I am an ultra high end guy that is just starting to dabble in home theater. For starters I bought an Outlaw reciever, and am quite impressed with its sound at the under $1000 price point. I'm not sure that there are ANY japanese offering that are less harsh sounding at this price point. I strongly suggest ordering one, and doing an a/b test against some other recievers. You can always return it within the 30 day trial period. (Mid-fi home theater chains offer the same sort of return policies. This would allow you to not make any mistakes trying to get the level of sound quality that you are looking for, without making an unfortunate purchace)
Any mid-priced Receivers Worthwhile???
I auditioned an Onkyo Integra DTR-5.1 receiver today, driving small Paradigm satellites with an M&K subwoofer. The system sounded quite good spacially and in terms of its frequency range, but it had a little too much lower-treble presence for my liking. I'd like to take the plunge into surround sound, but so far, all the low and mid-priced receivers I've heard have exhibited this flaw to varying degrees. Right now I have good 2-channel sound using the venerable NAD 3020 integrated amp. I don't want to regret going to 5-channel surround. Perhaps the treble zing was in the speakers and not the Integra, I can't say for sure. So, my question is: are there any mid-priced receivers that won't bore holes through my skull during the length of a 2-hour flick, or can I only achieve natural sounding HT with high-priced gear?? Thanks in advance for any and all insight!