What is the best high end home theater receiver available? Looking to spend about $1500-2000?

Question

What is the best high end home theater receiver available? Looking to spend about $1500-2000?

Answer 1

Well first thing I have to say is at least you know what you want to spend and that is good some consumers don't really look at budgeting.  Now Pioneer have a good High End IE Flagship receiver with all the trimmings [HD Surround Sound playback along with HDMI, also IPOD Docking connection[s] etc.]  This is from their Elite line of Home Theater receivers and being that I own a Pioneer High End 7.1 channels this one also carry the THX Select 2, to accommodate the room size that you may have as far as Surround Sound. So I would recommend ( being that you are looking for something in your price range) taking a peek at the Pioneer VSX-94TXH 7.1 Receiver and you can do that by going to www.pioneerelectronics.com and go to Home Entertainment, then products.  Trust me this will get you on the right track for a Good High End/Flagship receiver.

Answer 2

Onkyo TX-NR905.  HDMI 1.3a, decodes every format available today, including HD formats.

Answer 3

The sound you want will greatly be determined by the speakers you already have, as amps add coloration to any set up.

Although HDMI is nice it should not be the driving force in a receiver, manufactures added this interoperability to help sales they would otherwise not get because of inferior technology. A external video processor (around $200) will upscale better than any receiver and do all the Video switching you want and integrate seamlessly with most higher end receivers.

I highly recommend that you audition many models to get an idea of the sound the give but here are a few suggestions:

Onkyo and Denon would be entry level serious and should be considered.

Nad would be a good one to compare against but it is hard to get an audition in the US.

Sunfire has a smoking receiver, cool thing is that it never exceeds 3 deg F above room temperature! It does only have 2 hdmi inputs but again with external video processors you can get around that easily, and have the best audio and video.

Adcom is another one to give a listen to.

But I recommend that you listen first with you own speakers, and make a determination based on sound, all other things are adaptable and easy to fix, but if it doesn't sound good you won't use it.

Most major cities will have dealers for all these brands, and all have dealer locators in their web pages.

Good luck,

Answer 4

Why on earth would  you possibly want the most expensive when a cheaper version will do exactly  the same thing ?

All you will end up paying for  is for the brand name and the  stores  rent and  business rates.Stick to low  to middle of the road and save your self some  money  and with the  money you save  book  a vacation. Or  treat your  spouse to  a  gift or your children for that matter if you haven't a spouse or  kids  well treat your parents  with the  saved  money  they kinda deserve it.

Answer 5

try these, trust me...

{rotel    rotel.com }

{yamaha    yamaha.com }

{pioneer elite     http://www.pioneerelectronics.com/PUSA/ }

{outlaw audio    outlawaudio.com}

Answer 6

$1500 - 2000 can't buy you any hi end HT receiver.  More like higher low end or lower mid range stuff.

I guess $1.5k - $2k can get u and nice power cord or RCA cable for your hi end receiver.