Hi, folks.
As a few of you might remember, I've recently bought a 4k UHD television followed by a Panasonic DP-UB820 player. I'm in the process of designing a new equipment cabinet in an attempt to overcome my wife's objections to the tendency of AV black boxes to procreate when she's not looking plus the associated escalation in the web of black cables.
Before I commit to my final design, I want to be sure that it will suffice for the foreseeable future. The addition of a couple of new boxes calls into question the remaining life of the old stuff, so I think it's worth spending a little time on this. You'll be pleased to know that the main question concerns my AVR; I've spent a lot of time digging through ASR's HT Forum threads, so I know that this can be a tricky subject.
My HT system is a "living room" system, which means that I don't really have need for anything beyond a 5.1 system, although I might be persuaded that a couple of speakers in the ceiling could be fun (except for running the cables to them). Similarly, I'm not convinced that many of the modern bells & whistles are much more than marketing spiel, so it could be a case of "simple is better". Also, I no longer need those ancient video inputs. On the other hand, I would like to be able to replace the remote control with a smartphone app and to stream FLAC from my networked PC.
My present AVR is an Arcam AVR350 which I have owned since 2006. It has been absolutely reliable and I like the sound. I want to be able to play SACDs, which I presently do from an Arcam DV139 via its multi-channel outputs since my AVR's HDMI inputs don't handle audio of any kind. I ripped all my CDs to my PC and stream them via a Squeezebox. I take the S/PDIF output from the Squeezebox to a Bryston BDA-1 and then to the AVR's phono inputs.
It's now obvious that I use this system for stereo and multi-channel audio as well as HT. I have an audio-only system in another room for "serious" listening, but I do like the sound from the Squeezebox/Bryston/Arcam system.
It occurs to me that if I had an AVR that could decode SACD over HDMI, I could dispense with the five multi-channel phono cables at a stroke, and if the AVR had decent DACs, I could sell the Bryston and reduce the size of my new cabinet, and if I could stream FLAC from my PC directly to the AVR (simply - without having to instal and learn esoteric software on my PC), then I could dispense with the Squeezebox (and its power supply) as well as the Bryston.
So here's the skill-testing question: what AVRs can you recommend that will meet these needs with no loss in sound quality and without breaking the bank? The Anthem MRX720 is around my price limit, but are its DACs good enough? The contemporary Arcams are expensive and the previous models seems to have had reliability problems. The Yamaha RX-A1080/2080/3080 models look promising, but the 1080 did badly in Amir's tests. The Denon AVR-X3600 did well, but will its sound quality be good enough? Do any or all modern AVRs decode SACD over HDMI, or do I have to find one with multi-channel analogue inputs?
Thanks for your interest and suggestions!
As a few of you might remember, I've recently bought a 4k UHD television followed by a Panasonic DP-UB820 player. I'm in the process of designing a new equipment cabinet in an attempt to overcome my wife's objections to the tendency of AV black boxes to procreate when she's not looking plus the associated escalation in the web of black cables.
Before I commit to my final design, I want to be sure that it will suffice for the foreseeable future. The addition of a couple of new boxes calls into question the remaining life of the old stuff, so I think it's worth spending a little time on this. You'll be pleased to know that the main question concerns my AVR; I've spent a lot of time digging through ASR's HT Forum threads, so I know that this can be a tricky subject.
My HT system is a "living room" system, which means that I don't really have need for anything beyond a 5.1 system, although I might be persuaded that a couple of speakers in the ceiling could be fun (except for running the cables to them). Similarly, I'm not convinced that many of the modern bells & whistles are much more than marketing spiel, so it could be a case of "simple is better". Also, I no longer need those ancient video inputs. On the other hand, I would like to be able to replace the remote control with a smartphone app and to stream FLAC from my networked PC.
My present AVR is an Arcam AVR350 which I have owned since 2006. It has been absolutely reliable and I like the sound. I want to be able to play SACDs, which I presently do from an Arcam DV139 via its multi-channel outputs since my AVR's HDMI inputs don't handle audio of any kind. I ripped all my CDs to my PC and stream them via a Squeezebox. I take the S/PDIF output from the Squeezebox to a Bryston BDA-1 and then to the AVR's phono inputs.
It's now obvious that I use this system for stereo and multi-channel audio as well as HT. I have an audio-only system in another room for "serious" listening, but I do like the sound from the Squeezebox/Bryston/Arcam system.
It occurs to me that if I had an AVR that could decode SACD over HDMI, I could dispense with the five multi-channel phono cables at a stroke, and if the AVR had decent DACs, I could sell the Bryston and reduce the size of my new cabinet, and if I could stream FLAC from my PC directly to the AVR (simply - without having to instal and learn esoteric software on my PC), then I could dispense with the Squeezebox (and its power supply) as well as the Bryston.
So here's the skill-testing question: what AVRs can you recommend that will meet these needs with no loss in sound quality and without breaking the bank? The Anthem MRX720 is around my price limit, but are its DACs good enough? The contemporary Arcams are expensive and the previous models seems to have had reliability problems. The Yamaha RX-A1080/2080/3080 models look promising, but the 1080 did badly in Amir's tests. The Denon AVR-X3600 did well, but will its sound quality be good enough? Do any or all modern AVRs decode SACD over HDMI, or do I have to find one with multi-channel analogue inputs?
Thanks for your interest and suggestions!