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Help me decide: 7.1 today with future headroom, go with the Denon AVR-X4700H or X8500H

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TheReef510

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so... one more thing: are there any new Denon receivers on the horizon for this year? I know their release cycle is that they announce over the summer, and attempt to ship in late fall. They haven't refreshed their line up in 2 years, and are still having problems supplying the current chipset after a fire and covid etc. So is there any benefit for me to wait (even if I dont buy the newest version) and hope that the current price hike on 2020 models will come down/back down before year is up?
 

peng

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so... one more thing: are there any new Denon receivers on the horizon for this year? I know their release cycle is that they announce over the summer, and attempt to ship in late fall. They haven't refreshed their line up in 2 years, and are still having problems supplying the current chipset after a fire and covid etc. So is there any benefit for me to wait (even if I dont buy the newest version) and hope that the current price hike on 2020 models will come down/back down before year is up?

I thought you had already bought the 4700. If not, you probably should keep using the AV8801 until the price come down an/or when we know what kind of improvements Denon will be offering in their 2022/23 models. I replaced my 8801 with the 4400 and have no regrets, but I paid only about under CAD 1,200 for it brand new from BB, when its list price was $1500 at the time if I remembered right. The current pricing is ridiculous, and I don't like that they replaced the DAC chip with one that is a downgrade even if it won't make any audible difference.
 

Dougey_Jones

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I lol'd.

The damned thing is heavy. I cut a few dowel rods and stained them to match the stand I'm using to reinforce the shelf it sits on. Just kinda wedged them in there and shores everything up. Otherwise it'd buckle. Doesn't look too bad tho.

View attachment 201990

You can see them under that middle shelf across the front. There's support for the back too.
Now THATS a center channel speaker, damn.. What are these?
 
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TheReef510

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I thought you had already bought the 4700. If not, you probably should keep using the AV8801 until the price come down an/or when we know what kind of improvements Denon will be offering in their 2022/23 models. I replaced my 8801 with the 4400 and have no regrets, but I paid only about under CAD 1,200 for it brand new from BB, when its list price was $1500 at the time if I remembered right. The current pricing is ridiculous, and I don't like that they replaced the DAC chip with one that is a downgrade even if it won't make any audible difference.

wait what? they replaced the chip AND its more expensive than it was at launch?? yeah okay i'll just buy the amp and have a makeshift set up until something new approaches. going with purely 7.1 at the moment, I dont *really* need atmos right now anyway, its just that the 8801 doesnt have dolby vision passthrough but i'll just make it all work with eARC for the time being I suppose. thank you!!
 

peng

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wait what? they replaced the chip AND its more expensive than it was at launch?? yeah okay i'll just buy the amp and have a makeshift set up until something new approaches. going with purely 7.1 at the moment, I dont *really* need atmos right now anyway, its just that the 8801 doesnt have dolby vision passthrough but i'll just make it all work with eARC for the time being I suppose. thank you!!

Wait for the AVR-X4800H, SR7016, AV7707 lol...
The 8801 can do heights, better than nothing, if that helps to hold you over for a year, or less hopefully. I bet with inflation being aggressively controlled by the Fed, launch prices for those 2022/23 models may actually come down but I may be too optimistic.
 

Pogre

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Now THATS a center channel speaker, damn.. What are these?
Yup, lol. One of the reasons I went with those speakers. Ascend Acoustics Sierra Towers and Sierra Horizon center with the RAAL ribbon upgrade.


 

Dougey_Jones

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Yup, lol. One of the reasons I went with those speakers. Ascend Acoustics Sierra Towers and Sierra Horizon center with the RAAL ribbon upgrade.


Gorgeous
 
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TheReef510

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So I ended up getting the 4700H. I really wanted to wait and see what the new models would bring but I am now out of time. I will not really have time to buy, set up, and then research the new model on here whenever Denon gets around to launching it. I called up my local dealer and asked if he had a good price on it, and fortunately, he beat every single other place i've seen for this AVR that's new. Once I get to my new place, I'll check the wiring and hopefully be able to add the monolith amp without tripping the circuit. I'm not ordering that until I move in, given how heavy and power consuming it is. Thank you all for your invaluable help getting me to this point. The only thanks I can offer is pictures of my set up once I move and have everything set up by the end of the month, hopefully.
 

amper42

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Yup, lol. One of the reasons I went with those speakers. Ascend Acoustics Sierra Towers and Sierra Horizon center with the RAAL ribbon upgrade.



I bought my Sierra Towers in late 2020. Can't let go of them. :D

IMG_0046.jpg Sierra Tower vs F328Be.png
 
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TheReef510

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so I set up my system temporarily (just to get everything out of the box and hooked up/working) and noticed there's significant audio lag coming from my nvidia shield. I'm using a generic HDMI cable and I suspect it has to be a cabling issue. The Apple TV 4K has no lag, its running this belkin cable and so is the Sony TV's own ARC, also running another belkin cable. I only had two so I put the shield on a generic cable, but the audio lag was present even on 1080p24 content. Does anyone have a recommendation for a cable I can try to solve this issue? I was going to move the belkin cable to the shield, and run this cable from the TV to the Denon. Thoughts?
 

HarmonicTHD

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so I set up my system temporarily (just to get everything out of the box and hooked up/working) and noticed there's significant audio lag coming from my nvidia shield. I'm using a generic HDMI cable and I suspect it has to be a cabling issue. The Apple TV 4K has no lag, its running this belkin cable and so is the Sony TV's own ARC, also running another belkin cable. I only had two so I put the shield on a generic cable, but the audio lag was present even on 1080p24 content. Does anyone have a recommendation for a cable I can try to solve this issue? I was going to move the belkin cable to the shield, and run this cable from the TV to the Denon. Thoughts?
Well isn’t it obvious from your description. Use the Belkin cable from your Apple TV and see if the problem persists. If yes buy one for the NVidia
 
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Well isn’t it obvious from your description. Use the Belkin cable from your Apple TV and see if the problem persists. If yes buy one for the NVidia
you know i consider myself to be a non-dumb person, that never occurred to me to try that. before I got the Denon AVR, I had the shield plugged directly into the TV and had no audio lag issues. hopefully the same will be true going through the AVR with this cable.
 
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TheReef510

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Well it took me quite a bit of time to get set up but as promised, here's my set up:


I'm so very grateful to this forum for helping me with my equipment list. Its a perfect setup for my space. It sounds great, and doesn't disturb the neighbors. The only struggle I had was getting the monolith amp set up. The first shipment came with an amp that didn't have one channel that work, I had to send it back and get another one and just the sheer weight of it was the real challenge. But now everything is set up. My only complaint is that the Denon AVR as well as the Nvidia shield both 'wake up' randomly. I think that's an issue with the HDMI CEC protocol. I currently am able to control the entire system with just my Sony TV remote except the blu-ray player. So I'm not sure what to do about that issue. Besides that I'm very happy with my system. It really takes the stress away after a long day at work.

The Apple TV is by far the best streamer, but the Shield TV Pro is the best plex player, as it can output all the audio formats that apple refuses to support. But the apps on the Apple TV are way more polished. I end up using my Intel NUC to stream from my Plex server back home given only the PC client supports a buffer which you have to have to stream high bitrate content regardless of your bandwidth at both locations. I brought a lot of legacy equipment with me, like the blu-ray player, and the sonos connect. The Sonos works great to playback my music, but the Denon has its own built in network streamer, using the HEOS app. I have it connected to my NAS which has all of my music. Both seem to work well, but is the Sonos any better than the Denon's built in streamer? Everything on my network is wired whenever possible. Anyway thank you all again for helping me put together a sensible system. I'd be very interested to hear your thoughts on any improvements I should consider.

Equipment List:
Sony 83A90J
Klipsch RP600C
Klipsch RP600M x 6
SVS SB 2000 x 2
Denon AVR-X4700H
Denon 3800BDCI
Monolith 7X
Intel NUC d54250wyk HTPC
Sonos Connect
Nvidia Shield TV Pro
Apple TV 4K
TP Link Router
Linksys switch
 

Peluvius

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SVS SB 2000 x 2 has quite a bit of scope to disturb neighbours.....you must be quite restrained :)
 
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TheReef510

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SVS SB 2000 x 2 has quite a bit of scope to disturb neighbours.....you must be quite restrained :)
I'm well past the time in my life where I am impressed by earth shattering bass. I run each at less than half volume and that's plenty for my tiny living room. So far, no one has complained but I plan to check with my neighbors to make sure I'm not being annoying.
 
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TheReef510

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This setup is very inspiring. I would really love to setup a 5.2 setup, but my current room doesn't support this. It is temping to setup a SEPERATE thread area maybe I'll get those office cube separators to reduce audio /light from the rest of the room.

Example: https://www.wayfair.com/commercial-...-gray-freestanding-room-divider-uczf1386.html

Thank you, but I'm currently single lol. My setup is lovely for me but I know when I get a girl she wouldn't approve of having that many speakers surrounding the living room, but we do what we can with what we have. I'm sort of okay with not having a divider because my dining room is right behind the couch so I watch tv there while eating dinner. But by all means I think you should get it and give it a shot!
 

Peluvius

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Thank you, but I'm currently single lol. My setup is lovely for me but I know when I get a girl she wouldn't approve of having that many speakers surrounding the living room, but we do what we can with what we have. I'm sort of okay with not having a divider because my dining room is right behind the couch so I watch tv there while eating dinner. But by all means I think you should get it and give it a shot!

just what is it with girls and speakers? Same with acoustic treatments……
 
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TheReef510

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just what is it with girls and speakers? Same with acoustic treatments……
Every girl that's come over so far has the same nonplussed comment: did you get enough speakers?

They like it when the system is playing but I know none of them would stand to have a set up like this in their own home. probably mostly how the surrounds are just sitting in open space. But for the moment, I'm just here to please myself
 
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