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I don't think you can go wrong with any of them, but unless you're planning on running some huge speakers or really committed to a multi room setup the 3300 is the best value. The 3300-5300 seemed to have the best video options, and sound performance was comparable accross the brands. I run my setup in a very large room, the 3300 can blast sound and I have not noticed any distortion at high volumes.Also, I have an older generation xbox 360 without an HDMI output. I love the on screen menu, the sound is great, and it has all the connectivity and functions that I needed for my gear. Go into the PS3 settings, make sure audio is passed over HDMI, then manually select the PCM 5.1 and 7.1 audio formats at 48khz. I bought this unit for 574 delivered.If you have the following items you will want this recievera PS3 or blu ray playera TV that has an HDMI input, preferably 1080pI've read up on a lot of the connectivity issues on this unit prior to purchase. I think there is a lot of confusion regarding the new hd sound formats. If you have done this correctly the blue light on the from center of the reciever will turn on and the screen will show that multi channel PCM is running at 48khz.
So spending the extra cash to get on board dolby true hd and dts hd decoders is pointless. Once the price on the 3300 got into the 500 range I decided to pull the trigger. This reciever will accept a 1080p input through component cables and pass to the TV as 1080p over HDMI. This is a great product and I would highly recommend it.setupstr da3300es, polk audio RTI series speakers, JBL 12" 500 watt sub, Sony 50" LCOS SXRD TV 1080p, XBOX 360 with HD-DVD, PS3, and a Wii. I was on the fence between a Pioneer, Yamaha, Onkyo and this Sony unit. Here is the deal, the PS3 and most other blu ray players cannot pass a raw hd bitstream signal to the reciver for decoding, but it can decode the signal itself and pass it over hdmi in multi channel format. I replaced an older Yamaha natural sound reciever that I have had over 7 years, it still works wonderfully and I am looking forward to moving it down into the man room in my basement. I hope I can provide some help to individuals reading this post.To get True HD, or DTS master audio from the PS3 you need to do the following.Run audio from the PS3 to the receiver over HDMI.
Good news if you are in the same boat as me. If you're using the PS3 for a blu ray player it doesn't matter if you buy the 3300 4300 or 5300 because the PS3 is going to decode and send the signal as uncompressed pcm. To test, put in a Blu ray disc, go into the audio menu of the movie and select one of the new HD formats or PCM uncompressed. Your ears get the same sound either way.What this means to you.
It is a great product and I would recomend it and would buy it again if the need arose. It was a breeze to set up and has worked flawlessly. I purchased this through Amazon and could not have been happier. The product was delivered promptly and in good condition.
Now I can just use the graphical UI on screen to select the input I want, and it just works. A myriad of input connections.
A beautiful on-screen GUI. No changing the input on my TV ever again.
This receiver is a HUGE upgrade from my older Sony ES receiver (pre-hdmi), and is worlds better.I loved my old receiver, but it was heavier, ran hotter, had no GUI to speak of, and didn't do video signal upconversion, which meant that changing from my older s-video DVD player to my satelite provider required an input change on the TV as well. One HDMI cable from my receiver to my TV.
This is a great receiver. NO LONGER.
One small remote (the unit comes with a comprehensive universal remote and a smaller, input + volume type remote, which I use) to do just about everything.I could not be happier.
I couldn't be happier with mine. Don't give a product 1 Star if your equipment is outdated and don't understand how it's supposed to be connected. Ditto. This is an awesome receiver with an exceptional GUI. The reviewer must be mistaken, the receiver will pass all digital audio thru the HDMI out (except Analog, and who uses analog sources on a digital AVR) and a HDMI-DVI cable doesn't carry the audio because DVI is video only.
If I had to guess, I would say that since I am using an hdmi to dvi cable to my TV (my 2003 TV predates hdmi), that the receiver has some overprotective copy-protection that would not allow audio to play. Denon worked right out the box where the Sony would not. So I swapped it (again) for a Denon.
Sounds great, right. After literally hours of setting changes, cable swaps, and calls to customer service, no solution was found. I purchased a Sony 3300 es to compliment my Sony PS3 and Sony 60" Grand Wega television.
So I swapped it for another one, and had the same problem. Spend your money elsewhere. Wrong.
The receiver was unable to pass audio (kind of important) through the PS3 hdmi cable.
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