Which Would You Choose?

None of the above.....(emphatically so, if you are using subwoofers in your set-up).

Audyssey Pro 32XT is --IMHO-- the dispositive difference maker among AVRs in this class. Integra, Denon and Onkyo all offer it, Marantz (as near as I can figure from the Marantz and Audyssey web sites) only offers an older iteration of Audyssey. Whatever other distinctions may (or may not) exist among these models are likely - IME - to be audibly less significant than the DRC software, particularly if that software is also generating the crossover function to integrate subwoofers.

Marty

A little background. A friend of mine has a very small room that he want to use for a home theater setup. The room is about the size of two office cubicals and the entire house is about 800 sq-ft. He's very impressed with my system, but isn't ready to put that much money into his initial setup so I'm trying to figure out some recommendations that will work for his current space and allow for future upgrades without having to repurchase.

I really like the idea of using an inexpesive AVR in combination with either a stereo power amp or even an integrated amp. The $400 price tag on the Marantz makes it a very interesting concept because the 50 wpc would be more than adequate in his small room and would allow for the expansion to a better amp for the mains in the future when he wanted better quality sound or had a bigger room.

At this point I'm leaning towards Focal 806v speakers with an REL T5 subwoofer. I really think this combination will be just about perfect for his needs, expectations, and his willingness to spend money. Recommendations may change depending on what's available on the used market when he's ready to make some purchases.

Is the Pro 32XT available on a receiver in the sub-$1,000 price point? I'll have to do some looking.

The reason for having two all Marantz products was simply to compare to ways to spend about the same amount of money using the same brand with a similar feature set.

Mceljo,

The Denon 4311 and the Onkyo 1009 both (IIRC) have Pro 32xt and check in at app. $1400 (from the web-based deep discounters) - app $200 more than the Marantz 6006 you list above. I just went thru this drill for my own account and would personally spend the extra $200 without hesitation - even if I had to cut back elsewhere in the system.

As always - YMMV.

Marty

It doesn't appear that Pro 32XT is available on any receivers in a similar price range. In the Integra lineup it's appears to start at the 70.x level. I like the concept, but know that it's probably out of his budget.

Good info, the biggest issue is that I don't think he's going to put that much into the project up front. The secondary power amp would likely be a secondary stepping stone in the future. You never know, I'll keep this in mind and see how much I can get out of his wallet when the time comes.