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ZiggZagg

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Jan 24, 2025
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Hello there everyone! moving into a new house and so I want to upgrade my home theater, and I am confused in the vast sea of equipment going around here.

My living room is 19.7 feet by 17 feet for reference. I am confused like proper confused about what AVR to get. First of all, the speaker arrangement I'll prefer to go with is 7.1.2 with SVS prime 5.0 system which is going around for 1200 USD with a pb1000 pro around 600 USD new, I may go for a used if the price is good. I have JBL satellite speakers laying around from the system I currently use with a Harmon Kardon AVR 5.1 system from 2010 which my father assembled.

At first, I was gonna go with a 5.1 system just with latest tech and so settled on buying x2800h Denon with xt32 and later on upgrade to more speakers and buy a new AVR that would support them. until I got the idea to just use my JBL satellites as rear and ceiling. Then comes my current dilemma when I started to search again, which one do I go with? Pioneer VSX-LX305, Denon x2800H, RZ30, NR7100? now if I go with Denon and why I am confused is that if I go with Denon I'll have to scrap the ceiling channels or go 5.1.2 or I can just buy the other AVR and leave Denon.

I have heard that Denon's bass management is something exceptional, it has some software features like audio processing stuff, making the vocals boosting, some video software features that others don't have, and yes, its sound profile and reliability too. or is it just bullshit, and I should ditch Denon then go with NR7100 or any other that I mentioned? And any other features I should look into like internal processing being higher than amp so i can just attach an external amp.

If you have any suggestions or advice other than AVR or if you dislike whatever I searched up ENTIRELY and don't think any of my choices in AVR selection or speakers is good, please don't hesitate to inform me. Sorry if this looks like an extremely stupid, I am very new to everything and I can't just go in a store and try stuff out otherwise I wouldn't be here asking questions as in my country, home theater and enthusiast audio equipment is something extremely niche. my budget is less than 3000 USD. and do you think, after considering the model of my jbl speakers if it's even a good idea to pair em with the SVS'? I think auddesy xt32 will be enough for me ig my room isnt much complicated ig. I have attached a photo as well, the tv and sofas are NOT drawn to scale, they are quite small idk the architect fucked up there maybe. the only 'audio correction' present in my room will be large curtain covering most of the wall on the right window as there is a huge window there, the drawing is an earlier one so it just makes it to be the bottom half but in reality its 80% of the right wall. except that matte tiled floor with maybe a medium rug??? most prolly not but idk.

Future speakers: svs prime center, bookshelfs and satellites

current: https://www.bestbuy.com/site/jbl-5-...bwoofer/1551218.p?skuId=1551218&intl=nosplash
To be exact about the center channel: https://tmraudio.com/old-products/jbl-136si-sat-and-136sicen-satellite-center-speakers-set-of-5/

TV LOUNGE:
LOUNGE PHOTO.png
 
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also would prefer something imax enhanced with aspect ratio and black border switching tho idk if any of these support
 
I was hesitant to make such a blanket statement before but it's 2025 and they still haven't gotten their act together: avoid the 2021 PAC lineup, which includes the Pioneer 305 and Onkyo 7100. The RZ30 is newer and there has been no proof of power limiting but there also hasn't been much owner feedback!

I think the 2800 would be a solid choice (or even the 3800 when discounted as it opens the option to Dirac room correction and 4 independent SW outs)!
 
I was hesitant to make such a blanket statement before but it's 2025 and they still haven't gotten their act together: avoid the 2021 PAC lineup, which includes the Pioneer 305 and Onkyo 7100. The RZ30 is newer and there has been no proof of power limiting but there also hasn't been much owner feedback!

I think the 2800 would be a solid choice (or even the 3800 when discounted as it opens the option to Dirac room correction and 4 independent SW outs)!
srsly? oh damn, why though? yep i'd order x3800h but idk when that goes on sale and its kinda expensive? though i could buy it used on ebay and pay a whopping 250 usd on shipping. how about integra drx 3.4? hows that? i dont know too much about it.
 
srsly? oh damn, why though? yep i'd order x3800h but idk when that goes on sale and its kinda expensive? though i could buy it used on ebay and pay a whopping 250 usd on shipping. how about integra drx 3.4? hows that? i dont know too much about it.
The DRX 3.4 falls under the same "2021 PAC AVR" group. If you want to know some of the history, check this thread out:

Your JBLs may or may not work fine w/this group of AVRs but there have also been HDMI failure issues reported...
 
srsly? oh damn, why though? yep i'd order x3800h but idk when that goes on sale and its kinda expensive? though i could buy it used on ebay and pay a whopping 250 usd on shipping. how about integra drx 3.4? hows that? i dont know too much about it.
You should be able to get a x3800h for about $1,000 brand new. It is a better value than the x2800h.
 
You should be able to get a x3800h for about $1,000 brand new. It is a better value than the x2800h.
That was only during the holidays though I do expect the 3800 to be discounted more often now since it's entering its 3rd year of existence!
 
The DRX 3.4 falls under the same "2021 PAC AVR" group. If you want to know some of the history, check this thread out:

Your JBLs may or may not work fine w/this group of AVRs but there have also been HDMI failure issues reported...
huh i was skeptical about these brands offering all the bomb without the boom and ig this is the boom i was looking for. ig then its savin
That was only during the holidays though I do expect the 3800 to be discounted more often now since it's entering its 3rd year of existence!
yep ig its saving up for x3800h then meanwhile wait for rz30 reviews to roll in for the limp mode detection tho i saw 1 person on avs forum saying there aint one in it but cant take only 1 person's word rn can we. ah fuck i was excited for integra haha.
 
You should be able to get a x3800h for about $1,000 brand new. It is a better value than the x2800h.
i wish, scrolled through ebay its around 1300 rn. or are you seeing from somewhere i aint? idk if i should buy refurb, should I??
 
ig i can buy refurb from a4l but idk if i should yk
I wouldn't buy a refurb. If your HK is working now, just wait for a sale on the 3800 (or get the 2800 and call it a day).
 
i wish, scrolled through ebay its around 1300 rn. or are you seeing from somewhere i aint? idk if i should buy refurb, should I??

You are right it isn’t on sale but in the past members has reported that they’ve got such low prices. @ban25 even said “..often..”, may be he could give you some places to look for near future sales. https://www.audiosciencereview.com/...w-home-theater-avr.30842/page-60#post-2125461

If you are good with 7.1 I would say the 1800 is better than the 2800 because it has preouts and preamp mode for the front left and right channels. I used it with a buckeye amp to drive a pair of low sensitivity speakers for months while waiting for something else. It costs much less than the 2800 and was ver easy to sell it on eBay.

The 2800 is fine if you are sure it has everything you need and you won’t need preouts for ext amps.
 
You are right it isn’t on sale but in the past members has reported that they’ve got such low prices. @ban25 even said “..often..”, may be he could give you some places to look for near future sales. https://www.audiosciencereview.com/...w-home-theater-avr.30842/page-60#post-2125461

If you are good with 7.1 I would say the 1800 is better than the 2800 because it has preouts and preamp mode for the front left and right channels. I used it with a buckeye amp to drive a pair of low sensitivity speakers for months while waiting for something else. It costs much less than the 2800 and was ver easy to sell it on eBay.

The 2800 is fine if you are sure it has everything you need and you won’t need preouts for ext amps.
He wants to do 7.1.2 (mentioned in 1st post).
 
I have a refurb/open box 3800 sitting here. It still has transfer warranty I belive if you are interested. I have never used it. I tested it with music and simply didn't like the way it vocalized at all. The dialogue enhancement also sounded off to me. Lots of people like it, though. I have a 4500 and and rz70. Out of all the brands I have used, I think Denon's are great. I also like Sony.
 
I have a refurb/open box 3800 sitting here. It still has transfer warranty I belive if you are interested. I have never used it. I tested it with music and simply didn't like the way it vocalized at all. The dialogue enhancement also sounded off to me. Lots of people like it, though. I have a 4500 and and rz70. Out of all the brands I have used, I think Denon's are great. I also like Sony.
highly interested, where are you based? i am new to this site so i assume there's supposed to be DMs here lets continue there if ur comfortable.
 
and curious tho, whats ur estimate on the new batch of avrs coming in? i think their refresh cycle is around 3 yrs right? so ig mid 2025 is where new stuff will roll in?
There's no fixed refresh cycle ever since the pandemic hit (new AVRs used to come out once a year like a new Madden game, LOL).

I think the tariffs will also slow roll a lot of these electronics!
 
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