Is My Kenwood VR-209 AV Receiver Too Old?

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By: Anonymous

Do I need to upgrade my AV receiver to a new model?

I currently have a Kenwood AV surround receiver VR-209 but am thinking about buying a newer receiver.


Comments for Is My Kenwood VR-209 AV Receiver Too Old:

Hi

Well, it depends on what you want to use it for.

Many people use older equipment quite happily for many years. There is really only a need to upgrade if you want to do something that your current equipment can’t handle.

A quick look at the manual for your Kenwood VR209 shows me it supports 5.1 surround sound – and has optical/coaxial digital audio inputs.

Therefore, for example, if you want 7.1 surround sound then you will have to upgrade. Also, uncompressed HD audio soundtracks from a Blu-ray player will be out because you don’t have HDMI or analog 5.1 inputs (as far as I can see).

However, standard 5.1 over optical still sounds pretty good, so you could still use this.

So the answer is, what do want to be able to do? Once you know this, then you will see if your existing equipment will handle it.

The links below will give you much more information on the new audio codecs and a guide to HDMI connections.

All the best.

Paul (Site Editor)

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Dolby AC-3, LPCM and DTS 5.1 – Blu-ray Audio Codecs Explained

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About The Author

Paul started the Home Cinema Guide to help less-experienced users get the most out of today's audio-visual technology. He has been a sound, lighting and audio-visual engineer for around 20 years. At home, he has spent more time than is probably healthy installing, configuring, testing, de-rigging, fixing, tweaking, re-installing again (and sometimes using) various pieces of hi-fi and home cinema equipment. You can find out more here.

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