Upgrading A/V Processor - What to Do
- Thread starter zod
- Start date
zod
Well-Known Member
I'm pretty much meat and potatoes. I've got some top notch Sony stuff in the closet that can do the RIAA and AM/FM stuff. So, I guess it comes down to the DAC's. My Mackie's never sounded better.
There's the obsolescence angle too. Outlaw online customer service was offline today. Tomorrow, I call. That's the obvious rabbit.
It is reasonable to assume that anyone's next display will be 4K, as we are rapidly approaching the point where the only 1080p sets left are smaller sets like the 32" Samsung I have in my kitchen. It is also reasonable to assume that anyone who buys a 4K TV will eventually buy at least one 4K source component. Given that we are home theater enthusiasts, I would further assume that one would want to be able to play Dolby TrueHD, DTS HD-MA and possibly Dolby Atmos or DTS:X.
If you do not buy an HDMI 2.0 capable processor, you will not be able to pass 4K content through it. That means you will have to connect your source's HDMI cable directly to the TV and use the optical output to connect to your processor, assuming there is one to connect. This inherently limits you to regular DD or DTS, but it gets worse. A lot of set top boxes cannot pass Dolby Digital Plus over optical and downmix the audio to 2 channels.
So yeah, it is obsolete. I will not work with any of the new gear.
So, you're saying it's not obsolete. We agree.
Assuming that you want to completely ignore 4K streaming and be entirely dependent on first generation players, sure. How can you reasonably argue that an AVR or Pre-Pro that does not support the current video standard is not obsolete? My Onkyo TX-SR805 is an excellent receiver that I still use, but I will replace it as soon as I can afford to because it prevents me from passing a 4K signal to my TV while also playing the best audio formats. Why? Because the standards changed and my receiver does not support them. That is the very definition of obsolescence. It does not mean unusable. I have no plans to replace the HDMI 1.4 receiver in my secondary system, because it is paired with a 1080p television that I have no plans to replace any time soon. That does not mean I would buy the same receiver if I were picking one up today.
Razz
Well-Known Member
I agree with you Haywood on this issue and still push people to the future. I have an excellent Onkyo-pr-sc886-pre-pro up for sale in the classified section but wouldn't sell it to someone looking for an upgrade for their new HT. I would want them to have the new technology and to include 4K pass-through. But older components still have a place and can make a nice improvement to many systems at a great price.
So it's not obsolete. We agree.
I think what you are getting at is the difference between obsolescence and functional obsolescence. It is quantifiably obsolete in that it does not support any of the new technology. It is not functionally obsolete, because it still meets the current need. My point is that it makes no sense to go out and spend hundreds of dollars on something that is already obsolete and that will almost certainly become functionally obsolete within a few years. While I am not replacing the receiver in my family room system, I would not buy one just like it if I were buying today.
