What is the best Home theater Receiver?

[Shane1]

What are your recommendations on a great home theater receiver. I wanted one that I coudl network with my home computer so I can stream music.

[TruE SkiLLS]

there is no best... it can depend on what you pair it up and and your taste / wants.

[clboy]

Give us a budget, I'm happy with my Denon 3808 CI, which allows streaming of music. Although I wouldn't say it's anywhere newar the "Best" Receiver but it gets the job done.

[BlackEagle]

I am happy with my new Yamaha, Reg $1,400 got it for $700 on Boxing day.

[Shane1]

There is no budget.
If you could buy your dream home theatre reciever, what would it be?

[rcjeff]

Pioneer Elite SC-09TX

[BRAISKI]

Denon AVR-5308CI

[tjayl]

If you actually have no budget limit, then there's no way you should go integrated.

Go with separates (Pre Amp, Power Amp, Processor) from Rotel or Classe or Bryston etc etc.

[jjtsl]

If you actually have no budget limit, then there's no way you should go integrated.

Go with separates (Pre Amp, Power Amp, Processor) from Rotel or Classe or Bryston etc etc.

+1.

It's nice to not worry about a budget :) Separates can easily run you into five figures and beyond. Go to one of the hifi specialty stores such as Bay-Bloor Radio, and they'll help you blow through your $ in a hurry.

[Jaytee]

I have a Denon 3806 and I like it a lot. I would get another Denon in a second.

That said, if I could get any receiver I would probably get a Arcam AVR600.

http://www.arcam.co.uk/prod_fmj_AVR600_intro.cfm

http://www.arcam.co.uk/images/AVR600-front-flat.jpg

But as tjayl said, if money isnt an object, separates are the only way to go.

[CSAgent]

Best Home Theatre? I would have to say whatever George Lucas has at his Skywalker Ranch.

Like everyone said, it's up to you. This question is like asking, "What's the best car out there?" There's no one answer as it varies with tastes and the environment you are in or have. You don't take a Porsche 911 to a rally course and vice versa.

[tjayl]

Best Home Theatre? I would have to say whatever George Lucas has at his Skywalker Ranch.



Or this guy's $6,000,000 theater!
http://www.geekologie.com/2008/02/6_million_home_theater_makes_m.php Why have one amp when you could have 36! :)

[selpats]

What are your recommendations on a great home theater receiver. I wanted one that I coudl network with my home computer so I can stream music.

So are we actually talking about the best or "the best" within a budget? :confused:

[CSAgent]

Or this guy's $6,000,000 theater!
http://www.geekologie.com/2008/02/6_million_home_theater_makes_m.php Why have one amp when you could have 36! :)

.....holy @#$#@! Suck me sideways! But can it blow a girls clothes off though? :lol:

I just used two movie quote references in my response..anyone know where they're from?

[terrybear]

Or this guy's $6,000,000 theater!
http://www.geekologie.com/2008/02/6_million_home_theater_makes_m.php Why have one amp when you could have 36! :)

There is the absolute BEST in the list of that equipment:
McIntosh MC-2102 Stereo Vacuum Tube Amplifiers

And to think the guy is running 30 of them !!!!!! :eek::-0:cheesygri

[Jon Lai]

+1.

It's nice to not worry about a budget :) Separates can easily run you into five figures and beyond. Go to one of the hifi specialty stores such as Bay-Bloor Radio, and they'll help you blow through your $ in a hurry.

+2

Separates is the way to go. Then for added effects, go for a set of equipment for each speaker. You can also start adding individual subwoofers for every seat in the house, or even corner of the room for balance. Have separate sets of equipment powering each of these subs as well.

The possibilities are endless.

[zzz3]

There is the absolute BEST in the list of that equipment:
McIntosh MC-2102 Stereo Vacuum Tube Amplifiers

And to think the guy is running 30 of them !!!!!! :eek::-0:cheesygri

*head explodes*

[mart242]

I am happy with my new Yamaha, Reg $1,400 got it for $700 on Boxing day.

I almost bought it.. but it doesn't do HDMI blacker than black or whiter than white :mad: Not really good for PS3 or HTPC down the road

[Jaytee]

I almost bought it.. but it doesn't do HDMI blacker than black or whiter than white :mad: Not really good for PS3 or HTPC down the road

Doesn't it just pass through the video to the TV? I would assume it wouldnt do any video processing at all.

[mart242]

Doesn't it just pass through the video to the TV? I would assume it wouldnt do any video processing at all.

On the HDMI interface, if the signal is a blacker than black value (<16 or something like that out of 256), it will bring the value to 16 (or whatever it is). If it's greater than 237 (or whatever the max value is before reaching the whiter than white), it will bring it down to 237.

Yamaha has fixed that on the new models.

Here's what it looks like with some movies:
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showpost.php?p=13682805&postcount=70

[Shane1]

Ok I never realized that this question was soooo complicated.
Given a budget of under $2000 what receiver would you get.
ideally it should be able to be networked to my computer to stream music etc. Also able to hook up to PS3 adn obviusly have adequate HDMI connections.
Thanks again.

[tjayl]

Ok I never realized that this question was soooo complicated.
Given a budget of under $2000 what receiver would you get.
ideally it should be able to be networked to my computer to stream music etc. Also able to hook up to PS3 adn obviusly have adequate HDMI connections.
Thanks again.

I would head to a boutique hi-fi store, tell them what you have to spend, and see what they have in high end integrated receivers. You probably won't get into any super high end stuff, but you'll get a heck of a receiver from Denon, Onyko, etc etc etc.

Amps make a surprising difference in how speakers sound. I have some good sounding speakers in my theater from a Canadian manufacturer that doesn't exisit any more. I paid very little for them from a friend. They sound good with my entry level Denon AVR-1603, but sound amazing with my brother's Rotel separates.
Same goes with my hi-fi set up. Some amazing little Mordaunt Shortt speakers that sound great with my Cambridge Audio 2 channel amp. When I did a side by side, again with my brother's gear, they became really unbelievable.

As far as streaming, I'd pick up a Slim Devices Squeezebox. It's seamless for streaming music and accepts all sorts of formats from compressed (MP3) to lossless (FLAC). Plus the user interface is second to none.

[Jon Lai]

Ok I never realized that this question was soooo complicated.
Given a budget of under $2000 what receiver would you get.
ideally it should be able to be networked to my computer to stream music etc. Also able to hook up to PS3 adn obviusly have adequate HDMI connections.
Thanks again.

You're getting better.

Also understand that there's no "best" receiver for all systems, but there is a "best" receiver for a certain system. What speakers are you planning to match them with?

Streaming music via your computer shouldn't be too hard. I'm doing that right now with my AVR445 via USB connection. Almost all receivers nowadays have at least 3 HDMI ports, so that shouldn't be a problem. Then again, I never use mine, and I don't suggest you do so either, unless your TV has inadequeate HDMI ports. Coaxial/Optical digital audio output directly to the receiver is almost always better than using HDMI. Just my 2 cents.

[tomincanada]

Coaxial/Optical digital audio output directly to the receiver is almost always better than using HDMI. Just my 2 cents.

And the award for the worst advice of the year goes to... Jon Lai. Congrats!

All the new Blu-Ray HD sound formats are only available via HDMI and therefore you have no choice but to use it unless you prefer low-bitrate lossy sound for some reason.

[knightwrangler]

I almost bought it.. but it doesn't do HDMI blacker than black or whiter than white :mad: Not really good for PS3 or HTPC down the road

Me too... but they were sold out at Futureshop on Boxing Day at $700.
In a way I'm glad because I ended up purchasing the Denon AVR-989
which is vastly superior for $300 more and doesn't have the video issue the Yamaha does.

[tjayl]

And the award for the worst advice of the year goes to... Jon Lai. Congrats!

All the new Blu-Ray HD sound formats are only available via HDMI and therefore you have no choice but to use it unless you prefer low-bitrate lossy sound for some reason.

Not quite true that it's your only choice. If your blu-ray player is capable of decoding the new sound formats, then you can connect to your amp using multichannel analog.

[tomincanada]

Not quite true that it's your only choice. If your blu-ray player is capable of decoding the new sound formats, then you can connect to your amp using multichannel analog.

Fair Enough... if the Amp & player support that and you have 50 extra cables lying around it's another option.

[typer100]

.....holy @#$#@! Suck me sideways! But can it blow a girls clothes off though? :lol:

I just used two movie quote references in my response..anyone know where they're from?

One is Ocean's eleven... Don't know the other one.