Final decisions...any input?

[Sponge]

New guy but not new to the industy I use to sell high-end home audio and car audio all through college...best job I ever had.

For home A/V sold:
B&W
Monitor
PSB
MK
Marantz
Rotel
Parasound
NAD
Intregra
Mark Levinson/Proceed
KimberKable
AudioQuest
XLO/VDO
and all kinds of killer tube stuff

Well I am remodeling my basement and now it is time to do it up right (at least within this house's limits)...I have gone through a lot of threads and have a lot of looming questions that are being discussed...it appears I am not alone on what exactly to do right now as the industry is a state of transistion

I currently have:
Marantz SR870 w/the RC2000
Marantz DVD 810
Marantz 5 Disc CD
PSB Alpha's all the way around
B&W ASW1000 Sub

What I am going to buy:
B&W 600 series - no need to explain that -
Need to do ceiling speakers for surround...and undecided on that
Keeping sub

Torn on receiver (like a lot of other people) love the Rotel sound! Hands down the best sounding for the $ IMHO
But the whole HDMI switching would be great because I am running wires in the wall so looking at the Denon 2807...wish Marantz would offer it on the 5700 like the Denon? Worth the wait of another year and get by with the SR870?

TV - Panasonic 50" Plasma best bang for the buck picture and when 1080p gets out of the stratosphere I will be moved into a new house ready for the next upgrade!

DVD - no clue - the 810 is old and has now Component much less HDMI. I will use the PS3 for Blue-ray until this Blueray vs. HDVD gets sorted out

Anyway the whole A/V receiver thing is rehash of a lot of other threads going on here but any input would be great and valued... :T

Thanks all!

[Azeke]

Hello Sponge and welcome to HT Guide :welcome: .

Just my quick thoughts:

The new Rotel receivers have HDMI switching capabilities, check out the Rotel site for specs.

DVD: For ~$200.00 the Oppo 971 (I believe) provides upconversion via HDMI, and is highly rated, probably best bang for the buck. You could also consider the Toshiba HD-A1 (Blue-ray and HD DVD).

TV: Panny 50" Plasma is cool, but for my money I would consider the new Sony SXRD (rear projection). You could also consider Front Projection, which gives you screen diags. in feet instead of inches. Once you go FP, I bet you'll never go back.

Just food for thought, of course as always, YMMV.

Peace and blessings,

Azeke

[Sponge]

Hello Sponge and welcome to HT Guide :welcome: .

Just my quick thoughts:

The new Rotel receivers have HDMI switching capabilities, check out the Rotel site for specs.

DVD: For ~$200.00 the Oppo 971 (I believe) provides upconversion via HDMI, and is highly rated, probably best bang for the buck. You could also consider the Toshiba HD-A1 (Blue-ray and HD DVD).

TV: Panny 50" Plasma is cool, but for my money I would consider the new Sony SXRD (rear projection). You could also consider Front Projection, which gives you screen diags. in feet instead of inches. Once you go FP, I bet you'll never go back.

Just food for thought, of course as always, YMMV.

Peace and blessings,

Azeke

Thanks for the feedback!

The Rotel does have HDMI...that might be the winner but I want to listen to the Denon (never have) by reviews it getting. Too bad NAD doesn't offer HDMI

Thanks for the direction on DVD...I'll begin that search here shortly with that. I wish the Receivers had more than two HDMI's! Between DVD, DirecTV, and PS3 I need at least 3...

As for the TV I would love to do a projector (that was all we sold) but I have old home with a low ceiling in the basement matched with me being 6'3" that would be a nightmare...that and the wife wants the wall hanging sexy looking thing which is fine with me because to be honest I am more into the audio and it won't be any discussion because she is getting the TV she wants.

[aud19]

Hello Sponge and welcome to HT Guide :welcome: .

Just my quick thoughts:

The new Rotel receivers have HDMI switching capabilities, check out the Rotel site for specs.

DVD: For ~$200.00 the Oppo 971 (I believe) provides upconversion via HDMI, and is highly rated, probably best bang for the buck. You could also consider the Toshiba HD-A1 (Blue-ray and HD DVD).

TV: Panny 50" Plasma is cool, but for my money I would consider the new Sony SXRD (rear projection). You could also consider Front Projection, which gives you screen diags. in feet instead of inches. Once you go FP, I bet you'll never go back.

Just food for thought, of course as always, YMMV.

Peace and blessings,

Azeke

FYI the HD-A1 is HD-DVD only, not BluRay as Azeke mentioned (purely accidental I'm sure )

Otherwise I too vote Oppo or HD-A1. I'll put a vote in for SXRD too (it's not much deeper than plasma anyway) and the Rotel 1057 :T

[Azeke]

FYI the HD-A1 is HD-DVD only, not BluRay as Azeke mentioned (purely accidental I'm sure )

Thank you Jason for the correction, my memory seems to fade periodically .

Peace,

Azeke

[Gump]

Thanks for the feedback!

The Rotel does have HDMI...that might be the winner but I want to listen to the Denon (never have) by reviews it getting. Too bad NAD doesn't offer HDMI

Thanks for the direction on DVD...I'll begin that search here shortly with that. I wish the Receivers had more than two HDMI's! Between DVD, DirecTV, and PS3 I need at least 3...

As for the TV I would love to do a projector (that was all we sold) but I have old home with a low ceiling in the basement matched with me being 6'3" that would be a nightmare...that and the wife wants the wall hanging sexy looking thing which is fine with me because to be honest I am more into the audio and it won't be any discussion because she is getting the TV she wants.

The NAD Master series does have HDMI. FWIW.

[Rolyasm]

I dunno, but I hear a lot of people say buy a reciver or pre that doesn't offer HDMI/DVI conversion, and buy a seperate unit to do the job. That way you might be getting a better converting unit anyway and possibly saving some cash on the pre or receiver.
Just my thought.
Roly