What do you think is the best/ultimate... (1 Viewer)

receiver/pre-amp on the market right now. Throw price out the window, I want to know your thoughts on the absolute best one out there and why.
Thank you.

Classe or Halcro.

Some people swear by Krell but having never heard one I cant comment.

I think Mark Levinson stuff is a little overpriced for what it does .. though it is spectacularly good

Aparrently theyve had some reliabilty issues lately though.

Receiver - Denon 5805

For what? Music, Movies or Both?

for the denon anyway both i'd say, but never heard the 5805 since its so expensive i havent seen it, but as for best/ultimate receiver/pre-amp when you spend that kind of money, its just a matter of personal opinion anyway.

Denon 5805 is like a Chevy Corvette, the best Denon can do, and it's probably pretty good. Then there are exotics like Levinson, Lexicon, Classe, and Krell. They are like Ferraris and Porsche.

imho, the "best" is a relative term to everyone. in this "post-THX" world we live in, almost all components have surpassed THX specs (thus, rendering THX somewhat useless in the a/v world). of course, it was them that brought the standard so high that nowadays, you can spend $300 and get a REALLY nice a/v receiver for most average sized homes. i think the question now becomes, where's that thresh-hold of quality where the $ you throw at it gives you back the same amount of quality it used to.

personally, i like onkyo's NR 10000:

i loved the fact that it's upgradeable. for all intents&purposes the NR1000 is already compatible with Dolby Digital HD, True HD, DTS-HD. why? if you have an empty slot, you can buy an upgrade, plug it into the receiver and voila, it's like getting a new receiver. the problem is that modular design costs a lot up front =). i love the future-capable thinking, it's awesome.

the 2nd one i like is Denon's recent new lines from 3806 through 4806. the reason is features. because the quality is pretty relatively good across the spectrum, the big selling point of a good a/v receiver AND separate becomes "what features do i want/need?". i think modern shoppers should be asking that question more than anything else. i like 4806 cause i have a HTPC and prefer to use the analog outputs, so i can definitely utilize the 7.1 external input on 4806 IN ADDITION to DVD-Audio/SACD player's 5.1 analog input. i like the video up and DOWN conversion, somehthing you don't see often. i believe only 4806 has the down part, the lower ones only upconvert analog to HDMI/Component. i also like their SACD/DVD-AUdio digital hookup, if you can afford their universal players =).

New Anthem Statement D2 with a Gennum scaler and HDMI switching. There is no other pre/pro with that kind of video processing at any price.

Paired with the Anthem P2 and P5, it's really something.