I was just wondering what the next step up is from my receiver. I sold my NAD T761 80wx5 because the Pioneer sounded cleaner (maybe brighter but not to a fault). Where is the next step up around $1000. A higher end Elite, Yamaha, Rotel or Arcam? This is mainly for music but I do have a second room I like to run. Or would it be wiser to just use the 1014 as a preamp? Thanks.
For $1,000 you can get the elite vsx-56txi (on-line). That is an awesome receiver. You can also get the Yammie rx-v2500, or the denon avr3805. These are some of the biggest names in the 1 grand arena. I haven't been able to find the rotel or arcam etc for under 1G.
The step up to the 56txi would get a substantial upgrade on some internal components, as well as usb and firewire/ilink. It was my drool receiver, but I had to opt for the vsx-54 (with which I am very happy!)