Recommendations based on these "wishes"

Instead of starting a new thread, very similar to l. todd's above, I decided to post my own wish list here too.

I'm decidedly old school. I don't really need or want a full-featured AV receiver unless that's what the experts recommend.

I play 2-channel music via either LPs, CD or FLAC files. I already have a networked player (Squeezebox Touch) so I don't really need any network or Wi-Fi stuff. I have two Definitive Technology tower speakers with built-in subwoofers.

Should I get an AV receiver or go with just an amplifier? Do I need a preamp too?

My price range is up to approximately 1500-2000 USD for the whole shebang.

Let me know what you think.

Since I settled on l. todd's thread, please make sure you refer to the correct poster with your reply.

Happy Holidays.

l.todd:

The toughest requirement for you is the dual HDMI output. Anything with that, will almost certainly have everything else. The old Yamaha RX-V867 was perfect, and inexpensive, but is almost impossible to find from a legit dealer now. The new 871 replaced it, but MSRP is $900. I'm not aware of anything from Denon/Onkyo/Marantz for less than that.

If you can go without the two HDMI outs, you would have your choice of a lot in the $300 street price range.

Jim:

I see the advantages of getting a stereo/surround receiver as the ability to use that DAC instead of the Squeezebox's. For me, I'd probably go with an amp and hook the Squeezebox direct to that via RCA (primarily due to cost/spacial concerns), but I'm sure there are those who'd prefer the receiver over optical.

Speakers sound power hungry, I'd consider something like the Emotiva XPA2 @ $700 (300x2). The UPA2 is $289 and does 185x2 if that sounds too high.

As an aside I do own an Emotiva XPA3 and am very happy with it. I've direct connected it with an aux cable to an Ipod (in a pinch, for testing purposes) and it was good. Normally it's hooked up to a surround receiver though, so my tunes get played that way.

a cheap hdmi splitter will accomplish the same thing as 2 hdmi outputs, so that shouldn't be a showstopper requirement...

Jim;

I recently purchased a Musical Fidelity M3i Integrated Amplifier which is much better-sounding than the NAD356BEE which I had before. The sound with it is excellent and I recommend it highly (FYI I am using it with PSB Image T6 speakers).

Any receiver you buy will be underpowered in the sense that the power supply is typically way smaller than it needs to be to adequately power 5 channels, let alone 7. Too much of the design effort and money goes into the muliplicity of features, which you say you are not much into, and the power supply and amplifiers are marginal quality as a result.

The sound quality you get from a typical AV receiver that costs $1500 will be on a par with a $400 stereo amplifier, if that.

If you only need 2 channels of amplification, why buy a product that has spread the money around to 5 or 7 plus a ton of other stuff you don't want?

**********************************************************

Todd;

The perfect receiver to meet your requirements is the Marantz SR6006.

It has 2 HDMI outputs and Audessy room correction (and a huge list of features).

It costs $1200. I have no idea what you consider cheap or expensive, but that is certainly an excellent choice if you can get it.


*********************************************************

+1

Don't let the dual HDMI outputs drive your AVR selection. You can get the Denon 2112CI for under $500 by "calling" AV Science or Electronics Expo which meets your other requirements including Audyssey MultEQ XT. Then simply add a 1x2 HDMI splitter from Monoprice.

Not if it's a powered splitter such as the one I listed in my previous post.


As suggested, give AV Science or Electronics Expo a call for the best price.