Best 5.1 ONLY receiver every made?

DENON DENON DENON!!!!!!!

i currently have a couple of high-end denon avrs (4803 and 3300). i hate 'em both--wimpy and "digital" sounding. in general, b&k and arcam were the best of the 5.1 breed--several notches above the mass market asian branded gear.

Best to split, and get a pre-pro that you feed to separate amps, two, three or five at a time. Interga 9.9 is the real killer for sound quality and value.

Loomis,

I'm amazed to hear you say that.

I have 2 theater systems in the house, plus four 2 channel systems.

The bigger theater system has some big responsibilities...

Martin Logan Fronts and Centers, and Mirage surrounds.

The Klipsch Sub Strata 15 does it's own talking...

This is the Denon 4308 (not CI), with a big ole 60 inch Sony Flat on the wall.

It kicks ass. I could have changed it several times to Krell or Lexicon, but thankfully asked myself why when looking at money difference.

Now if I just do that in my 2 channel rigs...

If you buy a Denon that is working correctly, and you take the time to learn how to use it and figure out what all those features are for, you won't be sorry...no way...

shinytoys:
to each his own, i guess. actually, my denons are fine for movies and tv. for music, though, they lack oomph and transparency. my late, lamented b&k avr-202 was eons better, albeit lacking all the (mostly unnecesaary) bells and whistles. 'm gonna try connecting external amps and using the denons as pre/pros to see if that makes a significant difference in sound quality. i'm glad you enjoy yours, however.