After 12 years of ownership my Pioneer AV Amp has given up the ghost, with intermittent sound and vision issues with HDMI inputs and outputs.
So time to upgrade to a 4K av amp.
My short list is.
Yamaha RX-A4A
Denon AVC-X4700H
Marantz Cinema 60.
Does anybody own any of these?
How easy was it to set up?
Is it intuative to use?
Any short comings?
Is the SPDIF coax digital connection easy to implement?
Thank you
I have two models down from the denon ā47, the ā27. Itās simple to setup and use, so Iād recommend the denon over the other 2 in your list. Currently reduced by Ā£550 at 7 oaks, I assume because the x8 models are out.
Without wishing to dampen your appetite to buy a new amp, may it be worth trying to clean out your HDMI sockets with either compressed air and/or contact cleaner?
I went from a Yamaha THX receiver to a Denon AVR-X4000 and the increase in quality was astounding. The 4700 is just recently discontinued so you can possibly find one on clearance price.
While I was happy enough with the Yamaha, I doubt the new models can tempt me away from the Denon. Ultimately, Yamaha make the chips used in all those amps and keep the latest and greatest for themselves. But the quality of the pre/power amps in the Denon and Marantz set them apart.
I just bought a Denon x6700h to replace an old Yamaha AV after reading lots of reviews (and because I am going āAtmosā).
The Denon is still in the box while the rest of the room is being finished, but Iād happily report back in a few weeks once itās all installed if thatās useful?
Hi @BobbyYork
It is very kind of you to offer to do that, however that model is above my budget.
Thank you once again.
As to āhow easy to set up?ā they are all equally simple. They come with a mic on a long lead. You plug it in and put the mic in your seating position and they run the test tones and do all the adjustments for levels, delay etc.
The on screen menu for configuring inputs is equally simple. Obviously their remotes have way to many buttons but you donāt need them. In fact if you connect them to ghe HDMI ARC input on the TV, youāll never need their remote. I never used my Denon remote once in 6 years. Just the TV remote or the Android/Apple app.
Itās like buying a new car. Once itās in your headā¦ā¦ā¦
I can plus one the Denon, I only have the lowly 2400H but itās been the best avr I have ever owned.
I suppose the question is do you need that level of amp? I ādowngradedā from a pioneer at the equivalent of the 3700 in their range to the denon 2700 (which when it was released was Ā£599 I think, the 2800 replacing it is Ā£869) and Iām very happy with it. In combo with a rel sub it does all the crash bang wallop sounds whizzing around the lounge at decent volume that you could want. Plus Iāve never needed to push it anywhere close to its limit. The models above have a better audyssey implementation and maybe more channels but for my 5.1 the 2700 is perfect, and has plenty of power.
I donāt think we know what speaker package the OP is using. But your statement is spot on. Technically, my move from Yamaha THX amp to Denon was a downgrade but in reality it was an upgrade. Less amp with fewer certifications but far better and I had a simple easy(ish) to drive 5.1 speaker package.
Though from the Denon 4000 series, all the buttons go away and you do get a clean look. With the 4700 having ended production, now would be the time to strike a deal.
After 24 years of perfect performance the centre speaker amp of my pre-HDMI Denon AVC-A1D has failed.
I did not consider it to be cost effective to try and repair this old amp only to probably have something else fail in the not too distant future.
I am only allowed to run a 5.1 system in our main lounge area so this focussed the choice of a replacement amp.
I bought my first Denon AV Pro Logic amp in 1994, replaced it with the AVC-A1D in 1999 and have now replaced that with a Denon AVC-X4700 as the run out special prices were too good to miss out on.
Set up was really easy with only one small problem which was that my Lumin P1 streamer which has its HDMI signal locked at 2 channel 24/48 with no HDMI output connected to it and was connected to the HDMI audio only output of my Panasonic 4K Bluray Player DP-UB9000 caused the HDMI output of the Bluray Player to the X4700 to also be locked to 2 channel 24/48.
Removing the HDMI connection between the Bluray Player and Streamer fixed the problem and allowed the full set of audio outputs from the Bluray Player to the X4700.
Initial findings after using the X4700 over the last couple of days is that the sound quality is excellent.
I did a back to back comparison of the analogue stereo output of the Bluray Player direct into my Supernait 3 and the stereo pre-out output of the X4700 into the AV input of the SN3 playing a 24/192 bluray disc of Pink Floyd Animals 2018 Remix and the difference in sound quality switching between the two SN3 inputs was almost impossible to notice any difference, so very impressed with the X4700.
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