upgrade advice

[Romain GUINOT]

Hi guys,

My 5 year old Sony LCD HX950 is starting to fail with a couple lines of dead pixels. still currently usable, but out of warranty.
I currently have a 9 year old Denon 2809 which has served me well and is still working. Currently have a KEF 5.1 wired speaker set.

Therefore i'm looking to upgrade both the amp and the TV to the 4k modern age.
Regarding the amp, i've seen there are currently interesting deals (around 900€) on the denon x4400h so that would be a way to provide some room to grow the system , and comes with a lot of nice features. Looking as well to the LG OLED panels as the likely replacement.

My use is mainly movies, TV shows. i do not have any gaming consoles or play games on the system so VRR / high framerate is not really a concern for me.

Do you think this year's denons will have compelling reasons to wait ?

From this forum the potential differences on the 4500h vs 4400 are :
- GUI display over 4k video. Even if it's nice i'm not sure this is really a game changer. i guess you can pause the content if you really need to change something or use the app ?
- Auro3D. there does not seem to be a lot of content yet for that and i don't currently have height speakers. Both will support DTS:Virtual X i believe which could bring some of that effect.
- Audyssey enabled when DTS Virtual:X selected. This could be interesting i think. but not sure if that's worth the price difference between deals on the 4400h and full price on the x4500h when it comes out.

I'm not in a rush for now but would like to get this done this year as the TV might fail even more at some point.
I've also looked at HDMI 2.1 but it looks too far away and seems overkill at the moment, as it will be a long while before 8k content or 120Hz content becomes mainstream.

There could also be nice deals around the june timeframe when there is the football world cup.
I'm thinking of these receivers as i might want as well at some point to upgrade the speaker set so i prefer to have some power / extensibility possibilities.

Thanks for your advice!
Cheers,
Romain.

 

[mechman]

You can never go wrong with a LG OLED. If the Sony can hold out until January or so you can get a good deal on this year's models around then. You may be able to find great deals on the 2017 lineup still now.

I'm calibrating a C8 panel right now...

 

[Romain GUINOT]

Hi,

Thanks for your reply! Those LG panels seem indeed to be very well rated and popular.
What do you think about the denon upgrade ? is it worth waiting for this fall's releases or best to grab the 50% offer on the x4400h ?

Cheers.

 

[mechman]

Hi,

Thanks for your reply! Those LG panels seem indeed to be very well rated and popular.
What do you think about the denon upgrade ? is it worth waiting for this fall's releases or best to grab the 50% offer on the x4400h ?

Cheers.

I'll leave the Denon question to one of our audio guys. I know video. But I'm an amateur when it comes to audio.

 

[Todd Anderson]

Hi Romain,

Definitely consider one of the OLED options on the market... fantastic TVs. It looks like you're in Britain? If so, you also have access to Panasonic's OLED televisions, which (from what I understand) have phenomenal processing largely due to the technical skills of the engineers acquired via the purchase of Pioneer's plasma division. That gives you three solid options for OLED: LG, Sony, and Panasonic.

As for the Denon question, outside of Auro 3D being unlocked, I'm short on guesses as to what it will officially carry. The budget X-Series models were just officially unveiled, so I'm guessing the 4500 will be announced in the coming months.

Check out my review of the SR7012 for some impressions on Auro-2D. And I have an Auro-3D piece in the works.

You being across the pond boosts the availability of Auro encoded media...and that's a good thing! ;-)

Obviously, if you get a 4K TV and want to pass through video via an AVR, you'll need a 4K capable AVR. The 4400h should carry compatibility with all the 4K tech you'll need to survive for quite a while (including Dolby Vision!).

 

[Romain GUINOT]

Hi Todd,

Thanks for your reply! I'm based across the pond in France.
The 40% offer on the denon is gone so i guess i'll wait a bit to see what the x4500 has to offer. At the same time there should be deals on the LG panels

Cheers,
Romain.

 

[Todd Anderson]

Bummer!

Those sales will be coming back, guaranteed. Just make sure you check on an 4K compatibility improvements/additions when comparing the two models. Although, the 4400 looks like covers most all of the bases to get you years of service.

 

[Romain GUINOT]

Thx!

Yep i'll be checking those deals in the next few weeks as well as looking for info on what the upcoming receivers might bring.
If they bring the Hdmi 2.1 upgradeability of the 8500 down to mid range receivers that could be interesting to future proof it for some time.

Appreciate the help!
Cheers,
Romain.

 

[Todd Anderson]

I'm curious to see what you end up choosing! Best of luck!

 

[dmiller68]

On the TV side I think the two leaders of the pack are the LG/Sony OLED and the Samsung Q9FN. Both have there pros and cons but do a great job. I have been looking at the Sony 900F only because I want/need 85" size and not much out there. The 900F also does Dolby Vision hopefully, one of the things I'm waiting on.

I love Marantz AVR and if I'm buying a new AVR in the future that would be the direction I go.

Good luck in your search.

 

[Romain GUINOT]

Thanks !

For now i think i'll wait a few more months to see what this year's Denons have to offer.
Even though the current models are clearly futureproof as it will be a long time before 4k / HDR etc becomes the norm even for TV shows, since i tend to hold gear for a number of years i'd like to know what's coming out before deciding on this year models or last year's deals.

By that time the 2018 LG oled could have reduced in price as well.

Cheers,
Romain.