Older Onkyo HT Receiver - time to upgrade?


My brother has an older model, the TX-SR800, and he has the ability to trade it in for a refurbished newer model. From what I can gather the older model was well reviewed for its audio capabilities as well as video capabilities. Since it's a number of years old, are there new video/sound technologies that will make it mandatory for him to get a newer model e.g. Dolby True HD, DTS-HD MA decoding, etc. etc.

Heck I don't even know what some of this decoding stuff is but I figured I'd ask you experts to get an opinion of what he should do.

Thanks for the help.
glrtrgi
Depending on which model it is, the newer model will offer a great deal of convenience when applying these modern codecs to a variety of sources as well as the convenience of HDMI cable connectivity. The surround experience can be greatly refined if this refurbished unit has room correction which IMO is one of the biggest reasons to upgrade.
Your brother does not have to upgrade to an HDMI receiver but if he would like the conveniences of it, then that is what I suggest he do.

If he wants to keep his current receiver, he can take advantage of TrueHD and DTS-MA by connecting multichannel analog cables from his BD player(that has multichannel outs) to the multichannel imputs on his TX-SR800. The decoding of those signals take place in the BD player instead of the receiver.

Bill