We are seriously considering an Axiom 7.1 home theater setup including: M60 fronts, VP150 center, QS8 surrounds, and EP350 sub. The question is what receiver would be best for this setup? (would like to keep the budget 2000 or less) Have looked at Rotel-the 1065 with 2 chanel amp for the fronts, and the Integra DTR 7.1, also looked at Pioneer Elite and Denon awhile back. Do you think it is best to have a separate amp for the M60's? Or just go with a 7.1 integrated? Any opinion or advice would be appreciated. Thanks

I'd definitely go with a separate amp for the front 2 speakers - I'd consider a nice used Onkyo Integra M-508. Or, you could get a 2 channel for 6+7, something like a nice Yamaha M-80. Feel the power.

T, welcome, and if you're actually willing to spend $2,000 you can get into some separates. You added "or less", however, and unless your room is huge you can spend much less and still have plenty of power. Consider receivers with automatic room and speaker equalization such as the Pioneer 53TX and Yamaha 2400, which are available for well under $1,000.

Did you know Rotel is releasing their first 7 channel receiver?

Very attractive Craig; now if they'd just get with the auto-equalization already.

Thanks for the suggestions...

The room is 22x18, so it is not huge. As far as budget goes, less is better-but my main goal is bang for the buck. I don't want to overspend, but I want to get the best possible movie/music experience with those speakers. I do like it loud. Both the Yamaha and the Pioneer got some really good reviews, but I wonder if you could explain how that room and speaker equalization works?

Thanks

I did'nt know about the 7 channel Rotel...It looks pretty sweet. Talk about blowing the budget...

Both have a microphone which you set at the listening position; then a series of test-tones follow for a few minutes which serve both to calibrate the speakers for loudness and distance and to equalize their frequency response, as affected by the room. This isn't to imply that the equalization is anywhere near perfect and results in a totally flat response curve, but there's significant improvement in smoothness. This is one of the very few things that actually can make a difference in sound, rather than just making meaningless claims of sonic superiority.

That sounds like a very useful feature. Do you know if the Yamaha and Pioneer are the only receivers that offer it?

Yes, at the moment, but this is a feature likely to become much more common. For example, the just-announced Denon 3805 has added it.

Denon's new 3805 will be in stores in March and will feature room EQ. Check it out here

Thats how my old RSX-1065 looked...it was sweet...but didn't had an auto EQ then...or separate frequency crossover for each channel...or HDCD..or an Analog By-pass...or DTS 96/24.... boy Rotel is slow as molasses with new features... Yammys and Elites has been doing this a while...minus the HDCD