Yamaha RX-V1800 vs Integra DTR 6.8/7.8 for 12x12 room

[kid320]

Hey everyone! As always, I appreciate everyone's opinions on this board. Any major home theater purchase I have made over this past 3 years has passed through this board at one point in time. So, this decision should be no different.

I currently have a Yamaha HTR-5540 receiver. I am thinking about upgrading it to something better and think I have it narrowed down to a couple of options, but I want to make sure it is worth upgrading at this time and I am not overdoing it for the size of my room and quality of my speakers.

The room I have is 12x12. I have Energy C-series C-7's as my main speakers, a C-C1 as my center and a pair of C-1's as the surrounds. I think the Yamaha HTR-5540 is under utilizing these speakers in a major way.

I was looking at a couple of receivers, including Denon, Harman-Kardon and Yamaha. I narrowed it down and decided on the Yamaha RX-V1800. I can get it for about $900 online, although I wanted to spend a pinch less than that. So, I called around to a few stores to see if they had any open boxes and ended up talking to a guy at a local high end home theater store. He mentioned the Integra DTR 6.8 and DTR 7.8 are also very good receivers. I can't even find a current price point for those receivers, but they do have good reviews. I have a feeling I am going to end up spending a little more on it than the Yamaha. What do you guys think of those receivers? Is it worth getting one of them, or would it be overkill for my situation?

Basically, what I want to be able to do is get rid of the switchbox that I have everything hooked up to (Cablebox, DVD player, xbox, Wii, NES, Computer etc.) via component video and start using the receiver as my switcher with HDMI. This will provide upscaling (my tv supports 1080i, not 1080p... but NES in HD... hmmmmm ) and, apparently, a better picture.

So, which is it... the Yamaha, one of those Integras or something else that I haven't even looked at yet?

Thanks for all of your help! I really appreciate it!

[dumaresq]

I believe the Integras are Onkyo receivers. I know some of the Onkyo's have issues doing video scaling, but I haven't seen it myself. I also heard that they have heat issues, again not experienced this myself, and I don't know if these issues affect the integras or not. I have the RX-V1800 and I love it. I got it for about 850 (not online)... In the price range your looking at anything will be "good" I suggest you take some music that you know and listen to it on both in a shop (hopefully one that has both and play them through the same speakers). This is how I chose the Yamaha over the Denon and the Pioneer I was looking at. It is very personal because they guy who was helping me was convinced the Denon sounded better but I disagreed

[kid320]

Thanks for the reply. I actually went ahead and bought the Yamaha without even listening to it. Based on the reviews I have seen on it, I knew I would be happy with it (compared to my old receiver), and I found a price that I couldn't possibly pass up. I was able to find it new online from a reputable dealer for $768 shipped. The sale ended in February, but with a few phone calls and a little whining, I convinced them to honor the sale. They did so, and shipped it free second day.

I now have everything hooked up to the new receiver via HDMI and I LOVE the sound it puts out. As bad of a movie as The Fast and the Furious is, it has some really good sound during the first big race scene(scene 4 on the dvd). I plugged in the microphone and let Yamaha do its YPAO calibration. Making no other adjustments to the receiver, it made my old receiver sound like an old intercom system in a hospital. I have since calibrated everything myself, and am still in the process of tweaking a few of the settings, as this is something that never seems to end.

The only thing I don't like about it is the universal remote. It is a learning remote, but doesn't seem to want to control my DVR nor learn those functions. I also don't like the fact that there is a seperate power switch to turn the receiver on, and a standby button to turn it off. So, I am not able to use my current universal remote from my cable company to turn the thing on and off. I now have to sit there with 2 remotes like its the early 90's or something. How terrible!

I also got a Toshiba HD-DVD player at a firesale price because my old was was on the fritz, and am just waiting for Netflix to start selling their HD-DVD's off for pennies on the dollar.

I am happy with my investments. I want to eventually get a sound transducer to add a little bit of butt shaking under my seat, but I am satisfied for now.

Once again, thanks for your reply. It is appreciated.