Integra DTR-7.8 HDMI-Switching, watyya think?


I wanted to upgrade from my Denon1800 avr and I started out thinking $250 Sony, then $450 Yamaha, then $600 Denon, now I'm up to $1000 and considering the Integra DTR-7.8 HDMI-Switching 1080p Home Theater Receiver. I'd appreciate any input. The rest of my system is probably what you might say is "upper middle class" check it under virtual systems if you car to.
keith944t
Well, it's been almost 2 months in use and it (the integra) is indeed a very good AV receiver.
I recently bought a used pair of Maggie 3.6's, they are powered through a set of Rogue tube monoblocks and my tube preamp has a pass through so I can still use the Maggie Monoblock combination in Home theater surround mode with the Integra as the pre/source. Also since the Integra allows for seperate amping on any or all of the surrounds, I'm going to temporarily hook up my old Maggie 1.6's as the rear surrounds, using a Rotel 1080 power amp for those. The room is too small to keep this as a permanent setup, but for a gathering of audiophile friends it should be an interesting and fun listen for a weekend or so.
Also, The PS3 is a very useful unit, being a music and photo server as well as a very good Blu-Ray player. You can even get a wireless keyboard and browse the internet from your home WiFi too. Oh yeah, the games are OK too!
I have the 7.8 and I like it a lot. I must admit too that I havent used it to its full capability. Still need to get a blue ray (still using progressive scan)and I'll get that for the family Christmas present. The new PS3 160gb. I do use the 3 zone speaker use. I have backyard and garage speakers. Its nice you can wathc tv and listen to something ele elsewhere. I have a Control 4 so i dont use th big remote. The Control 4 is okay- Its a little slow at times.
Well, nobody had anything bad to say (not that anybody had ANYTHING to say) But I bought it anyway. Sounds very good and it does alot! Maybe too much. By that I mean It can be a bit complicated and confusing to setup. As example, when you try to get the analog multichannel to work, the instructions send you to 3 different pages to get it all the info. Remote is large and I haven't been able to get it to operate my cable box yet. The unit itself is a big boy too compared to my old Denon, but proabably normal by todays standards with this much power (130/channel@ 8 Ohm)
It also has the capacity for three zones of speakers use, I don't know if I'll ever use that, but it is cool! So far so good!