Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Home Theater suggestions for a receiver to use with my amp?

Hi everyone. I'm working on my first audio system for both HT and music use, so I'm pretty new to all this. Currently the only audio component that I have is a 3 channel DIY Leach amp. I'm pretty sure I'm going to start off with a pair of M22ti's (yep, thats 3.1 short of a theater setup but I'll add those in due time, I figure a pair should get me started) but I'm having a little trouble figuring out a list of receivers to look at. Due to budget constraints--($300-$500 for the tuner, preamp and DD decoding) I know I won't be able to go the separates route, so my alternative is that I'm looking for a receiver that has a good preamp section that I can hook up to my existing amp. I would also be interested in a preamp that has a tuner and dolby digital, but from what I can gather everything in that category is much more expensive.

I am interested to know what receivers any of you would suggest considering that the the quality of the receiver amp is of no concern. I also don't care too much about features like video switching, etc, I just want a solid preamp with DD and a tuner. Thanks in advance!

Hello,
I used an Onkyo for several years in the heart of New York city, where FM reception is very problematic, and the tuner section was surprisingly sensitive and selective. It brought in a number of low-powered college stations (Columbia, Fordham, New Jersey) that I liked. The DD decoding is fine and built-in A/D and D/A converters seemed transparent.

Regards,

Alan Lofft
Axiom Resident Expert