Which is better: separates or receiver?

By a wide margin the best bang for buck is a receiver. Denon, Onkyo/Integra, Yamaha, Pioneer/Elite, Sony, etc. all make perfectly usable products that will stand up to all but the most intense sonic scrutiny. Be sure to match them to reasonably efficient speaker whose impedance doesn't drop below 6 ohms. My recommendation is to not go over $2,000 on the receiver. Theoretically, separate components can provide superior performance when compared to a receiver, but unless you're willing to provide a dedicated room with extensive sound treatment these advantages will not be realized.

I think that Onhwy61 misses the mark ... a carefully matched system does not need a dedicated room with sound treatment to reach higher than a lesser receiver based system!!! The room IS important, but not likely to mask the difference between systems. My "non-dedicated" room is not a factor when I change something as "subtle" as a cable!! Buy used, shop carefully and you will far exceed a new system at the same price point. Leave a sizable chunk for cabling your system. This I have learned the hard way. If you plan to have any distance at all between any parts of your system, plan on even more for cables.

If you go the receiver route check out the tread on b&k vs denon and you will find 28 to one in favor of b&k.

But like I said again, that would depend on how far Emily wants to go. If all she and hubby wants to do mostly is look at movies and all, then I wouldn't advise her, per se, to purchase separates. If all she and hubby is going to do is look at movies, then there are a number of very good "top-of-the-line" A/V Receivers available for about $3K (like I said, there are models from Denon and Marantz, but I would also like to add Yamaha, Rotel, Pioneer Elite and Sony ES to the mix), some for considerably less than $3K. But now on the other hand, if she and hubby are music buffs and all, then I would say she should go for something more ambitious than an A/R Receiver (and that means separates). If I were to go the separates route, then I could do one of the following.

(01). Rotel RSP-985 Pre/Pro -- $1,200.00 + Rotel RMB-1075 5 Channel Power Amp -- $1,300.00.

(02). Adcom Tuner/Pre/Pro -- $1,500.00 + Adcom GFA-7500 5 Channel Power Amp -- $1,500.00 (Just like Jerie has said).

OR

(03). Lexicon DC-1 Pre/Pro -- $1,300.00 (Used) + Outlaw 5 Channel Power Amplifier -- $1,100.00 (on the internet only..... @ www.outlawaudio.com).

But whatever she decides to do, I'm sure she and hubby are going to be quite happy.

I wish her the best of luck.

--Charles--

I have separates. Over the past 5-7 years, I've upgraded my stereo system to about a $8,000 HT system.

A couple of years ago, I wanted to move to a Dolby digital system. I went to Circuit City and told them I wanted to buy their best AV Receiver. They sold me a $1,100 Kenwood. I hooked it up at home, and within 10 seconds of this first cut, Fleetwood Mac DVD, I knew it did not have the dynamics or frequency response of my separates. I listened to a CD, but the product went back a couple days later. I later bought the Rotel 985 ($2,000 list) for $1700. I've been pleased. I've seen it selling for around $1,100 used.

There may be some $2,000 receivers that are worth considering, like the Yamaha and B&K.

Things are changing in this industry very rapidly. There are a couple features I would consider important with anything I would buy today.

1. Does the receiver/pre-pro have 5.1 audio inputs for the next generation DVD-players? The Rotel 985 does. The Sony 9000 does not.

2. Does the receiver/pre-pro have component video switching? Video from cable or DVD's is transferred using either composite video, S-video, or Component video. Component video is the best and most good TVs now sold have all 3 type of inputs. My Rotel does not have this. If you buy a progressive scan DVD, you will want component switching. If you do not have it, you will need to directly connect your DVD player to the TV and use the TV as your video switcher.

3. As for DVD player, either buy a $250 unit or a $1,000+ unit. I decided to upgrade my Sony 300 (probably equal to $200 units today). I could not see/hear any improvements with $500/600 players. I even brought two home. I then bought the Sony 9000ES for $1300. The audio sound from CDs and DVD's were vastly superior to the Sony 300 (or the JVC723GD that I had home at the time.) The video was superior as well. There's other $1,000+ DVD players that are similar to the Sony in sound/video quality.