Home entertainment recievers???

I'm not sure about their full product line-up these days, but you should look at NAD or Linn. NAD will be less expensive than Linn but still better quality that virtually any of the mainstream brands.

 

I would recommend Denon for the "pro-sumer" level (which is all your price range is going to get you). They have receivers in the $400-$500 range. You can also add on a basic Denon DVD player for $150 to $200.

See:
Denon AVR-1707
Denon AVR-1907

at
http://www.crutchfield.com/S-YBM6UsZSFS2/cgi-bin/ProdGroup.asp?search=Denon+VENDORID033&searchdisplay=Denon&osp=&skipvs=T&g=10420


or

http://usa.denon.com/#start


Their new receivers will interface to an iPod.

 

Pioneer Elite is a good line.

 

I would not get a combo receiver DVD player. There isn't going to be anything good to choose from, and chances are the DVD player will die long before the receiver does. For consumer receivers, I really like Denon. For DVD players, I would just get a relatively inexpensive unit that will do the job ( $50 to $100) as it's not likely to last more than a year or two.. No one makes a quality DVD player. For $500, you can get a $100 DVD player and a decent $400 Denon receiver. You can also find Denon refurbished receivers for substantially less than a new one and they come with the same warranty. Denon lists their authorised refurb dealers on their website. I bought an AVR-1906 ($500 list) for $190 from eCost.com a few months ago.

-steve

 

I've got a Denon in my main living area which runs my interior speakers and sub, and also powers my outdoor speakers; and a Pioneer in the basement theater room which also powers auxiliaries in my wife's pottery studio & laundry room. Both sound great, handle the difficult loads with ease, and have never failed in any way. I highly recommend both brands. In fact, this is the third Pioneer I have had, and only replaced them because I wanted something new, more channels, etc. I sold the perfectly functioning older models each time. They're bulletproof. Pioneer offers better bang for the buck, Denon better sound quality and better feel/user interface.

Let us know what you decide on.

-Tad

 

There is very little available in the combo unit range, and they generally suck for quality even when they are. Just by a cheap Denon or Yamaha and spend 80 bucks on a DVD player thats separate, it will be worth it in the long run and you are looking at the same price range anyway.

 

All denons are good, we have them for all our entertainment systems at home and at my dad's work, they are almost bulletproof (well actually not so much, we had a fuse blown last week for a input but we had the reciever for 3 years.