I would go with onkyo.. I personally have the 607 and i love it!!

 

I'll third the Onkyo. Love my HT-RC180 (more or less an 807), which should fall within your budget.

the best thing for you to do is check out several in different stores, ask questions about them, and research them online so that you get exactly what you want. all we're doing here is giving you our biases by posting up what we own LOL.

 

You mean....as opposed to the GUIPB (Gently Used In Paper Bag) Anthem Receiver ?

It's always nice to have a choice I guess j/k....

 

Far from it I was fortunate to have my local audio shop let me test Anthems flagship receiver and I was blow away by it's simple and logical menu and ease of use. The fact that the autotune takes 15 minutes to setup and is totally awesome. The difference without it was worth the extra coin. When you have a wife who has to turn on 8 devices to watch a movie - it gets annoying...and no 12v triggers aren't avail on the 5 amps--yeah I know stupid!!!

James you should come by and hear it for yourself.

 

That sucks, but I am sure it's a feature that you can easilly overlook due to the HUGE positive effects of all that POWER

Rather than look into a new receiver, I should probably look into Amps and be done with it, as my Elite has enough features to satisfy me.....I just want more power.....on atleast the front 3 channels anyways.

 

Probably is but from what I've read it's an old retired system that Marantz no longer uses.

 

Five of these will knock your socks off or 7 if you think 7.1 is worth the effort :P

Emotiva Audio UPA-1 Mono-Block Amplifier

 

Look pretty beefy.....but no 7.1 for me.

On my Home System, I listen to music always in 3.1....gotta have a center.

For Movies, I only use 5.1 - I can't be bothered to connect another pair of side/rear speakers for what I feel is little or no benefit in such a small room....or, for the average sized living room setup for most people.

 

I would most likely buy this and call it a day......

Emotiva Audio XPA-3 Three Channel Power Amplifier

Looks like a nice solid design inside as well....

 

I might just take you up on that offer julian. Do you still have those boxes? lol. My TV space currently is a horrible enviroment for surround sound. So im aiming for something that will do me okay for now. I went out and bought a set of http://www.bestbuy.ca/en-CA/product/-/b9001274.aspx?path=6c240db6f94320382250de01938b1ce aen02 and borrowed a friends Pioneer VSX-920K and it sounds pretty good. I used its Autotune and then played with a few things but overall was pretty blown away.

Just for a referece though i was coming from asony all in one 5 disc upconverting to 1080i dvd reciever/player combo speaker package. Thats rear speakers ran off RF... so yeah it goes without saying i should be impressed. Now ive been lookin and it is the time of the good deal and alot of places like the place with the elite listed earlier have killer deals on some stuff. Like for example FS has the Pioneer 7.1 HDMI 3D Home Theatre ReceiverVSX-1325-K on for half price at 750... opinions?