Denon AVR with Dirac or MiniDsp Flex HTx or .... IS THERE ANYTHING ELSE???

[CEAV]

Hi all,

I'm building out a small dedicated home theater room with no windows, 26' x 17' with a ~100" screen along the long wall. I am set on using Dirac for room correction as from what I've read and what I've experienced, solid room correction is key especially for multi channel theater setup. I have a couple Revel towers that will start as the front channels, then will add center and surround later. I have wiring and holes in the ceiling for 4 channel Atmos. I plan to ultimately use external amps like a multichannel class D Buckeye amp.

My ideal product would be a multichannel processor/dac with decent, not even incredible, dacs and Dolby / Atmos / Dirac etc support. This is the HTP1 but this is now almost a half decade old, not even available and full of problems. Other options for pure processors seem to be in the 5-10k and more range. Also, this could be the Minidsp Flex HTx if only it had Dolby / Atmos decoding -- I understand all of the issues with licensing these standards, but to me this would be an AVR killer and the ideal product.

Currently the Denon x3800H is on sale for $1128 and the full Dirac setup license including DLBC is just $599 for a total of $1727 before any additional amplification.

Is there an easier way to Dirac plus multichannel AVP that won't be 10k or more?

I understand the trade-offs with the x3800H including not amazing dac quality and, like most AVRs, it will be outdated soon. But at least it's a well supported product from a solid company that will likely work without major issues for years.

Is there anything else I'm missing that could provide multichannel Dolby Atmos processing with decent dacs and the full Dirac suite for cheaper or better?

Thanks!

 

[jhwalker]

FWIW, I were buying right now, I'd buy the 3800. I have the 3700 and would love to have access to Dirac.

My use is about 50% music and 50% home theater (I also have Revel fronts / center and a 150" screen), and although I do now have a separate Anthem amp for the LCR speakers, I've never felt the Denon was holding me back in any way

 

[Power Pop 23]

Hi all,

I'm building out a small dedicated home theater room with no windows, 26' x 17' with a ~100" screen along the long wall. I am set on using Dirac for room correction as from what I've read and what I've experienced, solid room correction is key especially for multi channel theater setup. I have a couple Revel towers that will start as the front channels, then will add center and surround later. I have wiring and holes in the ceiling for 4 channel Atmos. I plan to ultimately use external amps like a multichannel class D Buckeye amp.

My ideal product would be a multichannel processor/dac with decent, not even incredible, dacs and Dolby / Atmos / Dirac etc support. This is the HTP1 but this is now almost a half decade old, not even available and full of problems. Other options for pure processors seem to be in the 5-10k and more range. Also, this could be the Minidsp Flex HTx if only it had Dolby / Atmos decoding -- I understand all of the issues with licensing these standards, but to me this would be an AVR killer and the ideal product.

Currently the Denon x3800H is on sale for $1128 and the full Dirac setup license including DLBC is just $599 for a total of $1727 before any additional amplification.

Is there an easier way to Dirac plus multichannel AVP that won't be 10k or more?

I understand the trade-offs with the x3800H including not amazing dac quality and, like most AVRs, it will be outdated soon. But at least it's a well supported product from a solid company that will likely work without major issues for years.

Is there anything else I'm missing that could provide multichannel Dolby Atmos processing with decent dacs and the full Dirac suite for cheaper or better?

Thanks!

For myself, I can't think of a cheaper way that is worth the loss of convenience of using a Denon X3800H with Dirac Live and DLBC.

 

[ban25]

Onkyo RZ30. $999 on Black Friday. Dirac Live included at that price. Full pre-outs for adding external amplification as desired.

 

[jcarys]

ban25 meant the Onkyo RZ50 at a grand. Personally, I'd go crazy and get the RZ70 at $2K and not worry about external amps for anything beyond LCR.

Audioholics has a new review of the 70 that makes it look very good for AVR performance.