Denon AV Receiver upgrade -Is it Worth the cost & effort?

[superczar]

My BIL has been bit by upgraditis and wants to upgrade his existing Denon AV (AVR1610) to a newer and higher specced one ..
He is considering either the Pioneer VSX 1131 or Marantz SR6010

He recently got a 4K TV and seems to think that
A) By switching to a 4K upscaling AVR , he would get better PQ on regular sources

B) With a more powerful amp on the new AVR, he will get significantly better SQ (Klipsch R-24 and 25-C)

c) He thinks that he will get better SQ from stuff that he plays on his HTPC if it is connected via HDMI ARC (The audio from NUC is currently sent to AVR via TOSLINK)

I think that this is a bit of wishful thinking on his part and

A) The 4K upscaler on his TV will be as good as the one on the AVR

b) There will certainly be a difference in the sound signature of the newer pioneer/marantz vs his Denon but I don't think there will any discernible improvement in the SQ given the limitations on the speakers - I have the 1611 which in all likelihood has the same Amp stage as the 1610 and they seem to have reasonable amount of power and clarity

c) Again, no change - He will get DTS-HD playback which he doesn;t get today but the sources he uses (HDTV Rips) do not have DTS-HD to begin with

So 2 questions:

a) Which of us is right ? I am just trying to help him save some money but he thinks that an upgrade is what he really needs

b) He has asked me to help me dispose his AVR - I have no idea what would be a fair price to ask for it if I were to post it on the forum for sale - Assuming he does go for an upgrade anyway

 

[efernand1]

Hi

Everyone has their own tastes in upgrades....just like cell phones...some will upgrade every 6-9 months and taste everything available in the market.....

tell your BIL to review and understand if he will use at least 60-80% of the features and connectivity then only it make sense to upgrade......

Most of us are the working class, tell me how much time do we get to decently use our systems at home? Some of us are family people and hence weekends although we are at home, we end up going out for various activities or engagements....

Evaluate and decide

 

[regeHA]

He recently got a 4K TV and seems to think that
A) By switching to a 4K upscaling AVR , he would get better PQ on regular sources

That is true (to some degree). AVRs do a better job in upscaling from what I have seen. I have everything connected to an AVR and then to the TV. Everything from Roku, Chromecast, Fire TV, etc. look much better when upscaled by the AVR.

I even have a friend with a pretty expensive 4K Sony TV, but connecting the Chromecast, Roku, and similar devices to a mid-fi Marantz actually resulted in better PQ.

B) With a more powerful amp on the new AVR, he will get significantly better SQ (Klipsch R-24 and 25-C)

True again.

c) He thinks that he will get better SQ from stuff that he plays on his HTPC if it is connected via HDMI ARC (The audio from NUC is currently sent to AVR via TOSLINK)

Not true unless it's lossless HD audio that's involved

A) The 4K upscaler on his TV will be as good as the one on the AVR

Not necessarily true.

So 2 questions:

a) Which of us is right ? I am just trying to help him save some money but he thinks that an upgrade is what he really needs

Entertainment is purely subjective, but if he can afford it then certainly let him have his fun.

Here is what I would recommend, if he has a decently powerful HTPC/GPU install madVR and let him have a play with it. I have seen it destroy $2000-$3000 AVRs in terms of PQ and upscaling. The only caveat is the need for a powerful GPU, typically 35K to 40K-ish high-end gaming cards will do the trick.

 

[superczar]

Here is what I would recommend, if he has a decently powerful HTPC/GPU install madVR and let him have a play with it. I have seen it destroy $2000-$3000 AVRs in terms of PQ and upscaling. The only caveat is the need for a powerful GPU, typically 35K to 40K-ish high-end gaming cards will do the trick.

He is not really into HTPCs and comes to me for troubleshooting if anything doesn't work as expected on his NUC Kodi..
Any thoughts on the 2nd question..i.e what would be a fair price for a Denon 1610 to put it up for sale?

 

[elangoas]

My BIL has been bit by upgraditis and wants to upgrade his existing Denon AV (AVR1610) to a newer and higher specced one ..
He is considering either the Pioneer VSX 1131 or Marantz SR6010

Marantz SR6010 is a notch higher than Pioneer VSX 1131.. It is 7.2 AVR with 9.2 pre-outs.. He can also consider Denon X 4000 series (or) Pioneer LX series too..

He recently got a 4K TV and seems to think that
A) By switching to a 4K upscaling AVR , he would get better PQ on regular sources

Unless it is top of the line TV, an AVR should have better up-scaling capabilities with dedicated video chips..

B) With a more powerful amp on the new AVR, he will get significantly better SQ (Klipsch R-24 and 25-C)

c) He thinks that he will get better SQ from stuff that he plays on his HTPC if it is connected via HDMI ARC (The audio from NUC is currently sent to AVR via TOSLINK)

I think that this is a bit of wishful thinking on his part and

When you get to the above AVR, there will be a significant improvement in performance at-least for movies..

b) There will certainly be a difference in the sound signature of the newer pioneer/marantz vs his Denon but I don't think there will any discernible improvement in the SQ given the limitations on the speakers - I have the 1611 which in all likelihood has the same Amp stage as the 1610 and they seem to have reasonable amount of power and clarity

c) Again, no change - He will get DTS-HD playback which he doesn;t get today but the sources he uses (HDTV Rips) do not have DTS-HD to begin with

Audyssey has some features which are more effective when you play lossy formats.. So it will be an improvement in his case..

So 2 questions:

a) Which of us is right ? I am just trying to help him save some money but he thinks that an upgrade is what he really needs

Try to take a demo of the AVR fully calibrated with his material that he watches more often..That should give you some pointers

b) He has asked me to help me dispose his AVR - I have no idea what would be a fair price to ask for it if I were to post it on the forum for sale - Assuming he does go for an upgrade anyway

15K in my opinion as it has pre-outs for 7.1.. Also pleas run thru OLX for Denon models to get a fair idea on the price..

 

[superczar]

Thanks guys- He is planning to get the sr6010 this weekend
Will put up the 1610 for sale on the forums once he sends me the pics

 

[superczar]

put the 1610 for sale with pics... Although not sure why the thread is not up yet

 

[elangoas]

put the 1610 for sale with pics... Although not sure why the thread is not up yet

Think waiting for mods approval.. Once done, it should be aval..

 

[superczar]

So an interesting end to the story..
The buyer who picked his denon said he was looking for more amplifiers (he basically needed stereo amps for cheap for a couple of eateries he runs and was somehow sold to the Denon brand)
Long story short, he ended up buying the 1611 also and now I am also picking the sr6010
Will update listening impressions once hooked up later today

 

[elangoas]

So an interesting end to the story..
The buyer who picked his denon said he was looking for more amplifiers (he basically needed stereo amps for cheap for a couple of eateries he runs and was somehow sold to the Denon brand)
Long story short, he ended up buying the 1611 also and now I am also picking the sr6010
Will update listening impressions once hooked up later today

Vow.. That was quick hyeah:

 

[superczar]

Vow.. That was quick hyeah:

Yeah, patience is not really a virtue of mine
Since mine was also getting long in the tooth+ a ready hasslefree buyer + a good deal on the Marantz X 2 + the fact that can't really do an A/B comparison between muliple AVRs in Pune
all of that made it a quick & easy decisionhyeah:

 

[elangoas]

Yeah, patience is not really a virtue of mine
Since mine was also getting long in the tooth+ a ready hasslefree buyer + a good deal on the Marantz X 2 + the fact that can't really do an A/B comparison between muliple AVRs in Pune
all of that made it a quick & easy decisionhyeah:

Got it.. Marantz 6010 is a feature rich AVR with lot of customisation to the user..

A 13.2 Pre-outs and a 9.2 max usability, gives great flexibility to the user..

Happy tweaking [emoji485] Looking forward to your impressions [emoji106]

 

[superczar]

Done with the setup - too early in the day to pour a shot before trying playback... Maybe will pop open a :beer: and start the trial run :licklips:

 

[efernand1]

Congrats....


Post reviews and pics please

 

[Murlidher]

Congrats. That was pretty quick dude.

Sent from my XT1562 using Tapatalk

 

[mshifi]

congrats!! do let us know how the 6010 sounds

 

[superczar]

Watched X-Men Apocalypse last night
First impressions: The audio is a lot more forward sounding and vocals clearer than the outgoing Denon

The upscaler also seems to be better than the scaler on my Samsung TV (flagship model) and is esp noticeable on SD and 1080i HD channels

The built in Airplay is and network control are also great - I just need to work on integrating this with my home automation hub now

I haven't done any critical stereo listening on this as yet