Looking to buy a Reciever/amp, but....

[gta15]

.....but dont really know much in this market, I've got my speakers and sub, I've previsouly owned the creative labs 5.1 setup blah blah... but now I want something decent, never exprienced dts so thats a priority! heres what i want it to have

DTS decoder
DD5.1 decoder
Radio tuner
Individual speaker volume control.

Thats about it!
and anything else cool i dont know about! ;)

Any advice?

I await impatientyl!!! lol Got thurs fri off work so plan to go shopping tomorrow!

Thanks!
John

[Tony Keats]

Well, the Marantz SR4200 meets all of your requirements and throws in Pro-Logic 2 to boot!. That's what I settled for in the end anyway and it's not something I've regretted... I think HomeCinemaHeaven (link above) have them at around £250 or less and mine arrived within 2 days of ordering!.

The higher-rated SR5200 will give you the option of an additional rear speaker as it can decode DD-EX/DTS-ES tracks aswell (why not go the whole hog?!). My advice is strictly based on the bias of owning one, but I honestly can't recommend it enough. Music sounds good with decent sized L/R's and it has a kind of pseudo 5.1 option (called 6-stereo) which brings 2.0 discs to life.

There are lots of alternatives obviously, but the new series of Marantz amps are probably as good as anything in their price-range.

[Neon]

Any of the current Marantz, Denon (1602, 1802) and Yamaha (420, 520, 620) receivers in the £250-£350 range will meet your basic needs. If DPL2 is a requirement, then you're left with Marantz and Denon.

[JoePrecious]

I went for the Denon 1602 (because the shop I was in didn't have the Marantz!) and I've been really impressed with it. Its not the easiest to use, and the remote is a mess, but the sound is superb - especially DTS.

I don't think you'll be disappointed with either a Denon, Marantz or Yamaha.

[Ron Hill]

As soon as my credit card gets back from the DEFCON 1 that was Christmas i'll be looking at an audition of the Denon 3802 with those Kef Eggs and maybe a pair of flat NXT type speakers for EX/ES rear channel implementation. They'll be on the wall right behind the sofa so I might have to keep them very low relative to the others. Don't know if it will work. It's just theory at this point. :)

[AndrewJ]

Let everybody know how you get on with NXT for rear center - my rear center has to live out of sight until used at the moment - but if it looked like a nice framed print that is another matter!! I'm sure as more people get 6.1 this will become a common problem in wife-friendly households!