Thread: Newbie to HTS

Originally Posted by jayn_j

Ouch. You added a queston after I responded. BRB.

Edit: They are essentially the same receiver. Denon has a policy of different model numbers for their audiophile outlets and the Big Box outlets. If you go to their website you can compare. I believe the differences in checkmarks are actually oversights:


Denon | Product Comparison Contents

Thankyou so much for taking time out to answer all these mundane questions.

Referencing the analog upconversion, I took a look at the features section of the ht-6200 at the onyko website and it showed this:




Onkyo HT-S6200 - 7.1-Channel Home Entertainment Package (with Dock for the iPod®) | Model Information | Onkyo USA Home Theater Products

Analog To HDMI UpConversion -

It showed it as a dash not a checkmark. The ht-6100 has a checkmark on this particular feature. That is why I asked. Perhaps it is a typo oversight.

Now that I am armed with what I need to know....I will be playing the waiting game on getting the best deal. Perhaps there will be an after Christmas sale. If you guys see any decent sales please post here as I will be checking back here from time to time.

OK, good luck on the search.

Keep checking Amazon. Ecost.com sometimes has good deals on refurbs, but you need to check in pretty much every day and be patient. Lately it has been all Denon, but they were doing Onkyo a few months ago.

If you are looking at Onkyo, join their free club and look in the bargain section. That's where I found the best deal on the 806.

Woot occasionally has something of interest, but that is a moment of opportunity. You need to check in every night at midnight (central).

If you are going the bargain route, be prepared to be flexible, but do your homework on every deal.

I am going to get the Denon avr789 or 1909 receiver. My question is on what additional cables I will need. Obviously, I need a toslink cable to hook up my 508 receiver. Is it to my understanding that everything that is presently connected to the back of my tv can instead connect to the avr instead and all I need is a hdmi cable from the avr to the back of my tv to get sound and video from all sources? Even if all my sources are from standard definition sources? Is it really that simple? Or do I basically duplicate all cables I currently have in order to connect to the denon avr?

Originally Posted by Tundracat

I am going to get the Denon avr789 or 1909 receiver. My question is on what additional cables I will need. Obviously, I need a toslink cable to hook up my 508 receiver. Is it to my understanding that everything that is presently connected to the back of my tv can instead connect to the avr instead and all I need is a hdmi cable from the avr to the back of my tv to get sound and video from all sources? Even if all my sources are from standard definition sources? Is it really that simple? Or do I basically duplicate all cables I currently have in order to connect to the denon avr?

This is correct. It is one of the primary attractions of going up to this level of receiver.

Lots of cables into the receiver and a single HDMI out to the TV. You never need to do any switching at the TV gain.

You will need a TOSLINK and an S-VIDEO connector from the 508 to the receiver.

For everything else, you should connect video and audio in this order of preference (use the best connection available):

Video:
1. HDMI
2. Component (Red Green Blue)
3. S-Video (5 pin DIN)
4. Composite (yellow RCA)

Audio:
1. HDMI
2. TOSLINK (Optical digital)
3. Coax (RCA plug - wired digital)
4. Analog (Red and White RCA)

NOTE: There is another high quality audio connection where you connect 5 RCA cables from a high end source such as an upper end Blu Ray Player to the 5 discrete inputs of the receiver, but that is a specialized and advanced application.

There is going to be a bit of complicated setup involved with the receiver where you map the TOSLINK and HDMI ports to individual input selections. Read the manual and go slow. You will only need to do it once.

Originally Posted by jayn_j

This is correct. It is one of the primary attractions of going up to this level of receiver.


You will need a TOSLINK and an S-VIDEO connector from the 508 to the receiver.

Just noticed that the Denon 790 has one S-Video input with the four pins and it is for i-pods only
Denon USA | AVR-790

and it is not reassignable according to the manual. Does anyone have any suggestions? Will I still get sound if I connect the TOSLINK cable only to the AVR and keep the video between the Dish 508 receiver and the T.V.? Or do they make an S-Video cable with the four pins on one end and the one pin on the other end which seems to be what the Denon receiver supports. Can not find anything like that in Fairbanks. Am I overlooking something?

Well I did it. Bought the Denon AVR-790 for $399.98, the Energy Classic 5.0 speaker system for $179.00, the complimentary Energy ESW-8HG 8" 200 watt Take Classic subwoofer for $149.00, and ancillary cables, 14 gage speaker wire ect. for another $85.00 or so. (All prices mentioned included shipping charges...Not bad for living in Alaska!) And I will tell you what....Wow! Why did I wait so long for decent television sound? Every day is like Christmas morning...I can not wait to turn on my surround sound! Music on the Sirius channels sound awesome. Movies sound awesome and get this, I find myself watching commercials instead of skipping ahead because commercials sound awesome. And best of all the wife approves!

Only a few minor complaints....The video upconversion feature is worthless. All I have connected to the Denon Avr is the Dish 508 receiver via s-video and toslink cable. For some reason, I thought I would get improved picture quality through the receiver up to the 720p capabilities of my Panasonic tv but instead it degrades it (blurs it up a bit). Turning off this feature, helped but it did brighten up the picture a bit (meaning the overall scenes were lighter). To get around this, I just hooked up some composite cables from the Dish receiver directly to the television thus by-passing the Denon. Now I have great standard definition picture and sound quality!

The other minor complaints.....the remote is a piece of work but I knew that going in and the beautiful black piano looking Energy Speakers are a dust magnet. BFD! Nothing that a swiffer can't take care of.

Overall, this is the first receiver and speaker system that I have bought since 1982 when I bought myself as a graduation present from high school a MCS stereo receiver and two big speaker system that was advertised in Sports Illustrated.
(Still have it too!) All I can say is that technology has come a long way. Never knew that small speakers could sound that good.

Many thanks to those that participated and helped me choose my system especially jay_j. Bless your heart you were so patient with me. I hope we can do this again someday!

It's all about THAT moment. I'm glad it all worked out well.

Unfortunately, you can't add information with upconversion. The picture is going to be at 480i and actually at the reduced resolution that DISH provided with their signal compression.

I'm a little surprised that you felt that the Denon degraded the signal. I don't own that model, but I suspect that the Denon is applying some degree of edge enhancement. This will lean up jagged lines but it also adds artifacts. Take a look at the Denon manual and see if it can be defeated. To me, the quality comes first, and that means the quality that the end user (you) perceives. However, the convenience of 1 point switching isn't far behind.