BudgetAudiophile

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Looking for advice on a stereo receiver for my (upcoming) TV. (self.budgetaudiophile)

submitted 2 months ago by HC4L to c/budgetaudiophile

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Hi guys,

Currently I'm running a 15 year old Sony TV with two Behringer Truth 2031's over RCA. I've added a Denon DCD-810 to that mix with a simple RCA switch to either listen to CD's over the speakers or my TV. The setup is somewhat clunky, I have to power on each speaker manually and walk over to the RCA switch to choose between TV or CD's. Since I've already had the speakers and the TV this was a very cheap way to go and I don't mind the extra steps. I am bound by CD players with variable outputs because of this, hence the 35 year old CD player which has it's disadvantages.

Now being realistic my TV is getting old, it's only 40 inches and I want it replaced in the coming years. Looking at modern TV's they don't seem to have RCA out for audio, just optical and HDMI as options. My plan was to get a nice second hand receiver and a nice pair of second-hand stereo speakers.

Doing a bit of reading HDMI for audio seems to be the superior option. My big question is, in what way is an older receiver future proof for all the different technologies? I would probably need a receiver that is 4k capable and whatever protocols I might need. Will optical out really give me a big disadvantage over HDMI? And if I would use HDMI on the receiver what technologies would it have to support?

Sorry for the long story!

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[–] [email protected] 2 points 3 weeks ago* (last edited 3 weeks ago) (1 children)

What I recommend, get a decent receiver with pre-outs and all the modern connections and run it into and older monster surround reciever from marantz or denon.

Look at the specs on this fucking monster dinosaur from 2000s avr Denon AVR-5805, everything about it is unhinged and it is largely forgotten. It is the countach of 2000s AVRs.

https://www.soundandvision.com/content/denon-avr-5805-av-surround-receiver-specifications

https://www.audioholics.com/av-receiver-reviews/denon-avr-5805

If you know anything about what those posted specs/metrics mean, you know that when someone dismisses an AVR like this as "not audiophile" they don't have any idea what they are talking about.

Remember, you can usually just run audio out from a fancy new device into a dinosaur receiver.

[–] HC4L 2 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

Thanks for taking the time to reply! I had forgotten about this post and made quite the journey. Long story short, a lot of receivers did not physically fit in my TV closet. I ended up with a cheap Marantz M-CR510 for 130 Euro's that fit perfectly and two Teufel Ultima 40s. The Marantz is hooked up through optical to the TV and it takes analog from the CD player.

Probably not everyone's first or second choice but it suits my needs.

Now looking for a matching Marantz CD player ;)

[–] [email protected] 1 points 3 weeks ago* (last edited 3 weeks ago) (1 children)

Sweet, sorry didnt realize it was so old.

Also, you can get addons to mini computers like raspberry pis and treat them as ways to easily, cheaply and flexibly get a modern digital signal (vnc viewer and bam control music from your phone with remote desktop!) into older receivers with optical ins too.

*edit that marantz cr510 looks great

[–] HC4L 2 points 3 weeks ago* (last edited 3 weeks ago)

No worries, it's cool that you care!

Yeah, I really love that idea. I use none of the Marantz' online functions, streaming radio costs money anyway and I just want full control on the platform I choose. Als the app used to control it is said to be bad. Same as with my TV, I need a monitor with a remote and I'll make it smart by adding a PC. That way I can change out whatever I want and not rely on 1 device. We're a dying breed ;)

[–] IMALlama 1 points 2 months ago

Nothing is ever going to be future proof, but there are a prolifera of products that can convert one signal type to another.

Our receiver is a Sanyo 2300k from the late 1970s with a gainclone output stage. I have an online optical to RCA converter between it and the TV. I also have a HDMI passthrough that pulls audio out between our Chromecast and the TV so we can stream audio to the receiver with the TV off.

[–] medcur 1 points 2 months ago

Something like a Denon DRA900H might work for you. It has HDMI ARC, 4 HDMI inputs, RCA inputs, and others. If you can get a second hand DRA800H I'm sure that'll be fine for you too.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 2 months ago (1 children)

Sounds like you are sticking to stereo speakers, so your output is less important, as all the extra fanciness is in support of surround sound stuff. Honestly, you need to make sure the receiver you choose will convert well to stereo from whatever video sources you are using; not all of them do.

I would suggest that you scope out Schiit Audio. Not necessarily to buy, although their equipment is awesome, but it is quite educational, as they have a more stripped down, step-wize approach to features. It might give you some ideas you hadn't considered before.

It is unfortunately not as easy to make a good 2 chennel stereo that plays well with modern video as it should be. Partially due to physical separation, but partially due to compatibility, I just got a decent sound bar/ sub-woofer combo to hook up to my TV and kept my stereo for music and such.

Good luck and happy listening!

[–] HC4L 1 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago)

Hi! Thanks for your reply.

Due to my livingroom set-up I will be sticking to stereo yes. Would there be any safer options with that conversion when choosing optical or HDMI or is it really up to the receiver?

I will check them out, haven't come across them on the second-hand market here in Europe but I will check out their site.

CD/Music playback will be through RCA on the receiver so that should not give problems I hope. At least I'm not bound to variable output CD-players anymore so I can finally move into the 90's CD-player wise ;) Movies are usually Blurays through the 'ole PS4 so we'll so how that goes.