upgrade recommendation

[The Guardian]

This is for my dad.. I haven't been paying much attention to receivers lately so we just want some starting ideas to go listen to.

Current setup:

Panasonic BD-55 analog outputs to a Denon 2803 receiver, with a PSB Image series 5.1 setup.

The speakers will get upgraded in the nearish future as well.

He wants a completely modern receiver which includes the lip-synching stuff for HDMI. He's considered the 2809 from Denon but for spending this much money he'd like to get a little more oomph at the same time.

So he's looking for 120-140 wpc. And the 3808 doesn't have all the features he would like.

So any suggestions for other brands to look at that are available now?

Thanks!

[crackinhedz]

What location is your dad in? USA, CANADA,UK?

[crackinhedz]

So he's looking for 120-140 wpc.

these specs are not very important (would need 10 times the orginial wattage to be twice as loud), not to mention inaccurate most of the time.

Should not be a determining factor when looking at receivers.


Before You Buy A Home Theater Receiver - AV Receiver - Surround Sound Receiver

[jomari]

to add on if we may,

we like to find out as well..
1. how big is the room?
2. your current and future connections (i see the panny)

great gesture btw your doing for your father.

[The Guardian]

He's in Canada.

I'm aware that wpc isn't the best guide but he IS looking for something with a little more power than what he's got, in real life not just on paper. It doesn't have to be twice the volume, looking for a more dynamic sound as well.

The room is quite large. probably 30' x 30' although the actual sitting area for the home theater is smaller (12' viewing distance from the TV)

He'll be upgrading to a new TV at the same time (likely a Panasonic plasma).

Also this is strictly for home theater use - he has a separate 2.0 system for music only - different speakers included.

[Johnny Vinyl]

What's his budget for an A/V receiver (or separates). There are so many choices out there. I suppose he kinda wants to future-proof his choice as well, and I would suggest some of the higher-end A/V's from Marantz, Denon, Yamaha and the like. These still though are only your basic consumer-level products. So again, what's his budget for an A/V receiver?

John

[The Guardian]

His upper-end budget is probably $2500 ish, just a rough estimate though - if he was blown away by something slightly more he might buy it, or if there's something for $1800 that does what he wants he'd go for that too.