AV receiver recommendation

[bbawden]

Hi all. I was wondering if someone could recommend a receiver for me, as there's just too much choice!

Essential features:
1080p upscaling
3 or more HDMI inputs (handling audio too please)
Optical audio input
Component input
Preamp output

Nice to have features:
iPod dockable
Multi room/zoning
DAB tuner
Networkable via ethernet (it would be great if it could handle video streaming from my media server, running twonky, but not absolutley necessary as my Xbox will do this)

Not 100% sure of my budget at the moment, but less than £1,000 would be nice. (might spend more for an outstanding unit)

Cheers

[bbawden]

What do you all think of the Onkyo 905?
http://www.creative-audio.co.uk/hots...AMP_ONK905.htm has a good deal: 905 with Mission MCUBE speakers and cables, all for £1,590.

[davepuma]

Pretty much every current mid-high end amp will have your essential requirements and some of your 'nice to haves' like multi-room and ipod dock compatibility. There are new amps coming from Denon, Pioneer and Sony all due out soon. The Denon 2809 might interest you but lacks some of your nice to haves. DAB is pretty much non existant on receivers, so a separate tuner is probably the way to go. Networking is really only found higher up the price range but streaming video isn't possible, they can do internet radio and streaming mp3 etc. (usually via windows media). I personally would prefer a separate streaming solution e.g. squeezebox so I didn't have to squint at the amp's display or view album art and so on on a web based device or remote. If you have a PS3, Xbox 360 or similar video streamer that take care of that for you.

High end Onkyos e.g. 905, Yamaha 3800, Denon 3808, Pioneer LX70 all have networking (no DAB AFAIK) and all cost around £1000 and upwards give or take (shop around for deals).

[Selfar]

It is a good deal. During the last year Onkyo surpassed Denon and Yamaha with a good product range at very competitive prices. Onkyo is using a better video processing chip, as per many professional reviews. However, I still believe that the Denon sounds better and the video processing is good. To meet your requirements, the Denon 3808 would be a good starting point for around GBP 1000.

[bbawden]

Yeah, I thought that video streaming would be an issue. Still, the Xbox handles it very well, so that will be fine. Seems odd that DAB is so poorly supported, and even odder that DVD recorders with digital tuners can't usually get DAB either!

There's just too much choice! I think the Onkyo 905 might be overkill. I think I'd be better off getting a cheaper one, and spending the difference on speakers etc.

The Denon 2808 looks quite nice, as does the Onkyo 805. Any other suggestions?

[Dav1dF]

Just to let everyone know, Denon have NO 2808's left in stock, so you'll be relying on stock held by stores as of now.

Regards
David