receiver options

Well, first off you should tell us your budget because some of us have varying definitions of what breaking the bank could mean. If you want good performance for the price, check out what Onkyo and Yamaha offer in your price range. If you can spend about $600 you can probably land an Onkyo TX-SR806 which would give you plenty of features to use. If you can only go as high as say $400, then there are still some from both companies mentioned that can handle the lossless audio tracks from Blu-ray movies, but they have less features like no pre-outs, less inputs, smaller amps, etc.

My budget is is $300 to $400 on a new receiver.not looking for a whole lot of power or extra add on fetures,just the essentials for picking up the new audio codes the sony bdp550 will be sending via hdmi.Im just a beginner in the blu-ray experience,but my thinking was with all the audio procesors in the blu-ray player,I would'nt have to spend alot on a receiver to enjoy all the new lossless audio that are on some blu-ray discs. tks, RON D.

Since your current receiver is a Sony ES, you don't want your next receiver to be a downgrade. If you are not joined at the hip for new receiver, try Ecost.com for refurbs. I purchased an Onkyo 806 for $450 bucks that retails for $1100. Currently they offer Denon 2309CI and 889 for around 400 bucks. They both can handle anything the Sony s550 can throw at it. I've never found anyone who was not happy with a Denon.

STILL Need help picking out the right receiver...I recently purchased the Sony bdp s550 BLU-RAY player. I'm currently running the audio through an optical cable to a older Sony es 5.1 Dolby digital/dts receiver that precedes hdmi and any multi-channel analog inputs.Now that I'm considering upgrading the receiver, what is the best receiver to capture all the lossless audio that the 550 is capable of (through its own onboard processors) without breaking my the bank??? Do I really need a receiver with more of the same processors? TKS. RON D.