Lookin for a new HT Receiver

[AzGrower]

Replacing HT gear...
Thinking about either Denon or Onkyo....for HT Receiver and possibly a 6 disc changer as well. My speakers are Athena Technologies Audition F2 Towers and B.1 surround speakers. With the addition of the new Receiver, I will add the center channel speaker, the C1.2

What models would you suggest? I am looking to spend about $1.2k for both the receiver and the cd player.

[npdang]

Hmm... outlaw audio? Or maybe one of those new Nads that is a receiver+cdp all in one chassis.

[murphman]

why not buy my h/k signature 2.1 and a good preamp?

[AzGrower]

Because I found a local dealer who sells Onkyo and Denon for really cheap. he is authorized and sells way cheaper for the same models from online shops. Its also where I bought the Athenas from. I am leaning towards the 7.1 setups...and if I add a separate subwoofer, then I will get an amp for the system as well.

[raamaudio]

I just sold an Onkyo that was a few months old, $600 or so retail, not a bad unit at all but I picked up a mint used 3 year old Marantz on Ebay that retailed for around $1,400 for $300 bucks and it is so sweet:) I do not use rear channels, side channels, etc, front, center and sub out are good enough for me.

I am looking into some internal mods so I can use the rear channels to bi amp the front speakers though.

Rick

[MIAaron]

I have bought quite a few onkyo ht receivers and they have not let me down. :)

[raamaudio]

Onkyo is very good, very reliable, I have 20 year old Onkyo Stereo reciever in my shop that really sounds quite good though I had to solder the plug in connectors some years ago, only problem to date.

Overall I prefer Marantz though;)

Rick

[T-Ro]

Another thumbs up for Onkyo. A friend of mine is an EE at National Instruments and he did a bunch of reasearch into the amp sections of different recievers out there. He bought an Onkyo and I figure he knows what he's looking for. (Onkyo's Integra line is sweet too. More bells and whistles and upgraded parts)

Besides, my roommate in college was a Denon guy and he had a bunch of trouble with some of their high end gear. Stuff kept going wrong with his DVD player and they were very reluctant to service it. I don't remember all the details but it was a mess.

As for CD players, I've got a Cambridge Audio D500se that I love. I think it has a very clear and uncolored sound. Great for the $$. Its an old model, but the new ones are around 500ish. New models have Wolfson 24bit DACs and are highly reviewed.

www.cambridgeaudio.com
www.audioadvisor.com (this is where I bought mine a few years back)

[AzGrower]

yeah I have always been a fan of Onkyo, guess I am getting closer to getting one then...thanks guys...