Budget=75-100K; Receiver = Undecided

the price mentioned is in Indian Rupees and approx US$ 2000

stoned

Since music is very important for you, I would go with systems from Arcam, NAD or Rotels for this range. You may also want to look at top of the range Yamaha's (~ USD 5000) if you can get very good discounts. With high importance to music, I would keep away from Denons.

Within your budget, you should be able to get Arcam AVR 300 or Rotel 1067. Arcams are reputed to be the most musical and Rotels sound brigter. Rotels have a power advantage over Arcams and may have HDMI for video.

Denons and Pioneer Elites may provide you with better features like room equlization. But this feature is rerely used and you can use an SPL meter to do this manually. iLink is another feature to consider if PC connectivity is important. iLink may become redundant when DRM issues are resolved on HDMI audio and high quality audio is enabled.

Basically, it all boils down to your music listening preferences. You need to have a good audition of receivers before you decide which one is for you. Do not rely only on our opinions for your purchasing decisions.

You will also need superb source to go with these receivers. Good ones that I would recommend are Pioneer Elite DV 59AVi, or the ones from Arcam. You may also want to check out competitive offerings from Denon and Rotel.

With this budget on the receiver, you will need to set aside a good deal of money on some audiophile speakers. You get some good speakers in India. You may want to audition them for and see how they image, their off axis response. You will need to look into these aspects before you put in such kind of money on speakers. One thing I have come to realize is that putting more money on your system does not automatically entitle you to better sound. The bigger the brand name the pricer the system. Some not so conspicuous imported and local speaker may provide you much better value for money. You will need to spend more time and efforts to get the system that suites your tasts and your wallet

Let me know how your efforts go

Another option is to go in for separates. They provide you much better control and you can get a better processor. Check out the offereings from Arcam and Rotel.

Frequency response of the Arcam AVR 300 and Rotel 1067 are ver similar. Arcam's are rated for flat response (comment from Manufacturer http://europe.rotel.com/products/specs/rsx1067.htm) from 20 to 20 KHz but have a much wider 3db response. The Rotel 1067 is for 3db over 10 to 120 KHz (http://europe.rotel.com/products/specs/rsx1067.htm).

I am not sure of the digital section though. If you are using a good external source, you may not have a problem using Arcam's with SACD or high quality vinyls.

the price mentioned is in Indian Rupees and approx US$ 2000

the arcams really have a formidable reputation..

I don't know if it's something for you, but take a look on www.jungson.com
the av-1000D should be well under a 2000us$

however I've never been able to compare it to an arcam receiver (or rotel), I can only tell that it outstrips onkyo-702 and denon 3805 (which I have auditioned) by far. but I guess this can be said about arcam and rotel too..

Jungson AV-1000D is about twice the weight of equivalent AVRs from Rotel or Arcam. It has a much bigger power supply and class A amp supporting it. However, there is hardly any reviews on this product in english. Are there any local dealers supporting / selling this product? Product support, firmware upgrade is another thing that needs to be considered.

how about the sunfire "the ultimate receiver"..
anyone auditioned it..?hmm?

However, there is hardly any reviews on this product in english.

there are some posts on www.adioasylum.com but I guess you've already found those ones

Are there any local dealers supporting / selling this product?

I'm living in geneva and don't know about your local situation..

Product support, firmware upgrade is another thing that needs to be considered.

at least bout firmwares not that much, as the av-1000d is purely analogue and needs an external decoder, either a pre-amp, a receiver with pre-outs or a good dvd-player. the 1000C version comes with integrated decoders I believe, but they are very basic and do not offer any delay options. so its more to be looked at as a multichannel power-amp..

I myself own a jungson ja-88d stereo-amp and am really happy with it. I haven't actually auditioned the av-1000d myself, the dealer said in stereo it would perform a bit under the ja-88d's level. however I auditioned the av-899c and in bypass-mode the stereo-sound was really nice and already outstripped the two receivers (onkyo & denon) mentioned above..

greets dipak

Sufi, personally, I would choose a good pair of fronts in India with an option of a compatible centre channel upgrade. For movie performance the fronts and TIMBRE matched centre are most important. Since the question is on the receiver, I will not discuss this further. A point to keep in mind is that the speaker and the HT features you are looking at determine which receiver you may want to choose ultimately.

Benki, Sunfire is well outside the range requested by Sufi and may need a different thread. Sufi, if you are able to get the receiver in the US, I suggest you look at getting a Marantz SR-8400 on ebay or ubid. At about $500, there is nothing you can get of this quality in this range. I have only heard Marantz in stereo mode though.

In the range of 75-100K (USD 2000), you will also be able to choose any of the following:

o Denon 2805/3805 with an external amplifier
o Pioneer Elite 55TXi (not sure of the equivalent asia/europe model number)
o Rotel 1056 (1067 is more expensive)
o Arcam DiVA series AVR-250 (not recommeded) and AVR-300
o NAD ??
o Harman Kardon AVR 630
o Marantz SR-8400, SR-8500
o Yamaha higher end (if you get an excellent discount)

If you are interested in a very musical receiver, I would like to suggest Arcam, NAD or Rotel from the list above. All these receivers perform well for both Music and HT. Marantz is respected in Asian markets for its musical properties but is not very popular in the US. Denon 2805/3805 with external amps may be an equally good choice.

If connectivity and features is very important, I would look at Denon or Pioneer Elite series. Denons in the US only come in 110 volt version. You may not get support if you buy outside the authorized channels. However, you can get very good discounts on Denons in the US (25-30%) if you buy it as part of a package with speakers.

Arcam has a lot higher sticker price (still within your range) and you could possibly get it without the traditional Indian retailer premium in the grey market. Arcam is flexible on support and responds requests on public forums as well as their official support line. It also has support for 220/100 volt in a single box. Overall, my price for the Denon and Arcam was very similar, so I picked up Arcam and saved on my universal player.

You may also want to seriously look at Rotel and NAD. Rotel, NAD and Arcam do not have a whole lot of features but have an overall better build qualitiy in my opinion.

If you clarify your requirements i.e., SACD playback, HDTV connectivity, I can give you better inputs on the choice you have. Good luck with your receiver hunting

Dipak, dedicated amps and good audio source will anyday outclass an integrated receiver. What is most interesting is that the Jungson amps are Class A devices. I believe similar offerings from traditional markets cost 5 times as much.

Has anybody considered flying through China to pick up high end audio gear Seems like this is a lot better place to pick up software and Hi end audio gear and the tour to china would be free with just the savings on the audio gear