To Upgrade or Not To Upgrade - Pioneer VSX-56TXi vs. VSX-74TXVi vs. Yamaha RX-V4600

[team_canada]

My question is not about the quality of video between HDMI and Component video as the HDMI is obviously better, the question is will I notice that much of a difference. Obviously the convenience factor is there with having less wires.

I purchased the Pioneer Elite VSX-56TXi. I have never used my new receiver that I bought new in June of this year as I am finishing my HT room. It was removed from the box to have a look, that's all. This is my first Pioneer product so I am very excited. With the new releases such as the Pioneer Elite VSX-74TXVi and Yamaha RX-V4600 that has both HDMI and i-Link, I am tempted to sell the 56TXi and upgrade to either the 74TXVi or RX-V4600.

I guess the million dollar question is, is it worth it to sell just for the upgrade to HDMI. The 74TXVi and RX-V4600 have many new features that sound fantastic but there are still some mixed opinions with respect to the amp section between the 56TXi and the 74TXVi and RX-V4600. I find this very important. I use my system for 80% HT so I want the best sound quality possible.

I will be purchasing a projector this fall which I will make sure it has HDMI or DVI/HDMI conversion for the future. I would assume the better the DVD player the better the quality picture. Lets use the Pioneer DV59-AVi or Yamaha DVD-S2500 or any other high end player as an example. Will the quality through HDMI be that much better than component video that it is worth the upgrade?? Again, I will eventually be running this through a projector, 100" screen.

Sorry for being so long winded but I had to explain my situation.

Any help is appreciated.

Thanks

[okiepolkie]

Putting aside from all the biases from audio/video magazine reviews, I suggest looking at this months issue of Sound and vision. They "compare" three different players with HDMi upconversion, noting that the component and HDMi ouputs didn't look "a lot" different. The article also says the differences in player quality were shown through both outputs, distinguishing that the Panasonic had better video performance than the others.

I don't bring this up to tout Panasonic, I am just providing the illustration and a little bit of information.

Also, have you considered getting an HDMi switcher. I know these can be bought from different companies, but i am unsure of the quality. The last one I looked up had 2 inputs, 1 output and a price tag of $250(not cheap IMO).

One last thing would be to determe how far the cable run will be from your reciever/DVD/cable to the actual projector. DVI/HDMi cables tend to have signal loss problems after 15-20 ft. This isn't to say it won't be a good picture, but it may degrade itself to component video quality(if there is much of a downgrade).

[team_canada]

Thanks okiepolkie, I will check the article out. Do you know how the switchers work as well where can they be purchased? It would be 20' at the most from my gear to the projector and quite possibly alot less depending on where I set my gear up at. I have read alot of problems with HDMI at this point where it is so new. Might be a good idea to wait anyways until they get all the bugs straightened out...

[team_canada]

Does the switcher connect to the receiver?? I just checked it out. The Gefen switcher shows connecting the DVD player and HD receiver to the switcher and then a wire to the display.

[okiepolkie]

As far as I know, it bypasses the receiver and distributes the signal directly to the projector. I'm not sure if there is a way to remote control the Gefen swithcher, but to me it would be almost worthless if I couldn't control it from my seat.

Do the newer receiver have HDMi upconversion(changing everything to send it through the HDMi output), or does it just have switching?

I don't know the costs associated with the receivers you mentioned, but I wouldn't think the extra cost of upgrading would be worth the built in switcher. As I understand it right now, there are very few pieces, if any, that use the audio part of HDMi. The same article I referenced mentioned something about it, but I don't know anymore detail than that. If the receiver can accept audio(like dolby digital and DTS) through HDMi, then it may be worth the upgrade.

I'm sure the Pioneer you have now has component switching, so at the moment, I would be more inclined to keep what you have. Use the component switching/upconverting in the receiver and get the HDMi switcher(if it can be controlled remotely) to see if you can actually tell a difference between HDMi and component video.

Do the newer receiver have HDMi upconversion(changing everything to send it through the HDMi output), or does it just have switching?


Sorry this post is so unorganized. I am trying to do a couple of things at once.

[team_canada]

The Pioneer website idicates that 74TXVi has video conversion from composite and component signals to HDMI signals. Now is conversion the same as upconversion??

[okiepolkie]

yes. I guess I refer to it as up-conversion because you are supposed to be going from a lesser quality signal,composite, to a good quality signal, HDMi.

[team_canada]

None the less, I can't see there being that much of a difference in video quality for me to switch. Maybe in the future when HDMI is like S-Video or Component video, proven over time. Reviews on the 74TXi show a higher output 130 Watts with smaller a transformer (15,000uf) than compared to the 56TXi 110 Watts (27,000uf). This concerns me. Sound to me is very important, so is video but the sound must be good in order for me to really enjoy the HT experience. I can't see the 74TXi being able to continuously provide the same power to the speakers as the 56TXi as there is quite a difference between the two power supplies.

[team_canada]

Oh ys, the 74TXi is about 10lbs lighter than the 56TXi. I would think corners have been cut, a lot of corners.