HT system with Best Possible Redbook perfornance

Redbook is easy, your surround processor is the DAC, so spend all the money on the processor and you will get better results than splitting the money between a Cd player and a processor. If you can find an AV8 or 568 or Anthem all super good prepros that you will be hardpressed to find better sound CDplayers in that price range. The Arcam prepro are essentially the same as their cd players d to a wise.

The Blue Sky's have their own amplifier built in, they are awesome for Depeche, Elvis, Gun's& Roses, because they will not clip and flap until insane volume levels the Arcam I suggested is just the prepro not a receiver. To be honest its just a smidge smoother than the B&K Ref50II which I also like very much.

So it doesn't matter which pre pro or receiver you buy its a win win. (B&K Arcam)

Just focus on the speakers, I too am foremost and 80's new wave rock guy too, Metallica, Sisters of mercy, Nitzer Ebb all bite it on mass market/ high end speakers that you see in Stereophile. Stereophile speakers rarely have the Cajones to hold it all together even with a solid receiver driving them like the B&K. mainly because they lack a solid dynamic midrange. I use ATC speaker because of that, the Blue Sky's are a poorman's ATC (forgive the lack of a better description)

BTW I listen in surround all the time, makes the music liquid and easy on the ear, even early REM and Smiths albums sound pretty good played in surround, better than the LP's that's for sure.

I'm not so sure about the Denon's lack of Redbook performance. My buddy and I had a shootout 3 weeks ago between my Denon 2910 and his Marantz 8260 using Redbook and SACD and the Denon matched the Marantz step for step and surpassed it in some ways.

In no area was the Marantz superior, and that's according to *him*, a known-to-be-fussy true audiophile. The icing on the cake? I paid $500 for my Denon from Agon (with a 4 year warranty!). They are currently available for $325+ right here, right now. And, the 3910 is also available here for $650+ and is supposed to have superior audio capabilities.

BTW, the video performance of the Denons is *superb*, DVDs look like HDTV via the 1080i upscaling...

-RW-

For Best Redbook 2 channel, I would chose Arcam over B & K (its way smoother to my ear) and I wouldn't bother with a universal player (unless it was modded unit). For the source I would opt for a decent used CDP ($600 to $800) and buy a cheaper DVD player for video ($200 to $400). But if you must a have a universal source, I agree with RLWainwright, the Denons arent that bad. Though, I havent heard the Onkyo, nor have I heard that it was good, or bad for that matter.

I like the Speakers, they should work well for 2 channel, and when you begin upgrading later they should hang in there for a little while. Just make sure the drivers are in good order. I have heard that the replacement drivers are hard to come by.