JVi

Sort by: Most helpful • Newest • Most positive

Sony Playstation 3

ProSCORE

100

negative

mixed

positive

13 pros

0 cons

trusted

love it

have it

2 out of 3 people found this review helpful

Review date: January 17, 2008

Onkyo TX-SR875

ProSCORE

negative

mixed

positive

7 pros

1 con

have it

love it

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful

Review date: December 11, 2007

Yamaha RX-V3800

ProSCORE

negative

mixed

positive

3 pros

1 con

Review date: December 6, 2007

Sony STR-DA5300ES

ProSCORE

negative

mixed

positive

7 pros

1 con

Review date: December 5, 2007

JVi updated 2 products

Updated Sony Playstation 3

January 17, 2008 at 9:59 pm

Tapped as "have it"

Tapped as "love it"

Agreed: "Very solid hardware reliability"

Agreed: "GREAT games such as Calling All Cars available on Playstation Network exclusviely for the PS3."

Agreed: "Free downloads of enjoyable demos, and add-ons"

Updated Onkyo TX-SR875

January 17, 2008 at 9:47 pm

Tapped as "love it"

JVi updated 2 products

Updated Onkyo TX-SR875

January 4, 2008 at 11:35 pm

Disagreed: "Problems with HDMI handshaking with some video sources"

Updated Integra DTR-8.8

January 4, 2008 at 11:29 pm

Chose Integra DTR-8.8 over Denon AVR-4308CI

JVi updated 2 products

Updated Onkyo TX-NR905

December 14, 2007 at 10:08 am

Chose Onkyo TX-NR905 over Denon AVR-4308CI

Updated Onkyo TX-SR875

December 14, 2007 at 10:05 am

Disagreed: "No tweaking of the REON processor except to disable xvYCC"

JVi commented on Onkyo TX-SR875

December 14, 2007 at 10:07 am

Edited a comment

"Full tweking of the Reon HQV is now available with the latest firmware v 1.04 which is now shipped as standard for the 875. For the 905, the same firmware is given version number 1.05 but they both addressed the same issues."

JVi updated Onkyo TX-SR875

December 11, 2007 at 11:15 am

Tapped as "have it"

Agreed: "No network connection"

Disagreed: "OSD is only 480p"

Agreed: "THX Ultra 2 certified"

Agreed: "HQV processing!"

JVi commented on Yamaha RX-Z11

December 7, 2007 at 5:33 pm

Edited a comment

"The Anchor Bay Technologies ABT1010 processor for video scaling is AOK. Read the comments for the Yamaha RX-V3800 which also uses this scaler. http://www.productwiki.com/yamaha-rx-v3800/"

JVi updated Yamaha RX-Z11

December 7, 2007 at 5:30 pm

Disagreed: "Unproven Anchor Bay Technologies ABT1010 processor"

JVi updated 2 products

Updated Denon AVR-4308CI

December 7, 2007 at 8:21 am

Chose Denon AVR-4308CI over Yamaha RX-V3800

Updated Yamaha RX-V3800

December 7, 2007 at 8:19 am

Chose Yamaha RX-V3800 over Marantz SR7002

Chose Yamaha RX-V3800 over Pioneer Elite VSX-94TXH

Chose Yamaha RX-V3800 over Denon AVR-3808CI

JVi updated 2 products

Updated Sony STR-DA5300ES

December 6, 2007 at 11:13 pm

Disagreed: "No network streaming functionality"

Chose Sony STR-DA5300ES over Denon AVR-3808CI

Chose Sony STR-DA5300ES over Marantz SR7002

Chose Sony STR-DA5300ES over Yamaha RX-V3800

Chose Sony STR-DA5300ES over Pioneer Elite VSX-94TXH

Updated Yamaha RX-V3800

December 6, 2007 at 10:18 pm

Agreed: "No HDMI-to-HDMI upscaling"

Agreed: "Upscales SD sources to 1080p"

Agreed: "LAN-connected - can stream MP3, WMA, WAV"

Agreed: "4 HDMI 1.3a inputs"

JVi commented on 2 items

Commented on Sony STR-DA5300ES

December 6, 2007 at 11:13 pm

"The Con about no network streaming capability is not going to fly. http://www.avforums.com/forums/showpost.php?p=5958145&postcount=4 "Sony STR-DA5300ES - Only receiver in this class not to have an Ethernet Port But it does have a DM Port, via which you can add a TDMNC1 WiFi adaptor (801.11b/g), which has DNLA functionality, meaning it can rip music straight from Windows more

Commented on Yamaha RX-V3800

December 6, 2007 at 10:18 pm

Edited a comment

"The Con concerning the Anchor Bay Technologies ABT scaler is a non-issue given the results of a Dec. 5, 2007 review by Ultimate AVMag.com with the following excerpt found at this link: http://www.ultimateavmag.com/avreceivers/1107yam3800/ " ran a final battery of video tests on the V3800 to dtermine how well it deinterlaces. I used my legacy Sony S-7700 DVD player to output a 480i signal over component and allowed the Yamaha to upconvert the signals to 1080p. Using the torture tests from the HQV Benchmark disc from Silicon Optix, the video processing provided outstanding results. The first two jaggies tests were more than acceptable, the Anchor Bay chip was able to quickly lock on to 3:2 pulldown in the racecar sequence on the test disc and it passed the cadence tests with flying colors. Finally, I used some "real world" material and popped in Gladiator and proceeded to the Chapter 12 coliseum fly-over sequence, which showed no letdown in performance. " Compare this to the review of the Onkyo Tx-SR875 by the same institute dated Sept. 06, 2007. Excerpts are as shown below taken from this link: http://www.ultimateavmag.com/avreceivers/907onk875/ "But there is one characteristic of the Onkyo's video processing and switching, even in the Through mode, that I can live without. The processor altered both the black and white level of the signal passing through it compared to a direct feed from the source to the projector. This appears to do no irretrievable damage to the signal—it did not clip either white or black—but does require a significant readjustment of the display's brightness and contrast controls to bring the setup back into line. In its scaling and deinterlacing performance, the Onkyo did a good job processing the test patterns on the HQV Benchmark test DVD (tests conducted using HDMI). It fell down only on the first Jaggies test in the 480i to 720p upconversion, where it displayed slight jagged edges when the rotating line in the test was vertical, a very unusual failure mode. But the problem was subtle, and both jaggies tests were excellent when upconverted from 480i to 1080p. The processor was a bit slow to capture 3/2 pulldown in both upconverted resolutions. But even though it lacks a manually selectable film mode, the processing performed well on both the 3:2 (film) and 2:2 (video) cadence tests. ... Using the HD HQV Benchmark high-definition Blu-ray test disc, the processor properly deinterlaced a 1080i source to 1080p, but did not compensate for 3/2 pulldown. ... But this will not always be convenient, particularly with an HD DVD or Blu-ray player that can play discs with various resolutions. Some such players do not offer a "native" option but require that you switch manually between, say, 480i and 1080p. With such a player you may have to experiment with different settings to find the combination of performance and convenience that suits you best. Also, many players do not offer 480i over HDMI. In that case, all bets are off and you will need to check other settings, though 480p from the player is a good place to start. With the Samsung BD-P1200 player and the Sony VPL-AW15 720p LCD projector, for example, 480p from the player and 720p from the Onkyo's processor produced a sharper image than any other combination I tried. The Onkyo's video circuits will also pass 1080p/24 HD sources when set for either a 1080p output or in Through mode. ... When I cross converted a 480i component input into a 1080p HDMI output from the Onkyo there was a slight but noticeable loss of resolution. The THX recommendation (printed in the owner's manual) is to avoid cross conversion if you want to prevent any degradation. It's a valid position, but for average quality component sources, it's worth trying if you need the convenience of a single connection to your display. But keep in mind that a single connection from the receiver to the display eliminates the option to make separate video adjustments for each source—a feature now offered on many video displays. There are no video controls on the Onkyo. " So, taking the good with the bad, one can get great performance from the Anchor Bay Technologies ABT1010 chip as well as with the Faroudja chip found in the Sony's and Denons. The hype surrounding the Onkyo's use of the Reon HQV chip is just that, hype. " more

JVi updated Yamaha RX-V3800

December 6, 2007 at 12:31 am

Disagreed: "Uses unproven Anchor Bay Technologies ABT1010 scaler instead of Faroudja or HQV"

JVi updated Sony STR-DA5300ES

December 5, 2007 at 6:25 pm

Disagreed: "More expensive than the Yamaha and Onkyo competition by $100"

JVi updated Sony STR-DA5300ES

December 5, 2007 at 1:20 pm

Disagreed: "Less output power than its competitors (120W vs 140W)"

Agreed: "Doesn't upscale lower resolution HDMI sources to 1080p"

Agreed: "Supports Sony's Digital Media Port (DMP) to connect compatible devices (iPod, WiFi, Walkman, Bluetooth)"

Agreed: "Good audio and video quality"

Agreed: "Upscales all video sources (except HDMI) to 1080p on its HDMI output"

JVi commented on 2 items

Commented on Denon AVR-3808CI

December 5, 2007 at 12:38 pm

Edited a comment

"One pro review @ CNET mentions that when HDMI to HDMI upscaling is set with the 3808CI to scale from 1080i to 1080p the results are not very good. Any comments?"

Commented on Onkyo TX-SR875

December 5, 2007 at 12:23 pm

"In the Pros and Cons section, a note was made above with "Problems with HDMI handshaking with some video sources" with several agreeing. Can anyone comment on these issues?"