[randytsuch]

Hi Guys
I am thinking about getting a Denon AVR-4306 for my HT setup. 
It will only be used mostly for movies, and for some background music.  I have a seperate 2ch system.

Since it is going to be replaced very soon, the price for B stock 4306's went down, so it is very tempting now.

I like the 4306 because it can switch three 1080p HDMI sources, can upscale anything else to 1080i, can be controlled by ethernet, and you can send it streaming internet radio or other music files.

I have considered Yamaha, Pioneer Elite, HK and some others, but I am really leaning to the 4306.  To me, at the b stock price, it has the best price/performance ratio, considering all the features it has.  Price is $1269, with shipping/insurance.

Any comments would be appreciated.

Randy

[hanguy]

Hi Randy,

I am in the same boat and thinking to get a denon receiver and do some modding afterwards. This is a great price for a 4306. Where do you find this price? Please PM me if you can.

I don't think you can go wrong with this price. It is very hard to beat all the features built into this unit.


Mike

[izoard]

I have a Denon 4306, I like it a lot.  The HDMI switching works well, I have a Toshiba HD-A1, HD cable box, and DVI->HDMI from an Apple computer, works flawlessly.  The movies are outrageous.  Very impressed with the Audyssey, I lived for years screwing around with my older REL sub in HT, the Denon got it right first time, it sounds fantastic, well integrated into the home theater.  Really a revelation, I don't have to adjust the sub at all going from source to source.  The ethernet interface is primitive, song selection is atrocious, but it does work well in that it finds the Windows server and plays mp3/radio or whatever.  This model does not support digital audio in zone 2 &3, kind of a pain and will force me to hook up some additional wires I don't really need with the HDMI.

On HD movies with True HD, it can decode the PCM stream from the HD-A1, plays lossless 5.1 channel audio as far as I can tell.  Also, decodes HDCD nicely, very  musical. 

My HT setup is PMC OB-1, PMC center, older B&W in wall for surrounds, REL Q-100 sub.  The OB-1 are powered by older Bryston 4B.  I tried thm with the 4306, not bad really, but the unit got hot and I had the extra 4B so....I really couldn't be happier.

Bought it in November from Continental Miles for Merchandise program for around $1300, A stock full warranty.

[randytsuch]

I have a Denon 4306, I like it a lot.  The HDMI switching works well, I have a Toshiba HD-A1, HD cable box, and DVI->HDMI from an Apple computer, works flawlessly.  The movies are outrageous.  Very impressed with the Audyssey, I lived for years screwing around with my older REL sub in HT, the Denon got it right first time, it sounds fantastic, well integrated into the home theater.  Really a revelation, I don't have to adjust the sub at all going from source to source.  The ethernet interface is primitive, song selection is atrocious, but it does work well in that it finds the Windows server and plays mp3/radio or whatever.  This model does not support digital audio in zone 2 &3, kind of a pain and will force me to hook up some additional wires I don't really need with the HDMI.

On HD movies with True HD, it can decode the PCM stream from the HD-A1, plays lossless 5.1 channel audio as far as I can tell.  Also, decodes HDCD nicely, very  musical. 

My HT setup is PMC OB-1, PMC center, older B&W in wall for surrounds, REL Q-100 sub.  The OB-1 are powered by older Bryston 4B.  I tried thm with the 4306, not bad really, but the unit got hot and I had the extra 4B so....I really couldn't be happier.

Bought it in November from Continental Miles for Merchandise program for around $1300, A stock full warranty.

Hi
Thanks for the info.
For you zone2 and 3 digital problem, someone at AVR posted this

1)Network audio and USB sources are digital and thus not available in the zone2 and zone3 signal outputs. They are, however, available in the Tape/VCR outputs which repeat zone2 content. To allow these digital signals to be fed to an external amplifier in zone2, I used the Tape out which activates with zone2 but then switched to a dead input before I switched zone2 off (using a Pronto). This provided me with a solution that behaved exactly as if I were using the zone2 output. These digital sources are also available to the zone2/3 reassigned speaker output.

Hope that helps you.

How many miles did you need from Continental?
I have some, but not many miles, and I don't have my password for the continental website, so I can't check out their miles for merchandise stuff.  I am going to have them send me a password, but that will probably take a week or so to get, and I am not even sure if they still have that deal going.

Randy

[izoard]

100 miles for each item in Continental Miles for Merchandise program.  I guess it is just a way for them to differentiate as something other than retail so that they do not have to abide by manufacturer's pricing directives.  The prices are way lower than anywhere else, but the manufacturers do honor the warranties, I had to send the HD-A1 back to Toshiba, no problem.

Of course, it really isn't retail, no returns, no after sale service, etc.  And if you do order, make sure you call and verify what model# you will actually get and inventory status.  It may take many weeks to get your order. 

Worth it to me, I saved at least $3k on 4306, HD-A1, and Pioneer 6070HD with a little patience. 

[Big Red Machine]

Latest and greatest surround codecs with HDMI 1.3 can be found on then Onkyo 805 unit.  Best price is at Value Electronics, well under 1000 clams.
http://www.onkyousa.com/prod_class.cfm?class=Receiver

[Antman27]

I would love to swap out my 3805 for a 4306 just to see how the Audyssey EQ sounds .
I do not pass any video through my AVR I go direct into my DLP and let my harmony remote switch inputs .

[Rob Babcock]

I would love to swap out my 3805 for a 4306 just to see how the Audyssey EQ sounds .

Me too.  I have thought my '3805 might be the last receiver I ever bought, and it still might be.  But I'd love to try the 4306 to see how good the EQ works.

[randytsuch]

100 miles for each item in Continental Miles for Merchandise program.  I guess it is just a way for them to differentiate as something other than retail so that they do not have to abide by manufacturer's pricing directives.  The prices are way lower than anywhere else, but the manufacturers do honor the warranties, I had to send the HD-A1 back to Toshiba, no problem.

Of course, it really isn't retail, no returns, no after sale service, etc.  And if you do order, make sure you call and verify what model# you will actually get and inventory status.  It may take many weeks to get your order. 

Worth it to me, I saved at least $3k on 4306, HD-A1, and Pioneer 6070HD with a little patience. 

I just called Denon to check about warranty, and they said as long as it is a valid serial number, then the warranty is valid. 

I was thinking about trying out this program, but then I started thinking about your comment about waiting.  I can wait, but the 4306 is probably out of production, its successor is coming out soon, hence the price drop.  I have doubts that these guys would still be able to get one, so I will probably pass on this for my denon.  Nice to know about for future buys though.

Latest and greatest surround codecs with HDMI 1.3 can be found on then Onkyo 805 unit.  Best price is at Value Electronics, well under 1000 clams.
http://www.onkyousa.com/prod_class.cfm?class=Receiver

I looked at Onkyo before, at the 804.  I want preouts, in case I use an external amp, and the 804 was the only one that had preouts, but there were posts at AVR of people that had noise problems with the 804, so I decided against it.

As for the 805, I could not find it on the value electronics website.  It is listed for $1000 at Crutchfield, but they don’t have it yet.

I also noticed that the 805 does not support Ethernet, but the 4306 does.  I ran an Ethernet cable last night to the closet that will be home to my new receiver, so I am going to use it .  You can control the 4306 via Ethernet, or send it music files or internet radio.  I am looking forward to playing with this feature.

I know the Onkyo will support TrueHD, but the Denon will support 7.1 PCM over HDMI.  As long as I can get 7.1 channels of uncompressed audio, I don’t need TrueHD.

I would love to swap out my 3805 for a 4306 just to see how the Audyssey EQ sounds .
I do not pass any video through my AVR I go direct into my DLP and let my harmony remote switch inputs .

I am going to feed my cable box directly into one of the HDMI inputs, then connect the Denon to the other.  I also plan to run signals directly from the source to my TV, so I can see which way it looks better, upsampled by the Denon, or by my Sony LCD.  The Sony will still have to deinterlace from 1080i to 1080p.  It would be nice if the Denon's upsampling was good enough so I only have to run one HDMI cable from the denon to the LCD, and feed everything to the denon. 
The denon is going into a closet, close to the TV.  Most of the other gear will go into the closet too, with just my cable box, and a Wii under the LCD.
BTW, I just bought a Harmony 890 to control all this.  Just started to play with it, but it seems pretty cool.  I may start another thread about the 890 and Zwave.

Me too.  I have thought my '3805 might be the last receiver I ever bought, and it still might be.  But I'd love to try the 4306 to see how good the EQ works.

Right now, I have a Sony TAE-9000 processor I bought a while ago.  It is a nice piece, but is dated now.  I want something that can handle HDMI audio, and 7.1 PCM.  With that, I think I will be able to keep this for a long time.

Randy

[Rob Babcock]

Right now I'm not real concerned about HDMI switching.  I'm not likely to have many HDMI sources, and my new Barco will only accept component vid.  Beyond a BRD/HD-DVD player, I could see adding an outboard video processor, but again it would have to use component output.  Obviously my situation isn't the norm.   Btw, my 3805 does some HDMI I think but I don't have anything with HDMI output to even try it.

I'm an early adopter most of the time but I'm getting a little tired of all the new formats.  We have DD/DTS, the 6.1, then 7.1, then TrueHD, DTS24, etc etc.  All I wanna do is pop in a disc and watch the damn movie!

[randytsuch]

Right now I'm not real concerned about HDMI switching.  I'm not likely to have many HDMI sources, and my new Barco will only accept component vid.  Beyond a BRD/HD-DVD player, I could see adding an outboard video processor, but again it would have to use component output.  Obviously my situation isn't the norm.   Btw, my 3805 does some HDMI I think but I don't have anything with HDMI output to even try it.

I'm an early adopter most of the time but I'm getting a little tired of all the new formats.  We have DD/DTS, the 6.1, then 7.1, then TrueHD, DTS24, etc etc.  All I wanna do is pop in a disc and watch the damn movie!

Hi Rob,
I think the receiver manufacturers are always planning something new, they need to give people a reason to replace perfectly good gear.  My old Sony does not even do DD/DTS, otherwise I might keep it.  Also, I already have run wires in my walls for 7.1, so I have forced myself to upgrade  .

I have a couple of reasons I am going to switch video in my receiver.  First is, the receiver can upconvert, and I only have to run one HDMI cable from my TV to receiver, everything else will connect to the receiver.  I am hoping the receiver does a decent job of upconverting, and my eyes aren't that good anyway.  In my case, since the receiver will be in a closet with the other gear, this will work out much better. 

But, I could get a video upconverter/switcher to do this, the bigger reason is because I want to eventually get either blu ray, or hd-dvd, and be able to decode 7.1 PCM.  The Denon can do this.  Based on what I have read at AVS, if you can do 7.1 uncompressed PCM, then you don't really need HDMI 1.3, it won't buy you anything.  HDMI 1.3 will also support more video information, but I don't think there are any TV's yet that support it.


Randy

[randytsuch]

Thought I would update this thread.

So, I am still waffling.

Actually, I am pretty sure I am going to pick up the Integra pre-pro coming out in late July (I hope), the DTC9.8
It will be mated with a NAD 6 channel amp that I have had for a while now.  I also considering the Onkyo 875, which should be about the same price.  It is a receiver, obviously it won't have all the features this guy has, you have to give up something for 7 channels of amplification.

There is a thread at AVS on the new integra's, with pricing and other stuff starting here
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=10705195&&#post10705195

Unfortunately, a lot of the posts about the 9.8 are about the color of the knobs 
I guess it's a big deal to some.

Can't buy these on-line, they are meant for system installers, so there are not a lot of places that have them.  There are a few around me, so should not be a problem to get one, once they come out.

Randy