Thread: Thinking about upgrading receiver

Currently I have a Yamaha - HTR 5960 receiver. I have it hooked up to a Pioneer Plasma tv with a panny 55k blu ray player. I'm thinking about upgrading my receiver. What do you all think? Should I upgrade the receiver or keep it? If to replace, what should I get? I haven't done any research on any receivers at the moment so I don't know what to get. Thank you in advance!

Originally Posted by dougy

Currently I have a Yamaha - HTR 5960 receiver. I have it hooked up to a Pioneer Plasma tv with a panny 55k blu ray player. I'm thinking about upgrading my receiver. What do you all think? Should I upgrade the receiver or keep it? If to replace, what should I get? I haven't done any research on any receivers at the moment so I don't know what to get. Thank you in advance!

Get one that you can easily return, in person without shipping, to have it fixed or exchanged if necessary within the warranty period.

I got burned on that and now it's been over 8 weeks and $60 in shipping and I still don't have a working receiver.

Originally Posted by dougy

Currently I have a Yamaha - HTR 5960 receiver. I have it hooked up to a Pioneer Plasma tv with a panny 55k blu ray player.

Well, the HTR 5960 does have 7.1 analog inputs: that would be your best choice with the BD55. All you need is just the 7.1 cables.

If you are ready to upgrade, make sure you get a receiver with plenty of HDMI inputs and full video switching and advanced audio decoding. Not that you need that for the panny, but just to make your setup more future-proof.

I've been looking at three receivers.

1. Denon AVR-2309CI
2. Denon AVR-1909
3. Denon AVR-889

Anyone heard anything good about them or own one of them?

I have the 2309CI and love it. See my review in the thread above. 1909 and 889 are very good too, but I went with the 2309CI just to get an extra HDMI port, if nothing else, so I wouldn't have to buy a standalone HDMI switch.

Originally Posted by Ilya

I have the 2309CI and love it. See my review in the thread above. 1909 and 889 are very good too, but I went with the 2309CI just to get an extra HDMI port, if nothing else, so I wouldn't have to buy a standalone HDMI switch.

I have been seeing the reviews and it seems like everyone loves the three that I posted. Is there a major difference between the three? I'm not sure if I would ever use all the HDMI ports but it would be nice to be future proof. Quality wise, would the AVR-2309CI be a better choice over the other two I posted?

From what I've read, the main differences between the 2309CI and the 1909 are these: 4 HDMI's vs. 3, RS-232 port for custom installers, a more powerful amp, front-side S-video and toslink ports, some additional inputs (e.g. phono), and it's still made in Japan.

I haven't looked into the 889, but I believe it's just a mass-retailer version of the 2309. So it should be similar with a few minor changes perhaps.

As for HDMI ports, I use all 4 of them right now: Blu-ray, HD DVD, Dish and an upconverting DVD-writer/VCR combo. If I ever add a game console, an HD camcorder, a Home Theater PC, a NetFlix player or some other Internet player, I will run out of HDMI ports, but I guess I will retire my HD DVD player by then.

I want to be future proof so from the sounds of it the 2309CI would be a best bet for me. I have only owned Yamaha but I believe this Denon would be as good or even better.

I saw a great deal for the 2309CI at Sixth Avenue Electronics online. Is that place legit? I can get a 2309CI for under $600 bucks!