Denon, Sony ES, Marantz, Integra receiver??? (1 Viewer)

Well, after listening to my Audio Refinement Pre/Pro for a few months, and looking at the bills from out new little daughter, it looks like I'm going to have to sell my pre/pro and amps and buy a receiver. The only good side, is that I might be able to also buy a new speaker if I get enough $$ for my equipment and find a good deal on a receiver. I need a new CC or sub so we'll see waht happens.

So, my question is which reciever would you buy? I'm looking at staying around $800 or less. I'd really like DDex, DTSes, DPLII, and component video switching. So far here are my thoughts:

Denon 3803, I know a little out of my range buy it gets great reviews.

Sony 4es. Has a ton of bells and whistles, and 5 year warrenty.

Marantz SR7300.

Integra 6.3 or 5.3 and get a nice sub.

I'm currently driving Studio 20's in teh front and that is it. I blew all my $$ on the pre and my amps. I'm looking at getting teh Studio CC and maybe either a Paradigm PW-2200, Sunfire Junior, or a small SVS.

Any thoughts?

sony 4es, great price, lots of featurs that allow you to the tailor the sound to your liking. go listen to them if you can. Marantz is good too, very musical, but I've read complaints about noise. Denon is just overpriced

I 2nd the 4ES, also you can buy a amp later and use the 4ES as a pre amp.

Thanks for the info. I'm really leaning towards the ES's now. Most likely I'll get the 4es. That or I may have for fork out a little more for the 3803 if my local dealer will give me a good deal on it.

I am happy with my 4ES. If you can find a 5ES, it too, has good reviews. The Denon does has a better specifications in the amplifier section.

Try the Marantz. I heard the Studio 20's hooked up to a SR-7200 a little over a year ago, and I was very impressed. I briefly had the 7200 hooked up to my B&W 602S2's before I upgraded to a 8200, and it actually sounded great.

My local dealer sells the Marantz line with both B&W and Paradigm speakers, and they sell very well.

They are YOUR ears however!

Pete

I'd get a Sony 2ES and put the change into a stereo integrated amp (or pre/power stereo if you can get in budget).

With all these Sony cats running around on this thread, let me throw another vote in for Marantz. I ended up buying an Elite 45TX, but wished I had checked out the Marantz 7300 a little more. It is a very solid piece of equipment, and I had a 6300 on loan for about a week and it had no problem making my NHT T5's sing. I think MSRP on it is right around 9 bills, but you might want to check out accessories4less.com for an Authorized Marantz Factory Refurbished unit. Just my 2 pennies.

The Marantz 7300OSE is a VERY sweet receiver but may be out of the budget area.

I still prefer a semi-prepro setup.

I would do what I did. I found an Integra DTR 8.2 (last years model, it was a demo in a private store) and I got it for 1100. All manuals, orig box, CHAD remote, etc. came with it. I registered it and all is well, got the letter (seems signed in ink?) and pen and luggage tag they give ya.

I think I got a decent deal and one GREAT reciever. I may get an amp and use it as a pre later on and see if it improves the sound, but I have alot to do to my HT before even thinking about that.

Good luck in whatever you decide to get.

--Ed