Home Theater Preamp/amp advice.

J,
T is correct. The vitals are really important.
Room dim's, a diagram with some specificity, speakers you'll be using, seating arrangements.
Your basic question can be answered by saying, Yamaha is good, not at all like several years ago when it had a very hot high end. Denon is good, Marantz has been good for a long time now. The Marantz is more user friendly than the Yamaha.

If you can share more I'll be happy to suggest.

Best,
Larry

Integra DTR 8.9 or 9.9 or Onkyo TX-nr3007 would be right about at your purchase point if you want new and latest features.

But once we understand your speakers and room, we might recommend some used gear or some of "last years" models.

For less than $2,000, you might be able to pick up a Theta Casanova Pre-Pro and a Theta Intrepid 5 ch Amp.

Thanks for the comments.

The application is a master bedroom 13'x16'. I have a 52" Samsung LCD TV and Direct-TV HD source. I plan to add PC based multimedia for downloading Netflix movies, and eventually a Blueray disk player.

I currently have a pair of Sonas Faber Grand Piano Home speakers and a Martin Logan Depth-i subwoofer that I want to use. I still haven't decided on a center channel speaker and the ceiling mounted side/back speakers.

I'm leaning towards separate amp/premp pieces because it seems to me that amp technology is fairly mature (a 20 year old high quality amp is still good today), but the preamp technology is still changing rapidly with all the the new surround formats, and connections, etc. I'd rather spend the money on a good amp, and less on the preamp since I'm likely to replace it down the road. Make sense???

If you want to be able to use the new Codedec's and HDMI connectivity, go with the latest units that can accomodate the formats (Dolby HD & DTS HD). If you have Blu-Ray, HD TV box and computer, definitely go with newest technology.

My Recommendation:

Used Integra 9.8 Processor/Pre - Can find for $700-900. I use the unit and it works great, HDMI switching, decodes new formats, sounds good for movies, good video.

For amps there are a lot of options - I recommend a used 5 channel amp:

Arcam P1000 - around $1000-1200
ATI 5 channel - $1,000
Used Theta Intrepid - $1,500
Rotel

I use a an ATI 3007 amp - (300 watt@ 8ohm x 7), found used for $1,800. Big power reserves for movies, fully balanced design, quality components, big power supplies. I am running it fully balanced from my Integra processor to the amp via balanced Kimber Hero interconnects. ATI owns Theta, so they their build quality is outstanding at a fraction of the price.

Hope this helps.