Is it really worth an upgrade???

[DD3Kv2]

Hi, I'm a long time reader and a new member to the forums. I'm posting this question because I have a dilemma. My recent purchase for my living room has me excited, but I feel like I need to upgrade. My problem is though, is it worth it to upgrade, since I have a room that is 18'0" x 26'1" and I have 7.1 surround sound. Due to this odd room size I have my side speakers right next to my rear speakers.

I have an Onkyo HT-SR800, and I wanted to know if it were even worth it to upgrade to another receiver that gets true DTS-HD and True HD audio? Considering that getting total surround sound is difficult due to my room size.


Sorry for being completely clueless about this sort of thing but any help is appreciated.

[vooswing]

I'm not an expert but AFAIK the Samsung BDP 1200 doesn't internally decode TrueHD or DTS HD MA and I also don't think it outputs the bitstream of either codec so you wouldn't gain anything from upgrading your receiver.

[DD3Kv2]

If I upgrade the sound I will most likely upgrade the BD player to either a BD-UP5000 if it decodes DTS-HD or the BD-P1400.

[vooswing]

I just looked up the Onkyo HT-S800 and since it has HDMI I don't think you will really benefit from a new receiver. If you upgrade to a player that internally decodes Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD MA your receiver should work just as well as any other playing the HD sound.

[DD3Kv2]

Thanks for the help. I should have a better idea of what I want to do now.

[Coaler]

If i remember correctly the HT-S800 does not pass audio from the HDMI cables. I believe seperate audio connections are required for audio from an HDMI source. This is because the receiver that comes with that kit is a TX-SR505. You can see on Onkyo's page that it says a seperate audio connection is required. So if you have a player that can decode trueHD or DTS-HD-MA you will notice a difference if you go to something like a TX-SR605 or if your player has 5.1 analog outs. If your player cant decode the high def tracks there is no point in upgrading. If it can than going to a TX-SR605 would see a benifit.