I forgot, do you have 80’s? is your system 5 or 7.1?
John will tell you to pick up one of the Yamaha RX knock offs or an Onkyo. After reading just about all the manuals of both of those lines, I had narrowed my choice down to the 2700 and the 804. Power output may / may not be enough for you if you are running M80’s. John will tell you they are, and he’s probably right. Yamaha does have its own room EQ system, as well as Pioneer. Some folks like them, some don’t. The Pioneer’s have a LFE boost problem that a firmware download is ‘supposed’ to fix. I don’t like Pioneer, so I didn’t research them all that much, but the 84 seams to be popular.
Emotiva at this time does not have anything that will process LPMC via HDMI.
I’m not even going to mention that ‘other’ brand with the silver and black cases.
Gotta love them Denons……they have a lot of features that no one cares about until you find yourself saying “I sure wish I could ……” It’s too bad you gave up on the 4806, I think that unit would have been about perfect for me. Really, I was just waiting to hear back from you before buying one. The CI version has the Video Processor in it, which, well….sucks. Sorry Denon fans, but their integrated VP’s suck unless you pop for the 5xxx serris AVR’s. Their new AVR’s are rumored to have some good VP’s (ABT and Genum), but only time will tell if they do are not. But even if they do, Denon can either screw them up or get it right. Take the new (and hottest) JVS-RS1 projector with a Genum processor in it for example. JVC totally screwed up one of the best processors on the planet right now. It’s just about friggin worthless.
I’ve have my Marantz 8001 for a couple months now, I think. Time sure flies when you don’t pay attention to it….
I still love the way it sounds. There are some things about it that I really like, but I find myself wishing it would do some of things that the Denons do. Like:
- process discrete 6/7.1 LPCM (it will only matrix from 5.1)
- independent LFE adjustment with Multi Channel surround mode over DD and DTS (Denons do this)
- independent X-over adjustment for each channel (Denons do this)
- HDMI output switching with discrete IR (why have two outputs if you can’t use both?)
- Display all seven channels when in use instead of only five (how stupid could they have been to display only five channels on a seven channel AVR?)
Personally, I’d just pick up a 3806 or a Marantz 7001. You can find both for under a grand. I’d buy one of them with the clear intention of buying something different within one year. I think within one year, we will have many more options available to us for HD audio as BR and HD becomes more popular. Save some money for now and buy a case of Provinence's 03 Cab.
