Should I sell my Integrated reference amp- Marantz PM-17 for a replacement AVR

Thanks for the suggestion guys
Think I'll choose option A for now
Will very likely be getting a HK AVR354 for now

way to go. keep the integrated. wake up the neighbours

Shux! Here I was making my sinister plans to lure you into selling your PM17 to me LOL. That was one mistake I did long time back – sell off my CD/PM17 combo. Still regret it.

Anyways, good decision mate!

just a note to all fellow members that may think of selling off parts of their music system. pl remember that the loudest sounding unit in your home shouldnt be the lady of the house...... when you want to escape from it all TURN UP THE VOLUME

where are you buying it from? I've read forums about several issues with this unit. Seemingly they can be fixed by firmware upgrade, but I am not sure if h/w needs replacement too.

Why is it that the upscaling system included with any LCD/Plasma seems to be inferior to that included with AVRs/DVD players? On a purely functional basis, shouldn't the TVs have much better chips since their only job is to display good video? As opposed to AVRs which do surround sound, video and a myriad other functions?

I would think leaders like Sony, Pioneer, Panasonic would be doing substantial R&D in what they put into their upscaling chips...and it's not like the TVs are cheap compared to AVRs so cost does not seem to be a clinching factor. What am I missing?

Venkat,
Would you happen to have the description/model no. handy? I would be very keen to audition an A'V'R that just does the surround sound job well...haven't found one yet except at very high prices (Arcam, Primare) .

Thanks,
Ajinkya.

Ajinkya:

This needs to be confirmed by someone else.

But based upon my reading of some reviews and looking at the specs, none of Marantz's new models from SR4003 to SR8002 have any upscaling engine. When I say upscaling I mean taking any video input through any input methodology (such as 480i, 480p, 720i,...... through composite, S-Video, or component) and upscaling them to 1080p for output through HDMI.

The SR 4003 has just HDMI Switching and Repeating. In other words it is will simply pass any signal it gets in its original form. You can switch a composite/S-Video to component, and a composite /S-video/component to HDMI.

The SR5003 and SR5003 both support what Marantz calls, '10 bit video convertor'. This will take all inputs through any source and allow you to output them though the HDMI for a TV that has either an interlacing engine or a progressive engine.

The SR 7002 and 8002 support 'upconversion (with TBC) to HDMI and 480i/480p convertor'. Here a 480i signal that is received through a composite or component socket is upconverted to 480P and output through the HDMI socket. All other signals are just passed though. TBC refers to Time Based Convertor, whatever that means.

This is my understanding. I could be wrong. It will be nice if someone confirms this.

Cheers

Hi Venkat :

You are absolutely right regarding up conversion of Marantz models. In the SR8002, which I have, from the manual it is clear about I/P conversion, though have not used this feature as yet. Not clear about the TBC as it is nowhere mentioned.

What you are saying makes very simple common sense. But the custom in the industry is different. There are two major factors that affect the industry. One is cost, and the other is core competence.

TVs are manufactured to display the image with the quality it is received in, without too much modification to the input data. They do basic up-conversion or down-conversion to fit their native resolution, and to de-interlace a interlaced image to progressive image. As technologies improved, the TV manufacturers have focussed on improving their display mechanism, and the bulk of the R&D and investment is on display systems and the electronics needed to drive that. Everything else have been left for outside processing. This way they keep their costs low, and also specialise on what they are good at - making sexy TVs.

Originally the upscaling tasks were left to the specialist who were always one step ahead in the market. These manufacturers such as Fardoudja, DVDO, Gennum, Silicon Optics introduced their own products into the market. These were very complicated technologies, and were kept out of being a part of TVs as they would make the TVs too expensive. Some of these products used to cost 3000 to 10,000 dollars, and were limited to the videophile market. A TV that cost 10,000 dollars would sell in very small numbers.

Again as technologies improved, and costs went down due to scale of operations, manufacturers such as Fardoudja, DVDO, Silicon Optics found their independent products to be too expensive for the market. They changed their production methodology, created LSI chips, and started working with DVD player manufacturers and AVRs makers to capture the market. Thus the task of upscaling has now been left to the AVRs and DVD Players. One reason for DVD players could because they are closer to the source and can extract the maximum data for the DVD.

I think the AVRs have introduced upscaling more to handle competition. When high definition players become common and 1080p sources also become common, all these will become moot in any case. Unless of course companies such as Fardoudja start offering technologies for upscaling to 2000p and 24fps. And, the best part is they are already working on such technologies.

Cheers