Best Audio quality in Home Theatre Reciever? DVD ?


I am attempting to assemble a home theatre system--I am using mostly older Castle Inversions for front and rear (also have Castle Centers (really loved them upon release) but am clueless about the rest of the system. I am not happy with anything I have listened to from Onkyo, Pioneer, Denon--granted, I would not purchase any of their products for audio in general, however this has been pushed in my direction--most of the Digital stuff is hollow, or really grating---

I love the warmth of sound I get from my Marantz 2325, Inversions, Cal Audio CL 15 and Oracle turntable--Can I get great sound from any equipment on the market, new or used that you can knowingly recommend and tie this into my Pioneer Elite Plasma (sitting in it's box)--???
bluesnbike1954

Showing 2 responses by loomisjohnson

you haven't specified a budget, but in general b&k and arcam avrs have considerably better inboard amps and sound significantly better than the mass market gear. their older, non-hdmi units are great values used.
apparently the avr350 doesn't support hdmi audio, although it has hdmi video switching. this wouldn't be a deal-killer for me--i'm a 2ch music-first guy and generally apathetic about the endless, mind-boggling array of movie sound enhancements--i don't need neo-dolby 26v.3 jumbo-size or whatever to watch "seinfeld". ultimately, it comes down to how you're actually going to use it (no point in getting a ferrari if the only place you drive is downtown tokyo). if, as you state, your main focus is music, and you don't even have blue ray, buy the arcam (or alternatively, save the $$ and get an earlier, non-hdmi version).