Thoughts on A/V receivers

In addition to those brands, you may be interested in the new Outlaw 1070 AV receiver at www.outlawaudio.com.

You may also wish to consider the soon-to-be-released Emotiva LMC-1 pre-pro and LPA-1 6/7 channel amp at www.av123.com. They are separates for the price of a receiver, and they look good so far in public beta testing.

The Outlaw has component and DVI video switching (will accept HDMI via an adapter). The Emotiva has component video but not DVI or HDMI. For me that is not important.

I will probably buy either the Outlaw or the Emotivas within a month or two.

Yeah, but maybe not exactly what you were asking for? For starters, I'd recommend that you make a list of the top 3 or 5 features that are most important to you (processing, connections, remote, etc.). Match that prioritized list w/ the receivers you find interesting and in your budget. If there's no clear winner, then you have a little more work to do. You can pick on price, perceived difference in sound, whatever, but with those choices you should find little difference (assuming you haven't already identified one and that's why you're asking here).

Yup, I didn't rant on about amp power or anything like that. We don't know what speakers you're driving, the size of the room, intended use or anything like that, but you do know all that stuff. It's probably going to get flamed as heresy, but power just isn't the end-all consideration for those receivers. They're all quality units and have decent power and if you really need to you can always add plenty of axternal amplification and use the receiver as a pre-pro, so power just isn't the absolute #1 thing here.

Get the receiver that matches what's most important to you ('cause it's gonna be yours, not ours), fits your budget, and then just enjoy the heck out of it.

I agree with Mr hosehead and would like to add that bass management is the most useful feature my B&K has. Be aware of specs also. Denon power ratings are generally for 1 channel driven, not all channels (power drops significantly). I personally really enjoy the Marantz "house" sound. If money is not a concern, throw B&K into any mix.

"Johnmcfarland":

I am with "Javachip" as well. I currently use a Harman/Kardon AVR-430 Audio/Video Receiver in my home theater system, but I am thinking about changing over to an Outlaw Model 1070 at the first of the year. You may want to consider the Outlaw, but you will probably want to consider the NAD T-763 as well. It may not have the latest in connectivity such as HDMI or DVI is concerned, but it excels in music and movie performance. And when it is all said and done, isn't this is what it's all about in the first place????

--Charles--

The lower price point receivers are sonically lacking in terms of power out put, dynamics, 3dimmensionality, and realism.
I find receivers with much better current delivery for the money, are Outlaw, Denon, Harmon kardon.
Good luck