Looking to change to all-in-one Reciever/Amp
 

I currently have a B&K pre-amp and a B&K processor. The components are around 5 years old, and despite initially sounding great, in the last 6 months I have had big problems with the processor (certain zones going out). I am looking to consolidate to an all-in-one processor/amp. Can anyone give me some advice on a good unit in the $1,500-$2,000 range? I do not really need HDMI or 7.1. I just want a solid workhorse, with an easy interface. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

You can give me those when you pull them out. :)

Why on earth do you want to downgrade to receiver without getting the latest features? Anyway, you won't get away from them, and no doubt at some point you might want them.

But I guess Onkyo would have a smoother interface than Denon (3808CI is nice, $1600), and Integra would have better integration features than standard Onkyo, which I'm guessing could be an issue. So I would put forth the 6.8 or 7.8, between $1000-1300.

Oh, for a little more (ok, a lot more) you could go to the 8.8, which offers excellent video upconversion. Although it sounds like you don't really want it.

Just my .02, have you tried to see what a service will cost? Those are great pieces.

get it serviced

Thanks.......
 

I appreciate all your guys input. The problem with getting a B&K serviced, as far as I understand, is that sending the thing to Buffalo is really expensive(and it weighs about a ton), and then waiting for 4-6 weeks with no sound on the TV (I have a 60 inch monitor w/no sound) would be frustrating. Plus, I am kind of getting the feeling like you do when a car or relationship is giving you a lot of trouble...as in things are only going to get worse.

As far as the downgrade, and please help me out here from a technical perspective. A few pretty savvy people have told me that even the best HD signal through Direct TV does not maximize HDMI, and that component connections are fine. I am waiting for anther two years to go to HD DVD or Blu-ray until the format situation flushes out, a well. What do you guys think?

Thanks again.

Pretty well everything has a HDMI interface these days, it keeps cord clutter to a minimum.

I don't think there's anything out there anymore that doesn't have 7.1, so you'll just have to have it :)

The downgrade is in the amp, not video. Video sections in today's $1000 receivers are probably better than your B&K. Audio....not so much.

why not get a decent receiver but use the amps you already have? you can get an all-in-one receiver and wire up the system to use your current amps. this way you get the nice clean power of the amps you already have with the modern functionality built into the newer receivers....