Kenny -
Each to their own - I had another brand pre/pro - it was a frickin' nightmare to use - I hated it for all the time I had it. There are a ton of features on these things - if you're undecided why not make it easy on yourself to get what you paid for. The more often you change gear and need to change settings the more you will appreciate it.
480i would fall in the category of legacy systems I mentioned (Point 4). One place the Integra 9.9 definitely has a huge advantage is that it allows you to set up the scaler for each source/input - that's a feature that is not on the 9.8 which means that the scaler handles every source the same. I would bet the Marantz applies the scaler globally as well.
I find that the DirectTV HDTV box takes care of the video. Besides if you have a nice HD display you won't be watching often.
When I did the ISF calibration, the tech and I A/Bed the Oppo with the Integra - no contest. We opted to let the Oppo ($200) take care of the scaling. The Integra is set for HDMI pass through.
You're going to have to work a little harder to pick on me - the difference is I've been where you're going - but at the end of the day its your rig - as long as you are happy makes no difference to me how you get there =)
Each to their own - I had another brand pre/pro - it was a frickin' nightmare to use - I hated it for all the time I had it. There are a ton of features on these things - if you're undecided why not make it easy on yourself to get what you paid for. The more often you change gear and need to change settings the more you will appreciate it.
480i would fall in the category of legacy systems I mentioned (Point 4). One place the Integra 9.9 definitely has a huge advantage is that it allows you to set up the scaler for each source/input - that's a feature that is not on the 9.8 which means that the scaler handles every source the same. I would bet the Marantz applies the scaler globally as well.
I find that the DirectTV HDTV box takes care of the video. Besides if you have a nice HD display you won't be watching often.
When I did the ISF calibration, the tech and I A/Bed the Oppo with the Integra - no contest. We opted to let the Oppo ($200) take care of the scaling. The Integra is set for HDMI pass through.
You're going to have to work a little harder to pick on me - the difference is I've been where you're going - but at the end of the day its your rig - as long as you are happy makes no difference to me how you get there =)