New Aussie member...

[chippa]

Walked into hifi shop looking for a Denon AVR, walked out the owner of a 1098 / 1075 combination. Its being used with a Mission Elegante speaker system & Sony Bravia LCD.

I was really looking at the network music streaming features of the Denons and to a lesser extent the HDMI upscaling features. However having listened to various combinations of Denon, Nad & Rotel - it was the sound that was the deciding factor. If I didn't do it then I would always be wondering and I couldn't wait for a year for next gen processor.

Looking into the crystal ball:
* next generation 1098 to have network connection
* media centre PCs to have better HDMI/DVI connections hence HDMI switching not needed as the video source will be the PC for most things
* firmware upgrade to existing 1098 to play Dolby HD sound formats
* my Sony Bravia won't work with new HDMI standards anyway
* i'll have Star Wars Triloggy in 3 formats

Many thanks to posters in this forum for the tips/advice which have and will be invaluable.

The downside is I had to cancel the house painter and do it myself to help pay for it. Its a zero sum game.

[PewterTA]

Wooo hooo... nice pickup!

I agree, after hearing everything in my price range I really liked the sound of the 1098 and 1095/1080 combo for my 7.1. I agree it does stink that the Rotel doesn't have all the features of the other brands, but when you hear it... well...that's really all that matters I think! I'm figuring the upgraded stuff, I'll either upgrade the units at some point or end up having a really nice HTPC that will do a lot of what I need...so I might still be able to make use of the 1098. But if not, I know I'll get a decent return on it as it is a serious investment!

Congrats!!! Give it a little bit of time at home and you will notice that both the pre and amp get better after they've been in use (be it so called "burn-in" or your ears adapting to it). You'll definitely enjoy it!