One step up from entry-level?

That was not my intention Mr. Conway. You obviously do not know me very well. If you actually took the a second to read his question (and my responce); you might recognize he asked a very basic general question about brands, not for a specific recommendation. He made assumptions that Onkyo, Denon, etc were only about entry level, so I wanted to clue him in to look deeper. Not everyone coming to this site is an expert looking for that last tweek to nirvana. Your post really does help educate at all; it's the a dirty personal attack of the kind Audiogon wants to get rid of.

Mr. G Conway, I think you may have taken the spirit of Mr. Sugarbre's excellent and informative post to mean something different. Fact is he answered the question. I guess it just depends where you put the focus.The next level is what it is,/ and not found at CC or BB. No snobishness was intended that I saw.

I was backing you Sugarbre. Your second response wasn't there as I was typing mine/ you just beat me / you probably type faster / well that is true of almost everone/ there may be 6 more posts before I finish this.

Sugarbrie:

I am also behind you...... After all, we cannot let one bad apple spoil the whole bunch, can we??

--Charles--

Mark_Sirota:

If you are looking for an A/V Receiver that is a "step-up" from what you will find at either Best Buy or Circuit City, then the ones you should look at are the top-of-the-line Yamahas ($2K to about $3K+), Onkyo/Integra ($3K..... but be careful about which speakers you'll be using with the this receiver..... I have read reviews in "The Perfect Vision" and "Widescreen Review", and both of them mention this VERY ISSUE in their reviews), NAD ($700.00 to about $900.00), Rotel (about $1,000.00), and Outlaw (which sells their products over the internet only...... their A/V Receivers are priced at $600.00). Marantz, B&K and Denon are also other brands you should consider. You are not going to find neither of these brands at Best Buy or Circuit City either. Sony and Pioneer (their mass market stuff) would be brands that I would steer clear of. Only their "upmarket" stuff (Pioneer Elite and Sony ES) is worthy of any consideration.

If your preference is separates, then the only brands to look at would be Rotel, B&K, Adcom, Marantz and again, Outlaw.

Good Luck.

--Charles--