What is the absolute best home cinema hi-fi brand for a) reciever (main unit) b) speakers.?

Question

Is it Denon? Sony? Onkyo? Yamaha? for a) JBL for b)?

Answer 1

McIntosch if you want the real deal.

Bowers and Wilkins for speakers

but for the list you gave...

Denon and Yamaha would be the best receivers.

They have some great flagships right now. Denon-5308CI (or you could step up to their new separates)

and the Yamaha  RXZ-11

More questions? Just e-mail me. I have owned a home theater business.

Good Luck

Answer 2

Ok - there are audiophile grade equipment like the $4,500 amp (not the electronics - just the amp) and I am going to assume your budget is not that large.

Receiver: Yamaha RXV line and Dennon AVR lines are very good and well respected.  Last year, Onkyo came out with some  TX-SR505, 605 and 705 receivers that are winning awards.  The Onkyos are not winning on sound - but on features.  These receivers top out at about $550, but you have to spend $1,300 to get the same bells in the other brands.

Subwoofers: (the secret to impressive HT) SVS or HSU Research. Both companies make great subs, sell through the internet and have a loyal fan base.

Speakers: two problems with this question:

- Speakers have flavor like ice cream. What I like may not be what you like.

- Beyond a point - you can spend thousands more for a smidge more accuracy

"The Perfect Vision" rated the Definitive Technology 'Mythos' speakers as one of the best of 2007.  You can audition them at BestBuy.

Answer 3

Absolute best?  There's no one answer because everyone has a different taste.  I can just tell you what I would choose given my 25 years of experimenting with audio and video gear of all price ranges...

For the electronic components for music as well as home theater:  Arcam FMJ AV9 preamp processor with the FMJ P7 multi-channel amp and the FMJ DV139 Universal DVD player.

For the loudspeakers:  Silverline Audio La Folia II (x 5) or Silverline SR17.5 (x5), and Hsu Research VTF-3 HO w/Supercharger (x 2).

Believe me, not the most expensive by any means (although still quite expensive at about $30k, but you could easily spend 2-3 times that or more if you wanted to, but why?), but completely satisfying for a critical music lover and cinema-phile.

P.S.  Out of the receiver brands you mentioned, and a few you didn't, I would select Onkyo's modular flagship first, next Rotel and Adcom, then Pioneer Elite, next would be Sony ES, then Yahmaha and Marantz, and finally NAD and Denon.

Why Denon last?  Because I have had several Denon components including receivers in the past decade, and every single one of them had problems of one sort or another -NAD too.