. Live with what you've got or make a meaningful upgrade.

[markw]

Hershon: It's clear to me you are looking to upgrade your system....why not upgrade the one area you can be sure will make a huge difference...SPEAKERS...If you can buy a $200 cable and a DVD player and a receiver, it sounds to me like you should have no problem at all buying speakers that suit you.
I'm sure the Orbs are fine, but to me, buying cables and players and receivers to improve a system's sound is the least effective way to do it. Live with what you've got or make a meaningful upgrade.

He doesn't want to hear this. Trust me...

Denon Receivers 1905, 2105, 2805 Further questions

[hershon]

Hershon: It's clear to me you are looking to upgrade your system....why not upgrade the one area you can be sure will make a huge difference...SPEAKERS...If you can buy a $200 cable and a DVD player and a receiver, it sounds to me like you should have no problem at all buying speakers that suit you.
I'm sure the Orbs are fine, but to me, buying cables and players and receivers to improve a system's sound is the least effective way to do it. Live with what you've got or make a meaningful upgrade.

The thing is I love the sound of my Orb Speakers. Have you ever listened to Orb? If so, and you'd still make the suggestion, fine. But if you haven't, you wouldn't understand why I'm in love with them.

[hershon]

He doesn't want to hear this. Trust me...

Denon Receivers 1905, 2105, 2805 Further questions

Again, all I can say is, if you in fact heard Orb Audio speakers and weren't impressed with them, then I welcome your comments telling me that to improve my sound, I need to replace them & then the rest of my sound system. I don't have a problem with that.

But it appears that you haven't actually heard the Orb speakers and therefore can't relate to why I love the sound of them and have no desire to replace them as the mainstay of my system.

[kexodusc]

The thing is I love the sound of my Orb Speakers. Have you ever listened to Orb? If so, and you'd still make the suggestion, fine. But if you haven't, you wouldn't understand why I'm in love with them.

Let me ask you now, how can you be sure what you hear (or what you don't hear but want to hear) is not the cause of your speakers? You love your speakers but you want to improve your sound. You feel something is lacking. You've tried other components with no success. Are your ears capable of assigning every attribute in a system to each individual component? Doubtful.

Try to understand that nobody is attacking you personally. Your speakers are fine. I'm not bashing them. I like Orb, but that's not the point here. There comes a time when you have to learn to accept criticism when it is offered constructively.

You've tried several upgrade options, and to date you always seem to come back to where you started. Fine. Every speaker is limited, it's possible the Orb's are a fantastic value, but your tastes have just outgrown them. This happens to everyone sooner or later. Maybe there's another higher model of Orb's out there for you?

To date you've replaced several other components and keep arriving at the same conclusion. Why not at least try the one component you are avoiding? When you start dropping $80 on isolation pads or $200 on a digital cable to fine tune your system, well, it's hard not to interpret this as patch work. What level of performance are you trying to achieve? How much are you willing to spend?

A person doesn't need to have heard your speakers to politely suggest that when you start replacing every other component in your system in an attempt to improve performance, well, maybe you're going about it the wrong way. Speakers influence sound more than everyother component put together. Sounds like the cheapest, most efficient way to upgrade to me.

As a good friend of mine recently reminded me, do you know what the definition of insanity is? Repeating the same process over and over and expecting different results.
You don't want to fall into that trap.

Just trying to help. You can't deny it's alot easier to upgrade one are of your system all at once than trying to mix and match a dozen others...

Maybe you should start a poll, and see what others think. It's very possible to like your speakers, but like another pair of speakers even more.

It's your money...

[hershon]

Even though it may seem that I am personally insulted by criticism, I'm not & welcome it if it will help me improve things, I just get a little bit upset when a person makes criticism like they're the definitive end all be all, without giving the impression they've actually heard the system they're criticising.

In my case, my problem is I'm greedy and always wanting more if I can afford it & never just happy with what I have. I'm very content with my sound system, but when I read posts on this board praising other systems so elaborately, I admit I''m curious & when I see more than one person saying the same thing, I think maybe they've got something there. Based on another audio website's forum, that's how I got into Orb Audio. From a psychological/technical point of view, there is no way I can rationalize/comprehend that for my ears I get the best sound from a $250- $450 500 watts DVD receiver, with my speaker set up, than name, Rolls Royce type receivers costing a huge amount more, yet they do. I keep thinking there must be another sound threshold that I haven't reached & will keep trying, yet I can't seem to find it. Maybe it doesn't exist in the first place.

Let me ask you now, how can you be sure what you hear (or what you don't hear but want to hear) is not the cause of your speakers? You love your speakers but you want to improve your sound. You feel something is lacking. You've tried other components with no success. Are your ears capable of assigning every attribute in a system to each individual component? Doubtful.

Try to understand that nobody is attacking you personally. Your speakers are fine. I'm not bashing them. I like Orb, but that's not the point here. There comes a time when you have to learn to accept criticism when it is offered constructively.

You've tried several upgrade options, and to date you always seem to come back to where you started. Fine. Every speaker is limited, it's possible the Orb's are a fantastic value, but your tastes have just outgrown them. This happens to everyone sooner or later. Maybe there's another higher model of Orb's out there for you?

To date you've replaced several other components and keep arriving at the same conclusion. Why not at least try the one component you are avoiding? When you start dropping $80 on isolation pads or $200 on a digital cable to fine tune your system, well, it's hard not to interpret this as patch work. What level of performance are you trying to achieve? How much are you willing to spend?

A person doesn't need to have heard your speakers to politely suggest that when you start replacing every other component in your system in an attempt to improve performance, well, maybe you're going about it the wrong way. Speakers influence sound more than everyother component put together. Sounds like the cheapest, most efficient way to upgrade to me.

As a good friend of mine recently reminded me, do you know what the definition of insanity is? Repeating the same process over and over and expecting different results.
You don't want to fall into that trap.

Just trying to help. You can't deny it's alot easier to upgrade one are of your system all at once than trying to mix and match a dozen others...

Maybe you should start a poll, and see what others think. It's very possible to like your speakers, but like another pair of speakers even more.

It's your money...

[kexodusc]

Even though it may seem that I am personally insulted by criticism, I'm not & welcome it if it will help me improve things, I just get a little bit upset when a person makes criticism like they're the definitive end all be all, without giving the impression they've actually heard the system they're criticising.

There's nothing wrong with wanting more...you're only human. But I don't see where anyone attacked you maliciously. Only reasonable suggestions from experienced people.
Does this mean you'll take a shot at upgrading your speakers now? Or will you just be content with what you have?

[hershon]

Unless one day, I magically encounter a system where I'm in love at first hearing with a sound system that I could duplicate myself & had the money for, I'm going to stick with my Orb Speakers as the foundation to my sound. I have yet to hear a system in any of the high end stores I visited in LA such as Ken Crane's and Shelly's, that the sound on their very expensive name systems/speakers, was better than my Orb Mod 1 system with a JVC DVD RX DV31SL receiver for rock/blues music. Also note that I live in an apartment and my sound system is in my normal sized carpeted living room, so for my ears the volume/power is more than enough.

One thing I recommend is, if someone is looking for a great second system under $1500, to try the Orb Mod 1 Set Up (5 satellites and a sub) & this specific JVC receiver. Orb has a 30 day return policy so you're losing nothing & the receiver is easy to resell for close to
your purchase price (Orb will also sell you that receiver at retail- I'm not sure if the 30 day return policy applies to that) & see for yourself.

There's nothing wrong with wanting more...you're only human. But I don't see where anyone attacked you maliciously. Only reasonable suggestions from experienced people.
Does this mean you'll take a shot at upgrading your speakers now? Or will you just be content with what you have?

[shokhead]

I'm glad you lile them but i wouldnt try them for myself as i'm a beliver in that small of a speaker being able to reproduce HT sound but thats just me and i to listen to rock and blues so i want nothing smaller then bookshelf. I might consider those if i was in an apartment and couldnt play them with much volume. Return everything and just stick with what you have or you could come by and listen to my Denon and B&W's in a house environment instead of a store and get a better idea of what something esle would sound like. I must have cd's you would like. Its an offer if you think it might help. I only have RS and cheaper moster cable. LOL

[hershon]

Good point. I'm revising my post above to reflect on that I live in an apartment & my system is in my normal sized living room.

I'm glad you lile them but i wouldnt try them for myself as i'm a beliver in that small of a speaker being able to reproduce HT sound but thats just me and i to listen to rock and blues so i want nothing smaller then bookshelf. I might consider those if i was in an apartment and couldnt play them with much volume. Return everything and just stick with what you have or you could come by and listen to my Denon and B&W's in a house environment instead of a store and get a better idea of what something esle would sound like. I must have cd's you would like. Its an offer if you think it might help. I only have RS and cheaper moster cable. LOL

[Monstrous Mike]

Quite frankly, why not just buy one of those AR Toslink cables that go for about $15 at Best Buy....? I say that because you get higher quality construction than the cheapy Toslink cables that frequently come with DVD players... Sound quality will be the same on all of them, quite frankly.

BTW, as for your salesperson's comment about all the components should be the same, as that provides optimal sound quality...? That is total BS, I am afraid. That said, as Denon makes some of the best DVD players out there, in this case it looks like the "advice" may pay off, but it won't be because of any special "advantage." The only advantage is just that Denon makes good products. :-)

---Dave

Very good comments, Dave.

I have the Panasonic DVD-A player and am very happy with it.