This award wining AVR has been further reduced at Richer Sounds to £499. I had my eye on the 2300W but from reading various reviews this sounds to be a worthy upgrade for the additional £200 (improved power, better Audyssey calibration and Multi room/channel output):
Bugger. Can’t find this in stock anywhere :disappointed:
jumpinoffthbed to akscooby
6 Oct 17#18
Glad I got it when I did then I absolutely love it! Have you tried the eBay shops? Got mine from superfi. I've only taken it to 70% so far but it's like being at a concert, so realistic and LOUD!! I definitely recommend.
jumpinoffthbed
1 Sep 17#16
did anyone else get this for £424 using their ebay discount code?
DudleyGuy
24 Aug 17#13
If you ask in Richer Sounds, they'll often discount you a Sony to a similar price. Well worth asking, to move up to the next level in audio quality, for similar money.
ro53ben to DudleyGuy
25 Aug 17#14
Top trolling, give yourself a medal.
linhang90
24 Aug 17#12
Everyone says the 2300w is brilliant.. but pretty much out of stock at every richer sounds store..
chuffster
24 Aug 17#11
Great receiver.I'm listening to mine right now (excited)!
ro53ben
24 Aug 17#9
For those considering Atmos, here's some facts that I discovered along the way that may be useful.
Current audio designs have 5.1 - which has left, right, centre speakers along with 2 surround speakers which are expected to be facing the listener, at ear height, either end of the sofa - NOT BEHIND. The point one, although a dedicated channel, isn't full range and just carries low frequency effects to a sub.
You can upgrade to 7.1, which adds an additional pair of rear surround speakers which go behind the listener on either side. Only really of use when you have a true 7.1 source - although most modern movies have this, especially on blu-ray sources. Like Dolby Digital 5.1 has 6 source channels (5+1), we now have 8 source channels (7+1).
Dolby Atmos still only has 8 source channels. They are the same uncompressed audio as the legacy 7.1 set-up. There is, however, lots of 3d audio "metadata" included.
In an Atmos set-up, you can add a height speaker to each of the front left/right, surround left/right and rear left/right speakers - so up to 6 extra speakers making 7.1.6 - not 13.1 as there are no extra channels, just extra speakers.
You can choose to add height to just one or two pairs if you wish, making 7.1.2/5.1.2 or 7.1.4/5.1.4 - basic Atmos receivers may only support 2 Atmos speakers.
In my case, I only planned 5.1 so bought a new 5.1 surround speaker set-up (Q Acoustic 7000i Plus) and configured without Atmos.
I've got a 4k blu-ray player and some Atmos discs, but without Atmos speakers you can't even put the amp into the required mode. The best you will get is True HD or DTS-HD MA.
When you add Atmos speakers, you choose which existing pair to add them to. In my case, I added them to the surround left/right giving me 5.1.2 and a 3d surround speaker set-up.
Atmos was designed for ceiling speakers but, for convenience, a lot of manufacturers are selling home speakers which face up and reflect the Atmos audio off the ceiling. Which got me thinking, my old Bose speakers used to reflect audio off the walls. I still had the Bose cubes, so decided to use them as my Atmos speakers. By luck they were even still on the wall, right at the top almost at ceiling height. So I wired them in, added them to the Denon and Audyssey tuning did the rest.
The difference is quite significant. Basically the right surround (RS) and right surround height (RSH) speaker carry the same audio channel. The Atmos metadata tells it how loud to output the sound from each speaker.
So imagine 100% of audio coming out of RS which is a helicopter noise. Then it can shift the balance towards 100% output from RSH and zero from RS and the helicopter moves upwards.
If you're used to having surround speakers close to your ear, you might be familiar with certain effects blasting down your eardrum. It can be fun but also distracting. Atmos seems to reduce this because half the audio may come from the height speaker which isn't so close. Even on non-Atmos sources, you can upmix the surround audio to emulate Atmos effects and give a more surround feel from the surround speakers.
I never planned to use Atmos but I tried it and I like it. You don't need the Atmos speakers to be the same as all the others, or even full range, you just need something on or near the ceiling outputting sound in the right direction. Audyssey tuning will do the rest, it tests the range and output of every speaker in turn and will tune and balance accordingly. It's really rather good.
Hope that helps.
yoshi
24 Aug 17#5
i went with this one for £449 - its a clearance model but it came mint in the box with all parts. Full warranty as well sevenoakssoundandvision.co.uk/p-9…spx. Although it mentions a store location the deliver next day for free.
baz84 to yoshi
24 Aug 17#7
Thanks for sharing this. Just gave the guys a call and they mentioned its hardly been out of the box! only 30mins away from me so will collect tomorrow!!
yoshi to baz84
24 Aug 17#10
glad to help. the one i got delivered was mint as well. no marks and full warranty.
jUsT2eXy
24 Aug 17#3
What Atmos speaker package would you guys recommend with this? I'm looking at an all in one price of sub £800 for AV and 5.1.2 speakers.
Onkyo do a sub £600 full package which I've had my eye on.
I’ve been looking at those too but not sure whether to make the jump to Atmos just yet. Is the difference in sound obvious? :smile:
baz84 to Biddy2
24 Aug 17#8
I think for up-firing modules a lot depends on the room and speaker/seating location. I can certainly tell the difference but it's not as obvious as you might expect or what you would probably get with ceiling speakers. They definitely add something to atmos movies though and I would miss them if they were gone! I would recommend taking time on the setup and sourcing some dolby atmos demos to help!
Biddy2 to baz84
25 Aug 17#15
Thanks for that. Will check it out instore. :grin:
ro53ben
24 Aug 17#2
Worth noting this has gone up in price since it was last posted:
I bought this receiver a couple of months ago, initially running it in 5.1 and then upgrading to a Dolby Atmos 5.1.2 set-up - hit me up with any questions.
Opening post
What Hi-Fi Review
18 comments
Current audio designs have 5.1 - which has left, right, centre speakers along with 2 surround speakers which are expected to be facing the listener, at ear height, either end of the sofa - NOT BEHIND. The point one, although a dedicated channel, isn't full range and just carries low frequency effects to a sub.
You can upgrade to 7.1, which adds an additional pair of rear surround speakers which go behind the listener on either side. Only really of use when you have a true 7.1 source - although most modern movies have this, especially on blu-ray sources. Like Dolby Digital 5.1 has 6 source channels (5+1), we now have 8 source channels (7+1).
Dolby Atmos still only has 8 source channels. They are the same uncompressed audio as the legacy 7.1 set-up. There is, however, lots of 3d audio "metadata" included.
In an Atmos set-up, you can add a height speaker to each of the front left/right, surround left/right and rear left/right speakers - so up to 6 extra speakers making 7.1.6 - not 13.1 as there are no extra channels, just extra speakers.
You can choose to add height to just one or two pairs if you wish, making 7.1.2/5.1.2 or 7.1.4/5.1.4 - basic Atmos receivers may only support 2 Atmos speakers.
In my case, I only planned 5.1 so bought a new 5.1 surround speaker set-up (Q Acoustic 7000i Plus) and configured without Atmos.
I've got a 4k blu-ray player and some Atmos discs, but without Atmos speakers you can't even put the amp into the required mode. The best you will get is True HD or DTS-HD MA.
When you add Atmos speakers, you choose which existing pair to add them to. In my case, I added them to the surround left/right giving me 5.1.2 and a 3d surround speaker set-up.
Atmos was designed for ceiling speakers but, for convenience, a lot of manufacturers are selling home speakers which face up and reflect the Atmos audio off the ceiling. Which got me thinking, my old Bose speakers used to reflect audio off the walls. I still had the Bose cubes, so decided to use them as my Atmos speakers. By luck they were even still on the wall, right at the top almost at ceiling height. So I wired them in, added them to the Denon and Audyssey tuning did the rest.
The difference is quite significant. Basically the right surround (RS) and right surround height (RSH) speaker carry the same audio channel. The Atmos metadata tells it how loud to output the sound from each speaker.
So imagine 100% of audio coming out of RS which is a helicopter noise. Then it can shift the balance towards 100% output from RSH and zero from RS and the helicopter moves upwards.
If you're used to having surround speakers close to your ear, you might be familiar with certain effects blasting down your eardrum. It can be fun but also distracting. Atmos seems to reduce this because half the audio may come from the height speaker which isn't so close. Even on non-Atmos sources, you can upmix the surround audio to emulate Atmos effects and give a more surround feel from the surround speakers.
I never planned to use Atmos but I tried it and I like it. You don't need the Atmos speakers to be the same as all the others, or even full range, you just need something on or near the ceiling outputting sound in the right direction. Audyssey tuning will do the rest, it tests the range and output of every speaker in turn and will tune and balance accordingly. It's really rather good.
Hope that helps.
Onkyo do a sub £600 full package which I've had my eye on.
petertyson.co.uk/ind…wcB
hotukdeals.com/dea…088
I'm really happy with it.