Please recommend HT Receiver for stereo use...

[SE-Raider]

I have an Apple G5 Powermac with an optical digital output. I will be building a set of monitors, probably the Modula MT's and need and amplifier to drive them. Rather than use the sound card on the Mac, I prefer to use the digital out and plan to feed the digital input of an HT receiver. The HT receiver however will be used only for stereo, since I can't find a stereo receiver or amp that has a digital input and d/a converter.

(Another possibility though might be to use my DEQ2496 and use it as a D/A converter to feed an integrated amp. I might like to try an affordable digital amp as well.)

What receiver would you recommend for best sound quality, flexible subwoofer crossover output, and a high quality D/A converter. Ability to biamp might also be nice. I have considered the Panny SA-xr55, but am having trouble finding one locally. What other recievers would be our pick for such usage. I was thinking along the lines of Yamaha, H/K etc.)

Any suggestions or experience especially welcome. Out -of-the-box ideas welcome also.

Thanks

[peterS]

here is an out of the box idea

http://www.htguide.com/forum/showthread.php4?t=18241

will set you back $100 and has a defeatable preamp (actualy the conection from pre to amp is external and removable) well built as you can see
id give it a shot, if you dont like it return it, if you do like it you will have saved your self a lot of cash, keeping in mind that most people feel that the amp adds the least amount of distortion in the signal chain

[Vinny]

If you want a Panny XR-55, go for some online stores like Amazon after you make up your mind. Much easier with the stock problem since this one goes really fast(this unit gets out of stock everyday even in Amazon and replenish hours by hours, imagine how many it goes for one day). I had a Pioneer elite before then bought this one, I packed my Pioneer Elite reciever(something 4 series with THX selected) right away and never opened it ever since :B (hmm would this be upgrade or downgrade? I paid lesser than half on the Panny than the Pioneer but way better quality).

[SE-Raider]

PeterS, I wanted a unit with optical in. thanks though, it may serve well in a system I need for my son's room.

Vinny: Is the sound quality of thee Panny REALLY any better that the SQ of other amps at the same price point, say Yamaha or H/K?

BTW, interesting that you retired your Elite. I bought my last Pioneer Elite. Paid $500 for their SACD player; DVD player image freezes in mid movie. Tweeter refused to do anything within the first month, because I didn't get the extended warranty. Pioneer repair center kept the unit for five months. Had to escalate with Pioneer to get it back. Still doesn't work. My 10 year old always has to remind me that his $79 Magnavox works fine; maybe I should get one of those - ouch. No more "Elite" for me. But it also makes me leary of buying from Amazon. If I had this much trouble with a brick and mortar store and brand, whow bad would a warranty claim be over the net?

[peterS]

PeterS, I wanted a unit with optical in. thanks though, it may serve well in a system I need for my son's room.

you would need to use a seperate preamp and dac

[aud19]

I vote for just an amp and use your G5 in conjunction with a quality soundcard for the pre/pro...

However if you insist on a receiver.... For 2-ch reproduction IMO you can forget any of the "mass market" companies. You'll want the likes of Sherwood Newcastle, Rotel, Nad etc.

[Vinny]

PeterS, I wanted a unit with optical in. thanks though, it may serve well in a system I need for my son's room.

Vinny: Is the sound quality of thee Panny REALLY any better that the SQ of other amps at the same price point, say Yamaha or H/K?

BTW, interesting that you retired your Elite. I bought my last Pioneer Elite. Paid $500 for their SACD player; DVD player image freezes in mid movie. Tweeter refused to do anything within the first month, because I didn't get the extended warranty. Pioneer repair center kept the unit for five months. Had to escalate with Pioneer to get it back. Still doesn't work. My 10 year old always has to remind me that his $79 Magnavox works fine; maybe I should get one of those - ouch. No more "Elite" for me. But it also makes me leary of buying from Amazon. If I had this much trouble with a brick and mortar store and brand, whow bad would a warranty claim be over the net?

Compare to what you have in same price(250), you are pretty much getting all lowest model or second lowest model among the reciever line. With the SQ that those can give would be lower than the Elite series(the price and performance went pretty uniform by that time). What I've listened was much tigher bass, detail med and sufficient power to drive all 7 speakers simutaneously with same level of 2ch detail especially in medium range(most lower level reciever fail to even I'm using Klipsch speakers which are already extremely sufficient).
The service I had from Pioneer was fine(I had a perfectly running fine unit and never return to manufactor so i'm not sure about all those red tapes on maintainence).

Yet depends on your budget and availabilty, I'd say give it a chance for listening some seperate 2ch amp like Parasound and compare to the XR-55. Since you don't need decoding/multichannel from it anyway, all you care is sound quality coming from the unit. If you get it lucky on second hand market you can get the last generation of 2ch amp about the same price as XR-55. Then get whichever please your ears :T (of course you will have to get a better sound card as well, Prodigy 7.1 or M-Audio Revo wouldn't cost you much).