Could this be the Holy Grail of A/V processors?

[STV]

Seth,

I look forward to reading about this wicked processor you have picked up! Should be NICE!

Hope all is well for you out there in NM!

James,

Yes this pre/pro should be an amazing piece.

Yes all is well out here in Roadrunner country. Thanks.

 

[STV]

Here's some quick pix of the AVP and BT2500.

 

[STV]

 

[JonFo]

Seth, Way cool. Congrats!

But, that BT2500 is as plug-challenged as the AVP is endowed. The constrast between the rear shots is hilarious.

But, that's the beatuty of HDMI, and a pre like this. No need for a bazillion cables with HDMI sources.

 

[STV]

Seth, Way cool. Congrats!

But, that BT2500 is as plug-challenged as the AVP is endowed. The constrast between the rear shots is hilarious.

But, that's the beatuty of HDMI, and a pre like this. No need for a bazillion cables with HDMI sources.

Thanks Jonathan

Yeah it is pretty wild to see so many connection options on the AVP and nearly none on the BT2500. But like you said it doesn't need them when connected to the AVP, all that's needed is that magical HDMI.

I'm hoping that I will have them at least in place and ready to use by tomorrow evening. I'll be sure to put the AVP through its paces with 2 channel music, TrueHD, DTS-HD MA, and uncompressed PCM, and see what it can do with streamed FLAC and WMA Lossless.

I'll post my initial impressions over the weekend.



Seth

 

[Pcar928fan]

I'll post my initial impressions over the weekend.

Seth,

I am looking forward to reading what you think about the new set up you have. I know you really liked the old one and that is was pretty dang AWESOME! Hope this turns out even better than you expect it to be! What amps are you using? Same ones I guess.

James

 

[JonFo]

Seth,

I am looking forward to reading what you think about the new set up you have. I know you really liked the old one and that is was pretty dang AWESOME! Hope this turns out even better than you expect it to be! What amps are you using? Same ones I guess.

James

James, Seth will be AWOL for a while. I read he manual to that beast, trust me, Seth is going to be a busy boy this weekend.

And once it's up and running, he won't want to break away and type

 

[STV]

Seth,

I am looking forward to reading what you think about the new set up you have. I know you really liked the old one and that is was pretty dang AWESOME! Hope this turns out even better than you expect it to be! What amps are you using? Same ones I guess.

James

Yes I really liked the Sunfire TGIII, but as you will see from my early review, as nice as it is it doesn't even compare to what this Denon AVP sounds like. It's that good! Yes I am still using the same amps.

James, Seth will be AWOL for a while. I read he manual to that beast, trust me, Seth is going to be a busy boy this weekend.

And once it's up and running, he won't want to break away and type

Very true Jonathan, this thing is loaded. And going through most of what it can do is gonna' take a while I spent all afternoon and most of the evening unplugging power cords, interconnects, speaker cables, changing out shelfs, re-arranging AV gear etc. Whew! I haven't needed to this much in quite a while. It's a heck of a lot of work! Still have a way to go before everything is up and running. But I did get the speakers, subs, amps, Blu-ray transport and most importantly the Denon AVP-A1HDCI (which this thread is all about). And as you will see from my initial review, yes this is definitely the Holy Grail of AV processors.



Seth

 

[STV]

To get things going I set up all the speakers and subs using an SPL meter. Later on when I have a bit more time to fiddle around with the Audyssey MultEQ, then I see what it will do.

Well now for the million dollar question, does it live up to my expectations? This not only lived up to them but far exceeded them! My Sunfire TGIII was an amazing performer, but this thing is in a whole other level. The sound quality is phenomenal! It was really late last night before I got a chance to do some serious listening, so I only got to listen to various Blu-ray movies soundtracks. But after listening to what TrueHD and DTS-HD MA sound like on this thing, I am now spoiled for life!

The sound from the soundtracks encoded with these new audio formats offers a quality I have not ever experienced in my setup. All channels (5.1, 6.1, 7.1) were so clean sounding, the LFE so powerful, and directional effects so active, that it was like an audio veil was lifted. And the sound was very non-fatiguing, with not a hint of edginess or brightness, just a smooth yet very dynamic and wonderfully rich soundfield. To say that I am impressed is an understatement! This pre/pro kicks major ass!

And the PQ of the BT2500 going through the AVP using Realta is nothing short of amazing. I am still learning about all the various settings that the Realta processing has, so if it looks this good now I can only imagine how stunning it's going to look after I use more of the Realta's adjustments. And having the transport match the looks of the pre/pro is just way cool.

I am going to finish connecting all the rest of the AV gear today, and will post back with my thoughts on 2 channel, and streamed FLAC and WMA Lossless. Also will try to post some pix of the AVP/BT2500 installed. Now it's time to get back to it and get everything else connected. Just wanted to share my initial first impressions with you guys.

.....stay tuned.



Seth

 

[JonFo]

... But after listening to what TrueHD and DTS-HD MA sound like on this thing, I am now spoiled for life!

The sound from the soundtracks encoded with these new audio formats offers a quality I have not ever experienced in my setup. All channels (5.1, 6.1, 7.1) were so clean sounding, the LFE so powerful, and directional effects so active, that it was like an audio veil was lifted. And the sound was very non-fatiguing, with not a hint of edginess or brightness, just a smooth yet very dynamic and wonderfully rich soundfield. To say that I am impressed is an understatement! This pre/pro kicks major ass! ...

Hey Seth, that's great to hear.

What did you do about the supposed -5 LFE bug in the 2500?

If the pre does the decoding, it shouldn't be an issue, right?

 

[STV]

Hey Seth, that's great to hear.

What did you do about the supposed -5 LFE bug in the 2500?

If the pre does the decoding, it shouldn't be an issue, right?

The 2500 does have a slight drop in LFE, but only on uncompressed PCM. While the drop in LFE isn't extreme, I still want that extra punch, so for all uncompressed PCM I am using my Sony S300 until Denon offers a firmware fix for that. But for Dolby Digital Plus, Dolby TrueHD, DTS-HD High Resolution, and DTS-HD MA, the 2500 handles them superbly. The 2500 is one very well made transport that not only does an excellent job with Blu-ray movies, but works equally as well as a CD transport. Listening to CD's through the 2500 was amazing and equaled the sound quality of my Sony XA20ES. Now that says a lot!



Seth

 

[STV]

Here's a few pix of the two installed.

 

[FatJ]

MUST... RESIST... TEMPTATION...

MUST... OVERCOME... JOEYITIS...

DON'T... THINK... I... CAN... HOLD... OUT... MUCH... LONGER!!!

:stop::stop::stop:

 

[Statman]

You are the Man!

I can't type with one hand.......! Just kidding. Does your Denon have a balanced subwoofer out or are they all single ended? I hate you now! :bowdown:

 

[STV]

Hey Seth, that's great to hear.

What did you do about the supposed -5 LFE bug in the 2500?

If the pre does the decoding, it shouldn't be an issue, right?

Just contacted Denon tech support and asked about the -5db issue on the BT2500. Well I am very happy to report that they will be offering a fix for this sometime within the next two weeks.

 

[STV]

MUST... RESIST... TEMPTATION...

MUST... OVERCOME... JOEYITIS...

DON'T... THINK... I... CAN... HOLD... OUT... MUCH... LONGER!!!

:stop::stop::stop:

:haha1::haha1:

 

[STV]

I can't type with one hand.......! Just kidding. Does your Denon have a balanced subwoofer out or are they all single ended? I hate you now! :bowdown:

Yes it sure does have balanced subwoofer outs (3 of them).

 

[FatJ]

Yes it sure does have balanced subwoofer outs (3 of them).

Yes sir! That's 3 balanced sub outs not counting the 3 single ended sub outs!



........... it's friggin' ridiculous ...........


....... IT'S KILLING ME!!!!!

 

[FatJ]

Seth - don't hold out on us! We want to know more!!! Don't tease me

 

[STV]

Seth - don't hold out on us! We want to know more!!! Don't tease me

Sorry for being MIA Just been a busy boy getting the rest of the AV gear all connected. So all the stuff on the AV racks are now connected (with the exception of the SACD/DVD-A player). So other than that the only thing I need to do is get the music streaming up and running.

Movies on Blu-ray/HD DVD and CD music have been nothing short of phenomenal! Watched Dragonheart on HD DVD the other night and the sound (Dolby Digital Plus) was an assault on the senses. The soundfield was more dynamic than I have ever heard it before, with detailed sound cues all over the room, and LFE that was powerful yet tight. The bass from the AVP-A1HDCI is different from the bass out of the Sunfire TGIII. The TGIII bass is a bit boomier, while the AVP's bass is more defined and way more punchy and tight. I have to honestly say that I much prefer the bass from the AVP over the Sunfire.

Another thing I noticed is how much better the sound is when bitstreamed from the high def players and decoded by the Denon pre/pro, rather than decoded internally by the player. When I was using the TGIII I was only able to listen to TrueHD via the analog outs on my Toshiba XA2, and I thought it sounded great. But once I connected the XA2 via HDMI to the Denon pre/pro and listened to those same HD DVD's, the difference was huge! TrueHD through HDMI offers a wider soundfield, LFE with more impact, more detail, and more dynamics. The sound improvement is not subtle.

So now I can honestly say that internal player decoding does not sound the same as bitstreamed. IMHO bitstreamed is definitely the best way to go!

Now to the features and functions on the Denon pre/pro. The GUI on this thing is way more advanced than the cryptic menu system of past Denon products. This new look is a much welcomed improvement. And despite the complexity of this pre/pro, the GUI is very interactive and is pretty easy to navigate around. Initial setup took less than 10 minutes. Of course to get the most out of this unit one needs to delve into all the options available. But this will take a while.

So once I get the SACD/DVD-A connected, and get the music streaming going, I will report back on how they sound. If it's anything like what I've heard on this thing so far, it will be pretty awesome.

.....stay tuned.



Seth