John Harding - Insert Catchy Title Here

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Thursday, July 27, 2006

Need to replace my exploded receiver (Rotel RSX965), but not sure what to get. I'm considering going the separates route, just to be able to independently upgrade; everything is controlled by a programmable universal remote, so having to control multiple components really isn't a problem.

Must have features:
= Good DAC - this was one of the things I really liked about my Rotel
= Flexible digital audio inputs, and lots of them. The Rotel only had digital audio inputs for video sources (wtf?), and you couldn't mix and match 2 video sources (just video and audio). This meant no squeezebox audio w/ DVD video, etc.
= Component video switching (Need 4+ component inputs - ReplayTV, DVD, Xbox, Room to grow)
= Dolby Digital, Pro Logic, etc. Can you even get receiver or pre-processor w/out this stuff?
= Line-level outputs (for driving a second TV setup)
= On-screen display (equipment is in a separate room from the TV)

Nice to Have:
= Multi-zone speaker support - would like to drive some extra speakers; would be nice to do with the same system, but I've got an old receiver that could do the job if needed
= Multiple video outputs, so the second TV setup could be using a different source than the primary
= Component video up-conversion
= HDMI switching

Don't Care:
= Crappy DSP make-you-sound-like-you're-in-a-cathedral modes