which flagship receiver

Go with an older unit,some of the best made, the Yamaha DSP-A1, or the RX-V1. Both are 5.1, has plenty of juice for your speakers, and can be had for $400 or less. I have the DSP-A1, and it's staying in my house until it dies!

well I found a Yamaha RX-Z9 for $500 so I snapped it up ,thanks for the great advice this unit gives my separates a run for the money .I am now so in love with this thing I am looking at other Yamaha Receivers ,

really thought I would never find a receiver made in the last two decades that would sound as good with music as this does

quick question,I never put too much stock in power claims by manufacturers but I have power meters on the front channels and it does not take too much to push the front 2 channels to over 200wpc.

so obviously at least in stereo this receiver performs as advertised ,my question is with this unit being rated at 170wpc and total claimed power of 1,290W how can the Sony be 200wpc with total watts being only 600w ?

I know that they are not claiming to drive all channels to that level at the same time but is Yamaha being a bit more honest than Sony ? or is it because they have different amp designs ?

I would have got the Sony if I had found one and am quite sure it is a terrific receiver but after having the Z9 for a while I could not be happier
and I also got a chance to compare this with the RX-Z11 because that was what the original owner of the Z9 upgraded to and it is also very impressive although not quite the punch it seemed to me (and the original owner)of the Z9.

I have actually become friends with the gentleman that sold it to me and will be helping him build some cabinets for his kitchen and even though I may have bested him when I got the Yammy for $500 I think he did much better on the supercharged Grand Prix he sold to me a week later .LOL

While I can't really recommend anything specific (I'm pretty much a novice ;)), I can give you a tip of where to get a good deal. Check your local best buy's magnolia open box department, and don't be afraid to ask for additional discounts (ask the sales manager). I saw an RX-A3000 for $639, and managed to get the manager to knock an additional $140 off because of a missing remote. I believe the new in box ones are going for $719, which may be a longshot to find, since these were discontinued quite a while ago.

Among other open box finds were ML motion 12s for $49 a piece, ML vantages for $650 e/a (demos), and a few other things I can't remember -- mostly receivers or HTIBs. I have my eye on a pioneer PRO70X5FD, $5499 now, they're knocking $500 off every week, should be ready for me to pick up in a week or two ;)

Anyway, I'm ranting now, but moral of the story is check out your local best buy :D