My apologies if this has been discussed ad nauseum but here goes...

I'm convinced now that my DD 5.1 setup needs an upgrade to DTS. I already have a DVD player that does DTS pass-through (doesn't everyone?), but my question is how to upgrade my receiver. Can I buy/is it worth getting an "add-on" DTS decoder, and if so, what do you all recommend? Or is it just as cheap to replace my receiver (Sony STR-825) with one with the decoder built-in?

Thanks for the advice.

You may be better off getting a new reciever, but that all depends on your reciever. If it's a higher end reciever, you may want to get something like this.

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Like everything in life, it depends. If you have a very good DD receiver with 6 channel inputs, then it would be worth upgrading with a DTS decoder.

If your receiver is more than three years old, there's a good chance that most $500 receivers will be able to outperform it. The DSP chips have dropped significantly in price in recent years, and there overall quality has only gotten better.

$300 = technisc AC-500 dd/dts decoder or any number of good quality budget receivers that will do just about anything you need.

$500 will buy you high end stuff, at this price point you should be able to pick up some thx select equipment for a "realistic" home theater experience. I would also recommend looking into the Outlaw 1050 receiver, it has dd/dts 6.1 sound plus preamp outputs for a bigger amp and inputs for future decoders (DVD-Audio!).

Check out www.audioreview.com for reviews on diffrent models, and try posting there for further advise.

[QUOTE]Originally posted by daledude:
$300 = technisc AC-500 dd/dts decoder or any number of good quality budget receivers that will do just about anything you need.


This decoder is very good is both DD and DTS...I have a high end Yamaha DD decoder and the Technics AC-500 competes very well in decoding capability. You can buy these brand new off ebay for about $200 depending on the bidding...just watch who you are buying from and do not mistakenly bid on the older model AC-300 which was a piece of crap!!!

So my receiver is a year-old Sony STR-825, which I paid about $400 for. For the $300 it would cost me to buy a DTS decoder, would I get a DTS-decoding receiver of equal or higher quality than my Sony? If so, what receiver would you recommend?

If you look around on the net you can find the sony str db830 for a little over 300 bucks. It has gotten good reviews

One thing I forgot to mention earlier is that Toshiba has a five disc dvd changer with built in DD/DTS decoders for about $400. I've never actually seen it so I can't really comment on performance, but it would be a good overall upgrade.

As far as receivers I've never really liked sony receivers and so I'm a little biased. In the $300 range you could get a Pioneer 509, Onkyo 474 (newer models have DTS, refurbished 575's can be found for $300), and the Sony DB series has many fans.

The only receiver I would advise to avoid is the Kenwood. On older models they use to put the amp section underneath the DSP circuits. Heat kills computer chips. I'm not sure about newer designs though.