[cmalana]

Well, I've finally been bitten by the audiophile/HT bug and would like some feedback.

My current setup is:

Denon AVR-810 Receiver
Front Speakers: Monitor Audio Silver S2
Center Channel: CSW Center Channel Speaker (don't know what it is - 2 midrange drivers and 1 tweeter)
Rear Speakers: Tivoli TDM2
Source: JVC XV-FA900 (7 disk DVC/CD/MP3, etc. player)
Sub: CSW 12S Powered Subwoofer

I am planning on upgrading the receiver to a JVC RX ES1SL more for HT.  The Denon sounds great as a stereo receiver but does not have inputs for all the channels that my DVD player provides.  I was hoping I would have inputs for 5 channels (+ sub) but I only have 2 channel stereo (which the receiver converts via Dolby Prologic to 5.1).  Lately, been watching a lot of movies at home and wanted to maximize my HT experience with my set-up without blowing major bucks on a receiver (since I did just upgrade to the Monitors).  The DVD player actually has own DTS/Dolby Digital DACS...but I don't have a way to feed it to the receiver.

Anyone have any experience with JVC RX-ES1SL sound (in stereo) compared to Denon AVR-810 (or similar). I've had that Denon for over 12 years now but it still works great (though I did lose remote and can't change rear channel delays now). I have no doubt the HT experience will be better with the newer technology but wondering if I'll lose out when in stereo listening to music.

Also would be willing to explore alternative approaches.

Thanks in advance.

[Rob Babcock]

Check a little further down the page in the Multichannel Audio and the Digital Domain.  There's been extensive discussion of that JVC, and it has a lot of fans, both for 2 ch and MC.  The Chairguy is a big booster of that one and can probably tell you anything you want to know.

Welcome to AC!

[PhilNYC]

As Rob said, definitely check out the discussion in the Digital forum.  FWIW, I own a Denon AV3801 and have heard the JVC...and I definitely felt the JVC was superior in terms of a smoother and more engaging sound.  The Denon does a lot of things right, too, but does have a bit of harshness that keeps it squarely in the mid-fi realm.

[cmalana]

Upon reading all the posts, doesn't look like I can go wrong with the JVC RX-ES1SL, especially since I just got one at ebay for a bit over $120 total! There were actually 2 there and I was reading some of the bi-amp threads and tried to go for the 2nd one but was outbid. I'll save the bi-amp piece for later down the road.

Thanks for the direction.  I think I now will be concentrating on getting everything wired properly.

Question on connecting the DVD/CD player to the JVC receiver. Do I use the optical connection (which I presume would make me use the receiver's DAC) or do I use the RCA connections (which I presume would be using the DVD players DAC)? I guess it will be a matter of preference but is that the right way to think about the difference in connecting them?

Thanks.

[Jay S]

I think it depends on whether your DVD player or HT receiver has better quality circuitry.  I suggest you try both the digital and analog cables and see which one sounds better.  Re-try the experiment if/when you buy/borrow better quality cables down the road.  By the way, for audio, many people believe that the JVC receiver sounds better using its analog rather than digital inputs.  

Also, re digital cables, does your dvd player have both coaxial and optical digital outputs?  Coaxial tends to sound better.  If you use coaxial, Steve Nugent at Empirical Audio wrote a white paper that argues that your cable should be at least 1.5m long (refer to www.empiricalaudio.com or Steve's forum here on AC).