Onkyo HTS 6200 or Denon 1610 with Polk audio speaker package

[pm123]

Hello to all the forum members. Please help me decide on setting up my new HTS. I have auditioned 2 setups

a) Onkyo HTS 6200 for around 45 K (without bargaining)

b) Denon 1610 with Polk Audio peaker package RM705 for around 55 K ( without bargaining)

Please suggest. My major use will be watching movies 90% and music will be 10%. Source will BR rips thru WDTV and Blu Ray Discs/DVD.
Also I want to replace the fronts with good bookshelves later on. So i have to decide on the system keeping this into mind.

So i request all knowledgeable forum members to help me decide.

Regards,

Piyush.

 

[Raghav]

For movies the onkyo should be good enough. It is high on features. its 7.1 + you get an iPod dock bundled.

Raghav

Hello to all the forum members. Please help me decide on setting up my new HTS. I have auditioned 2 setups

a) Onkyo HTS 6200 for around 45 K (without bargaining)

b) Denon 1610 with Polk Audio peaker package RM705 for around 55 K ( without bargaining)

Please suggest. My major use will be watching movies 90% and music will be 10%. Source will BR rips thru WDTV and Blu Ray Discs/DVD.
Also I want to replace the fronts with good bookshelves later on. So i have to decide on the system keeping this into mind.

So i request all knowledgeable forum members to help me decide.

Regards,

Piyush.

 

[argho]

I just bought a Denon 1910 with the Polk RM705 package, + Polk bookshelf speakers (as upgraded fronts). Am very happy with the performance.

I would suggest you listen to both of them.
The Denon is amazing.

 

[spirovious]

Both are good ,but for mov Onkyo is better.

 

[pm123]

I just bought a Denon 1910 with the Polk RM705 package, + Polk bookshelf speakers (as upgraded fronts). Am very happy with the performance.

I would suggest you listen to both of them.
The Denon is amazing.

What happened to the fronts of the polk audio package? Did you make it a 7.1 or are using it as speakers in another room? Did you audition 1610 as well?

 

[Phantom]

I just bought a Denon 1910 with the Polk RM705 package, + Polk bookshelf speakers (as upgraded fronts). Am very happy with the performance.

I would suggest you listen to both of them.
The Denon is amazing.

Congrats.

Could you please specify the individual part numbers of the Spkr package.
Also have you already tried any upscaling of the DTH signal - it would be great if you share the results.

All the best..

 

[argho]

What happened to the fronts of the polk audio package? Did you make it a 7.1 or are using it as speakers in another room? Did you audition 1610 as well?

No I haven't made it 7.1 yet, though that is the intention. Have just stored the 2 additional speakers.

I did not audition the 1610, though now I feel that I should have, because am not using the video scaler functionality at all (the primary difference between the 1610 and 1910).

 

[argho]

Congrats.

Could you please specify the individual part numbers of the Spkr package.
Also have you already tried any upscaling of the DTH signal - it would be great if you share the results.

All the best..

Speaker package :
- Fronts : Polk Audio RTi A1
- Centre, Sub and Surrounds : Polk Audio RM705

I have a Tata Sky box. I found that my Samsung PS50B450 does a better job of scaling to 720p. I found a slight degradation in picture quality with the scaler switched on. Hence have kept the scaler switched off.

This is very dissapointing. I bought the 1910 primarily because of the scaler. Now I realise that I could have bought the 1610.

Have now read the long thread on the performance of the 1910 scaler on another forum. The findings are summarised here :
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showpost.php?p=17277219&postcount=2327

In short, do not use the Denon 1910 to upconvert a composite 480i signal (ie what I get from Tata Sky).

Am wondering whether it will make a difference if I upgrade to Tata Sky+, which has a component video out.

Anyone here has any experience / info on this ? Does Tata Sky+ actually give better picture quality.

Summary :
-------------
Whether the scaler improves PQ for you depends on :
- the quality of the scaler in your TV
- the quality of your source

Pls do test thoroughly before buying. ProFX at Chennai did not have a satellite / cable TV source to demo upscaling to me. Hence could not test this out.

On the audio front - the 1910 is absolutely amazing. Audyssey does a wonderful job of setting up audio customised to you room.

Let me know if anyone else has any other queries on the 1910.

 

[argho]

Copying the post from the AVS forum for easier reading :

---------------------------------------------
AVR 1910 video issues
***Update after 3 hours of re-testing***

I have owned the AVR-1910 for about 1.5 months now and finally had the chance to carefully examine the video processing of this receiver. I have some ***findings***, bugs, and issues to report. The black level bug I find hard to believe has been missed so far on this forum. I guess no one uses 480i component or composite video anymore. I used the AVS 709 test disc, AVIA DVD (SD resolution patterns) and various Blu-Ray and DVD movies to test the video processing.

1. There is no Video Convert option to turn on or off. Video Convert is always on. ***This is a good thing, but misreported here*** There is an i/p Scaler option which can be off, analog, or Anlg/HDMI, but analog video is always converted to digital and output over HDMI. There are options for analog and HDMI resolution upscaling if you choose to turn the Scaler on. If the Scaler is off, output will be in the same resolution as it is input. 480i component in will come out 480i HDMI, etc. ***again not a problem, just a clarification***

2. The s-video input does not work for devices other than the Ipod dock. ***tested because many wanted to know***

3. Regular composite video processing looses a lot of resolution through this receiver. It makes DVD look like VHS after conversion to HDMI.

2. 480i analog black levels are incorrectly implemented in the 1910 to the Japanese standard instead of the US NTSC standard. You cannot control this. The only fix for it is to adjust your video devices output black level, such as can be done with some DVD players. This affects composite video and component video at 480i.

3. 480i over HDMI black levels are correctly handled.

4. 480p, 720p, and 1080i analog and HDMI black levels are correctly handled.

5. There is some resolution loss in the deinterlacing of component 1080i or HDMI 1080i to 1080p in this receiver. My inexpensive 1080p Samsung LN40A550 TV and my JVC XV-BP1 Blu-Ray player both beat the resolution of the ABT chip in the AVR 1910 when deinterlacing 1080i to 1080p.

6. The Scaler does a good job on progressive formats. Scaling 480p or 720p to 1080p.

7. The 1910 does a good job converting analog 480i, 480p, 720p, 1080i, and 1080p to HDMI. The 1910 does an excellent job passing through HDMI 480i, 480p, 720p, 1080i, 1080p24, and 1080p60 to the HDMI output.

8. While re-testing to update this report, I realized there is no free lunch. The analog to digital conversion process from component to HDMI will cost you some frequency response although it is not as bad as I had first thought. You probably won't notice the loss unless you are looking at resolution test patterns. ***I'm still disappointed in the resolution loss of deinterlacing HDMI 1080i to 1080p, there really is no excuse for it.***

My recommendations are:

1. use the scaler for upconverting 480i component, 480p, or 720p to 1080p if needed, this works well. Otherwise, just pass the signal through.

2. Do not use the 1910 to upconvert 480i composite video

3. Do not use the 1910 to upconvert 1080i video to 1080p
-----------------------------------------------------------------