AV reciever companies; Best in breed for same price point??

Since you asked for suggestions here is one. Why? Go and listen.
http://www.jbl.com/array_series/default.aspx?Language=ENG&Country=US&Region=USA
I agree that you should take the time to go and listen to speaker systems. Take some of your CDs, listen to your music on the speaker systems. Sound is a very personal thing, good speakers can last a life time.

jcrobso,

Thanks for the link. I know of JBL?s equipment through my old musician days. I?m not familiar with them in home audio though.
BTW, if you had my old Kenwood HTB system, you?d want to go higher end too. A whole new world is the point. I just bought a nice 54? Plasma and need to upgrade across the board ? been needing to for quite some time now.

Thanks again for your time,
Jeep~

hturner1949,

Thanks for taking the time to reply to my query.
My current set up is an old Kenwood vr-616 HTB system.

I recently got a great buy on a Panasonic TC-P54G10 Plasma, something I've been researching and waiting for, for quite a awhile (going HD plasma). I've recently come into some money and I want to upgrade all around. I figured about a $1,000 for the receiver and about $1,500 for the speakers(you usually have to pay more for the speakers to match a receiver). At that price point, the receivers have the features that I'm looking for and hopefully I'll find some decent speakers to do justice to it.

For my movies, I have a PS3, which looks great on the Panasonic. I still have older electronics that need good to great up-conversion video processing and I would like Wi-Fi or Ethernet support although it's not a deal breaker (wanting to stream movies and music from my PC).

I know it's quite a jump from what I have but that?s the point. I'm no stranger to electronics but I'm not a true stereophile either. I can afford about 16K give or take a little and obviously want the most for my money but it's nothing without quality.

As far as the receivers, the Onkyo tx-sr806, Denon AVR-3808ci, Marants SR8002, and maybe the Pioneer Elite SC-07 (pricey), all look good but I'm not familiar with the brands, surround sound wise. I do know they?re good names. The speakers, I know of even less and I'm doing a lot of reading on; there's so much to know and find out, it gives me a headache playing catch up. So I thought to give this forum a try and see what info I could get.

The best electronics store I have in this town is Ultimate Electronics, otherwise it's the old Best Buy route but I haven't a problem shopping on the nets.

That's my situation.
Jeep~

Sorry about the typo, but even a budget of $2700.00 will still allow you to buy a great sounding surround system. I had considered Aperion before deciding on Defintive Technology. The deciding factor was the built in Subs on the front speakers which allowed me to place my stand alone sub woofer at the rear listening position. The low frequency effects (LFE) really engulfs you. However I don't recommend this for everyone. The great thing about Aperion is they give you 30 days to audition their speakers and send them back if you don't like them. The bad thing is you can't do an A/B comparison with another brand that you may be considering. As for receivers, you can really get into heated debates about them and it really becomes a personal preference. Accessories 4 Less sells re-furb Marantz & Onkyo with new warrantys at a 45 to 50 percent discount. Dakmart has good deals on re-furb Denon's. Both E-tailers are on Ebay, but it's cheaper to go direct to their web site. In my area Magnolia Audio was a great place to audition equipment. Unfortunately the Evil Empire (Best Buy) bought them out several years ago and recently closed most of their stores. Most Best Buy stores don't even have good listening rooms. I'm hoping that Ultimate Electronics does so you can make a sound decision (pun intended) before spending your hard earned cash.

What I can afford is about $2,600 - not 16K.

I don't know where that came from. I think I was thinking of the speakers in hundreds and put a K on it for some silly reason. So that's about $1,000 for a reciever and $1,500-$1,600 for speakers. BTW, what do you think of the Intimus 4T Hybrid SD by Aperion for a speaker package. I like the idea of a speaker package deal.

Jeep~

bearvp,

Thanks for those names to look into.

I?ve been seeing PSB, that you mentioned, getting good reviews and there just in my price range, 16K. I saw here in C-net that the Intimus 4T Hybrid SD got a great review and it?s an all speaker package to boot but I?m not familiar with that name at all. That and not being able to hear them worries me.

Thanks again for your help,
Jeep~