Can I still get good performance out of my Denon AVR-5300?

[wes]

I can't wait to hear your perspective on the Denon,
Here is 90F in Southern Cal and is better indoors as well.

[Enoch]

Originally Posted by jdpezold

I inherited this model from my home's former owner and I'm about to upgrade my TV to a 73" Mitsubishi. Is this receiver good enough to hold me over until I can buy an AVR-3808CI?

I'm relatively new to all the terms and verbage for home theater, but what kind of picture quality increase should I expect from a newer model receiver?

The amplifier section kills the newer 3808.

[wes]

Classé SSP-800 vs Denon AVP1 I wished the high end rags would compare products in the $8000 range and see how they fair out. Like they do for the cheaper stuff.

[Butch]

Could Marantz's new pre/pro and amp be considered as a replacement for the 5300? As a pair, the Marantz AV8003 and MM8003 cost about the same as a high end receiver.

I'm curious to know if the Marantz AV8003 can hold its own against the Denon AVP-A1HDCi at less than half the price.

[gregb882]

Originally Posted by kennyt

Well, the 5300 was Denon's top of the line unit a few years back, it was a great receiver, that said, the 3808 is a very good receiver as well that has many more features such as all the new audio codecs of Blu-ray and HD DVD and also HDMI switching and I believe it also has video scaling as well.

I am sure the 5300 didn't have HDMI, I doubt it had DVI, and probably didn't have as good a scaler as the 3808, that said, you could easily run you video sources directly to the TV via HDMI and use the 5300 with optical or coaxial digital connections and get excellent DD and DTS sound. Is the receiver goo denough? Hell yes! you just won't have all the modern bells and whistles of the 3808 nor the HDMI switching.

I would get the TV, use the 5300 for now and run all your digital video to the TV and see what you think, you might be fine as is. If you have an HD DVD or Blu-ray player, then you would need the new receiver to utilize the new codecs and get uncompressed multi-channel audio......

Ken, sounds like you're the man to ask just about anything. I am very new to the current level of audio/video gear and specs - pretty exciting stuff! But I'm in a similar situation to JDPEZOLD's except with lower level gear (AVR-3600 to feed a lower-level 42" 1080p LCD). Doing as you describe above, will there be any concern with audio/video sync issues? I'm not sure exactly what conditions cause sync issues but I saw it occur in a friend's set-up where he, too, was mixing different generations of gear - very annoying! Thank's for your help in advance.

[wes]

Originally Posted by Butch

Could Marantz's new pre/pro and amp be considered as a replacement for the 5300? As a pair, the Marantz AV8003 and MM8003 cost about the same as a high end receiver. I'm curious to know if the Marantz AV8003 can hold its own against the Denon AVP-A1HDCi at less than half the price.

I heard the Marantz is outstanding?