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Best Sounding HT Receiver <$1500

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Greetings All-
I'm moving my two-channel system to HT and would be interested in your recommendations for a musical & dynamic HT receiver under $1500. I'll be mating the receiver with a Plinius 8200mkII integrated amp, Tyler Acoustic monitors, and a ModWright modded DV-37. I'd like to continue to use the Plinius to power the mains and use the receiver for the other three channels and processing functions.
Thanks for your help/cbd

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Re: Best Sounding HT Receiver <$1500 - chuckoftahoe 17:26:29 04/14/03 (0)
I'm running a Kenwood VR 5700 and am very pleased with the sound and the simplicity of the system. I can actually control every device with the Kenwood remote which is definitely a first for me. Though Kenwood is not a fashionalbe name around these parts, the sound is very good and the unit has some nice features like a cooling fan and midnight theater and a ton of pre-programmed listening modes.
I got the unit for just under $1,000.00.
I've also heard that Marantz is making some good A/V gear right now.
As for the channels, I would recommend you definitely make sure to get a system that can decode the new six channel formats. Even thouse few movies are made with these back channels, it may become more common. Not necessarily have 6 channels of driven power but at least have the decoding ability and the pre-outs.
The Kenwood 5700 drives the main left and right, center, and surround left and right. I'm using a AMC 2100 amp to drive my back surround from the pre-out, and have a Velodyne SPL 1200 hooked directly into the SW pre-out. I'm using KEF Q series for all of the other speakers aside from the Velodyne SW. It sound great.
Good luck with your system.
Rotel RSX-1055 - bondmanp 10:37:52 04/04/03 (0)
List price is ~ $1200. Fairly complete, up to date feature set, and IMHO, sonics way better than mass market A/V receivers in this price range. For $1500, you could also pick up the Outlaw pre/pro ($900) and a respectable 3-channel amp for the other channels, like a Rotel RMB-1066 (which is rated at 150 watts X 3 in bridged mode and lists for about $700). You could also pick up a decent 3-channel amp used for $600 or less. This option will open up an easier upgrade path.
Re: Best Sounding HT Receiver <$1500 - williak 10:18:01 04/04/03 (2)
How heavy are you going into HT? 6.1/7.1 audio? High-def? Many video sources to switch? Video sources of differing connection type? What about AV recording? You have to know where you're going to figure out how to get there.
Austin
- Re: Best Sounding HT Receiver <$1500 - cbd0815 11:24:58 04/04/03 (1)
  Great questions. The first objective is surround sound for movies. I really don't want to invest in more than five speakers (four if I can get away with passing on a center channel). So I guess I'm looking at 5.1 format, right? My usage balance remains 60% two-channel music and the rest movies on DVD. The next capability I'd like to add would be multichannel audio (SACD).
  From a video perspective, I'm dumping a Sony 40" direct view XBR and moving to a Panny 50" plasma. I will probably use an outboard processor and I'm not sure about video switching in the video processor versus the HT processor. My sources will be DirecTV, DVD, and Xbox. Finally, I'd like to record HiDef but I think it might be a bit premature to take that on...
  - Re: Best Sounding HT Receiver <$1500 - williak 14:12:37 04/04/03 (0)
    Best advice I can give is to punt on the integrated HT, multichannel hirez, 2-channel dream at the current moment. There is simply NOTHING on the market that makes a reasonable compromise between the conflicting demands of these various sources. That said, there are many things in the works that will have huge effects on A/V setups in the very near future. So, for the immediate future, I would recommend segmenting your system to provide decent performance in the short term with a view to dumping your components in the midterm once the new products come on the market.
    Specifically, you're looking at DVI/HDCP morphing into HDMI on the high-def video front. If your Panny doesn't have DVI, DON'T BUY IT! Note that HDMI will be backward compatible with DVI, so you're all set with a DVI/HDCP video connection. The DBS folk are rapidly moving to DVI-enabled HD receivers and PVRs (next generation if they don't go broke ). Next generation A/V receivers will support DVI/HDCP (HDMI) switching thereby obsoleting the present day component video switching. The HD revolution is well underway wrt broadcast, cable and DBS. The upcoming HD-DVD will complete this massive change while remaining backward compatible with existing DVD video formats.
    On the multichannel hirez front, standardized digital connections are in the works (the first ones are already on the market). 1394 iLink looks to be the interface of choice for upcoming hirez products. It IS possible, but unlikely IMO that HDMI could also serve this purpose. This interface deals with the jitter, interconnect, bass management and copy protection issues associated with hirez in one simple, elegant and CHEAP solution. $300 carousels for all audio formats with PERFECT bitstreams to the processors is around the corner. Note this includes 2-channel digital sources as well.
    So what to do right now? Minimize the waste! Don't spend big bucks on equipment with short legs. Speakers, amps, video displays and software are good bets. Pre/pros, receivers, players and bass managers are bad bets. If you need a certain functionality to support your sources, buy the minimum necessary that implements it. Any more spent above the minimum will be wasted.
    To be continued...
    Austin

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