Best sounding processor

A lot of people favor Marantz but I find it harsh and bright sounding.  Listen for yourself. 

Fail.  Except the last sentence, which if you do, you'll find that Marantz leans toward the warm side.  I've never heard a "bright" Marantz component.  I have an AV7704 in my main HT system and a KI-Pearl SACD player. 

If you do go with a Marantz processor, search for a shootout between the 77XX series and 88XX.  The bottom line was that everyone in the group was unable to detect any sonic differences between the two series, so unless you need some connections or features on the 88XX series that aren't included in the 77XX series, you're better off going with the 77XX unit.

That's correct about the 8802.  Maybe the 8805 is worth the extra scratch.  Accessories4less has them for $3500 (refurbished with a 3 year warranty).

@big_greg  I do you like the KI-Pearl SACD player, I've always wanted to take the plunge and now is looking like a good time but would need to put off my preamp venture I was going to try next.

I don't want to derail the thread, but to answer your question, I'm very happy with it.  I heard that the price of the KI-Ruby SACD player dropped and was considering an upgrade to the Ruby.  I spent some time listening to the Pearl this weekend (I don't spin CDs very often) and was reminded how good it is and decided not to make a change.  If you have any other questions, feel free to send me a PM.