Ecost has it refurbed for $149... eCOST.com-Denon 7.1 Channel Home Theater Surround Sound Receiver - AVR1609 - Denon AVR1609 (Receivers) - eCOST.com - electronics, computers, laptops, mp3 players And retail price at Amazon is only $210... Amazon.com: Denon AVR-1609 7.1-Channel Multi-Zone Home Theater Receiver: Electronics So why so cheap? HDMI, 7.1, 1080P upconvert, from a good brand. My current Sony doesn't have HDMI, which really hampers me from getting a Blu Ray player. Otherwise I wouldn't even upgrade. Anyway, why not buy this beauty?
holy shit. something is up. that is dirt cheap. i have no remote need for a new reciever (I have no hdmi stuff, plain dvd, current reciever is overkill, etc.), but...
I'm in the market for a new receiver as well, and this looks nice. I read some of the reviews on Amazon, and one stated anything hooked up with HDMI doesn't pass sound through to the external speakers. That's kind of a bummer (unless the person was doing something wrong). It only has 2 HDMI inputs, which may not be enough for some (cable box, PS3, Tivo, blu ray player, etc.)
The MSRP on the manufacture website is listed as $350, and it came out July 08. I don't know, seems like a damn good deal for $150 to me. I got my Onkyo as a refurb, never had any problems with it...
Well, there's a bit of a stink with HDMI and optical audio cables via Blu Ray. If the source is HDMI and you try to output via anything else besides HDMI it wont play Dolby Digital or above. That's the reason I need one actually, my DVD player is HDMI to my TV, and from TV to my current receiver is optical. So when I swap in a Blu Ray player I lose surround sound completely.
This one looks pretty sweet too: Amazon.com: Onkyo TX-SR605 7.1 Channel Home Theater Receiver (Black): Electronics
That looks like a great deal. I love my Denon. It's one of their low end units so that explains the price. The downsides are only 2 HDMI connections, no pre-amp outputs other than sub, and it doesn't have the higher end Denon's GUI. Oh, and no ethernet connection like some other Denons. In that price range, as much as I love Denons, I would be looking at an Onkyo. You can find some great deals on a refurbed TX-SR606. The Onkyo's provide more features at a lower price point (more HDMI inputs, decoding of DTS-HD MA and Dolby TrueHD, etc). Out of stock, but here is an example of the pricing you can find: eCOST.com-Onkyo 7.1-Channel Home Theater Receiver - Black - TXS-R606 - Onkyo TXS-R606 (Receivers) - eCOST.com - electronics, computers, laptops, mp3 players
That's the receiver I own, and have been 100% happy with it. I'm still in the dark ages (no HDTV or blueray) so I can't comment on it's HDMI abilities, but I'd recommend it. That said, the model or two up are worth looking at as well. Edit: Here is the 606 at the shop I bought mine from: http://www.accessories4less.com/mak...-90w-x-7ch-HDMI-Theater-Receiver-BLACK/1.html
In my reading I'm finding that Dolby TrueHD is a must, so that Denon is off the list. So I need: 1) HDMI inputs - 2 minimum. 2) 1080 upconvert 3) Dolby TrueHD 4) 7.1
Actually you don't need Dolby True HD. As long as your receiver accepts 7.1 LCPM (which they all do) your bluray player will decode the HD audio codecs and stream them uncompressed to the receiver. Very few bluray players will stream the Dolby TrueHD codec to the receiver to allow the receiver to process it.
