Very true, but how much of a pain in the butt do you want to make everything here, as well as multiple boxes to sync together rather then an all in one source/answer...
Obviously, my goal is not to make things more difficult just for the sake of it, but to show the OP that "there are many ways to skin a cat". Just in case the thought never occurred to him, perhaps with an assumption that a flagship all-in-one unit is the
end-all.
That, in fact, if he DID want the VERY BEST, separate components are the wtg, and he can still afford to do so. Or IOW, if you gave me $10k, and told me I had to spend ALL of it on upstream electronics, my previous post would represent my initial train of thought. If I was allowed to spend on anything in the HT, I'd upgrade my PJ, and then maybe a second sub.
But, then, you're talking to someone using a refurbished Onkyo receiver as a pre/pro. The Anthem alone costs more than that, my refurbished 68 lb NAD amp, and superceded Cambridge A class switching integrated, combined. Heck, you could add a couple to few hundred lbs of my treatments to that budget, and the Anthem still is probably more.
Really, I just wanted to know what was really important to him. Was it everything? Perhaps not, maybe he's using some 27" CRT for a television, but I doubt it since he wants the new codec support. Is he using a projector? If so, the outboard VP might become much more desirable. If it's a 50" plasma, probably not, well, perhaps that is also dependent on the color accuracy as well.
Are either the Anthem or Denon good enough for 99.9999% of folks. I'd sure think so.
$400-500 for a Pro Audyssey setup is only 5% of the budget, but, well, it's a pro setup. My bigger fear here is not the price, but to actually find someone willing. I've picked the brain of a well known CI guy at AVS, and he just won't do it for you unless you've bought a significant amount from him, let alone having him do the whole install. I particularly remember the great importance he put on the placement of furniture. Regardless, 5% of the budget is not that bad when you consider that it will most likely benefit SQ disproportionately to the budget. And I mean that in the positive sense.
Don't get me wrong; I'd take either choice any day of the week, and I wouldn't complain. They are both great pre/pros, and like I said, I concur with these two choices.
