Upgrading System

[Snpbond]

Hey all, I am a bit confused at all of this audio stuff, I have tried to research it as much as I can and this is what I am thinking.

Right now I have an old Sony system (HT-DDW670), which is a 5.1 system with a reciever. Now I am wanting to upgrade to a newer system to utilize the PCM audio. My questions are:

1) If I were to upgrade my reciever to a new sony one (the new ones that are coming out this year such as the STR-DG820), could I still use my current speakers (6ohms, and as far as I can tell are 100 watt speakers, the current reciever outputs 100 watts per channel). The new recievers output 110 watts I think, and have 8ohms output but can be changed to 4 ohms I think, would thatsupport my current speakers?

If I went this way I would eventually buy new speakers so I could have 5.1, but Im on a budget.

Next,

2) I see on sony's site right now that certain recievers do Linear PCM but not all do the Dolby Digital True HD or DTS-HD, whats the main difference? Do I need to get the ones that do DTS-HD?

3) What recievers would you recommend, I've looked at Onkyo's and Yamaha's but I would need new speakers and I'm on a tight budget being 17 going on 18 years old

Thanks for the answers


--Edit--
I dont know if its relevent but I use a PS3 for my blu ray watching, I've read that it converts everything to PCM anyways..

[Slec]

What type of budget are you on? You could get the onkyo 605 and 540 speaker set for around $600+/-.

Dolby and DTS are rival sound processors. They essentially do the same thing, but in their own proprietary way. Although the PS3 does decode TrueHD (and DTSHD-MA soon) I would recommend getting a receiver that does both. That way in the future you are no limited if you get a stand alone player

[crackinhedz]

Originally Posted by Snpbond664054

[;B]1)[/B] If I were to upgrade my reciever to a new sony one (the new ones that are coming out this year such as the STR-DG820), could I still use my current speakers (6ohms, and as far as I can tell are 100 watt speakers, the current reciever outputs 100 watts per channel). The new recievers output 110 watts I think, and have 8ohms output but can be changed to 4 ohms I think, would thatsupport my current speakers?

your speakers will be fine.

2) I see on sony's site right now that certain recievers do Linear PCM but not all do the Dolby Digital True HD or DTS-HD, whats the main difference? Do I need to get the ones that do DTS-HD?

There is not a whole lot of difference, the main difference is if your Bluray player does the decoding or not. The PS3 internally decodes, so you could even go with an older model HDMI receiver that utilizes multichannel PCM audio. (ex Sony str-dg810,910...)

3) What recievers would you recommend, I've looked at Onkyo's and Yamaha's but I would need new speakers and I'm on a tight budget being 17 going on 18 years old

Yamahas look to use better DAC's...but as far as real difference, not much...for a college kid, cheaper may be better in your situation.


...and if you havent already, buy your HDMI cables here:

Monoprice.com

[Snpbond]

Sounds good, my budget is about $500 give or take, I also need to get a media pc and some other stuff. I'll read up a little more on the sony recievers and what one I might be interested in.

And about the HDMI cables, of course I got em there Thanks for the tip though.