I'm looking to purchase my first HT receiver, and have decided to go digital. There don't seem to be a lot of reviews out about these yet (at least on the two-dozen or so websites I checked), so I'm hoping some of you have some experience with them you'd be willing to share. Based on prices I've seen on UBID and EBAY, I'm hoping to score one for no more than $700. I'm open to any recommendations or experience with either the HK DPR 2005, Onkyo TX-NR801 or any other digital receiver that I might snag for around $700 that might be better. Thanks in advance for any advice!
Not sure if the 801 is all-digital. Usually all-digital receivers are a lot lighter and more compact than the traditional analog ones, and that 801 is about as petite as a Hummer.
Between HK and Onkyo though I'd take HK in a heartbeat, esp. if you also care about good musical performance.
Onkyos do have the advantage of being very easy to use/setup plus have tons of electronic bells and whistles, sound-tweaking features, etc. but are also notorious for having hugely overrated power ratings. The 801 has an Ethernet connection which is rather handy, not sure if the 2005 does or not.
Thanks Edster. I guess I'll have to do a bit more research on the 801. I was leaning towards the HK already based on the countless positive postings about HK in general here. Any receiver suggestions to compete with the DPR 2005? Thanks again.
the 801 is NOT digital. in fact, onkyo doesn't even make an all digital receiver. The HK is pretty good, panasonic is coming out with a new all digital receiver soon (srx55?), and it's supposed to be pretty nice. You might want to wait a while if you plan to go digital, IMHO digital has a way to go to catch up to solid state amps.