Need Opinions on Receivers (1 Viewer)

[John -*-P]

Hi everyone, I was wondering if any of you could give me some insite. Im currently piecing together my home theatre. I am trying to decide what receiver to get. I think I have it narrowed down to two, but thats where the problem lies.

The two models are the Denon AVR-3805, and the Sony STR-DA5000ES.

My biggest concern is preouts. Thats why I chose the DA5000ES as the DA2000ES only has front and sub preouts.

Next concern is comp. video switching which both have.

Power isnt all that important as everything will be externally amplified eventually.

Im only concerned about 5.1

Now my good friend who works in the semi/highend small elctronics store. Feels that the last best receiver that Sony made was the STR-DA777ES. I hold his opinions very highly. He sold his 777ES for a Parasound AVC-2500, he still thought the Sony was better. He sold the Parasound and now just has an H/K AVR-330 for now.

So, would you guys say that the new Sony Receivers are still on par with say the 777ES? I mean I could look for a 777ES or a TA9000ES preamp, but neither have comp. video switching?

Thanks for the help and sorry its so long.

 

[Bobby T]

Of the 2 you mentioned I would go with the Denon. But you might want to consider offerings from Marantz, Yamaha, Rotel, and HK. They all have good receivers in your price range.

 

[John Garcia]

What Bobby said. If the intent is to go with external amps, there's no reason to go with the 5000ES.

I agree with your friend, I don't really like the recent Sony ES offerings. The DA3ES, 4ES and 5ES were not bad, and the Sony's do offer the most flexibility in terms of setup of just about anything I've seen. You can do better sound wise though.

I chose Marantz for the sound, but they lack in terms of some configurability. They're getting better with the new models, but still far from what Sony offers. I'll take sound quality over options though

NAD would be another to look at. Very flexible, good sound. Check out the deals at www.yawaonline.com