Denon AVR-891

[gravitypushes]

when I bought my led 3d tv, and 3d blue ray, the sales guy sold me a pioneer elite vsx21.
of course it wasn't compatible with the hdmi 1.4 so I returned it.
oh, and here's a good story to tell the kids. so I say, "I wish you would have told me it wasn't compatible."
and he says, "this is new stuff, how are we supposed to know?" you can guess what I said next.
anyway, does anyone have an avr-891? is it just as good or better than the pioneer elite series I was going to get?
thanks.

[MrBoylan]

Denon makes very nice receivers but we have not specifically tested that model. Pioneer Elite is also announcing some new Elite models with HDMI 3D-passthrough capabilities. I will post more details about that shortly.

But first, a few questions:

• Do you want/need 7.1 or will 5.1 suffice?
• Do you want to explore the Dolby ProLogic IIz height channel or are you not interested in that?
• Do you need a second or third zone (multi-room audio)?

-CB

[gravitypushes]

1) 5.1 is fine.
2) no, not going to add extra speakers for dolby prologic iiz height
3) yes, i'd like a second zone in the future for outside.

[MrBoylan]

1) 5.1 is fine.
2) no, not going to add extra speakers for dolby prologic iiz height
3) yes, i'd like a second zone in the future for outside.

Well the new Pioneer Elite models with 3D passthrough are on the way. Here's the news:

Pioneer Unveils 4 New Elite 3D-Ready Home Theater Receivers
Both the VSX-30 and VSX-31 include powered zone 2 outputs, so if you only need 5.1 for the main set-up, then you can assign the "rear" amps to be the zone 2 powered output. Their list prices are $550 (VSX-30) and $650 (VSX-31) so either would make a fairly affordable choice.

Again, Denons are also an excellent choice, comparable in most ways to the Pioneer Elite. The AVR-891 handles powered sonze 2 the same way as the Pioneer Elites (re-assigned if you don't need it for rear surround or front height channel speakers):

Denon AVR-891 on Amazon

We're planning to review one of thw newer Denon models as soon as we can get our hands on one.

Good luck,

-CB