Holiday Greetings to all of you from a frequent lurker and not so frequent poster.
I have a friend whom I am helping to re-do his complete sound system. They have a very um..... let's say in-effective system currently comprised of a sony receiver (not a full bodied receiver one of the very small integrated DVD systems with only 2 inputs most similar to the current Sony model DAV-HDX589W) and the Sony plastic 5 speakers with a non-powered Sony sub that comes with the system.
We made the first step on Saturday as he received a new 240 gig PS3 for his Birthday. I have set this up for them and worked with them a while on all it can do as a music server etc. I need to spend a little more time with them on this in the near future. In setting this up I also determined that their cable TV had not even been digitally connected for surround sound so off to the store we went to get the appropriate cable (Didn't want to wait to order from Mono-Price) and they were pleased with this as well. Also let me say that my friends are really two GREAT people whom my wife and I care for a lot.
He is now prepared to buy a receiver and is more than willing to pay the price for the now reduced in price by 50% RX-Z11. He has been to my home on different occasions and is very impressed by my modest systems I have here.
There are a couple of questions I have.
I am quite sure that they will set up in their living-room/family room area a 7.1 or a 7.2 system. They will also want to connect some outdoor speakers up as well. I am mentioning this as I know the Z11 can have up to 11 separate channels of amplification. So this would make really good sense to me. The speaker selection has not been made yet but I am leaning toward the Ascend Acoustics CME-340 system up front and possibly the rears, or maybe some Axiom QS-8's for rears. This is still in the determining phase, as it will be a "Piece at a time" process. I know the receiver and the speakers at once would be a mind blowing "Difference" but we will do it one at a time. Subs........ oh the options there, that will be another topic entirely as I am a little long-winded on this one already
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I will profess that I am a Yamaha fan as I have two RX-V's of my own and I love them. They are "Dated" by todays standards but still work fine for me. One is HDMI capable (1700) and one is the venerable RX-V2500 that was my first REAL receiver so it has a special place in my heart.
I do not however simply wish to PUSH Yamaha so I am therefore coming here to ask the simple question; Do any of you think that at this time there is anything out there that would represent a better value in the market today at the 2.5K price-range? I will set the system up for network music, they already have the PS3 for Blu-Ray. They will have some very good speakers as well. It just looks like the Z11 @ this price point is a no-brainer? Does the Denon 4310 even come close. I am not a big Onkyo fan (have had some friends who have had some less than stellar Customer Service issues) although I know they supply a lot of Bang for the buck. Also not a big Marantz fan either as I am uncertain of their recent quality standards as well. Am I correct in my thinking that the Z11 is a substantial improvement over the Z7?
Ok, Ok I know enough already (long post I know) but this is where I stand and I want to see my friend get the most that he can for his money and the Z11 just looks to me to be head and shoulders above the rest.
Your thoughts PLEASE!!!!!!
