Which Receivers Would I Buy?

Do it even matter!?!

The year is 1997 and a war's on. I don't mean the war in Afghanistan..... I mean the one in Japan! This is known as the war of the super-receivers. By this time in audio history, the Japanese owned the market. Not that there aren't others. Americans and British are still a factor in the speaker world as well as mid to high-end. However, as far the the bulk....and by that, I mean the "BULK" of the market was concerned, the major Japanese manufacturers completely held it in a death-grip. At this point, they were out to prove a point. And that point was that they could build equipment that was  comparable to the high-end in sonic capability. 

Oh, it gets better..... Not only did they decide they could create comparable sonics, but they could do it all in one piece..... leading to the creation of the Super-Receiver! If you'll ignore the connectors on the back of this Denon AVR-5803, the inside pretty much looks like it's from a high-end amp. It's not a Denon thing; they all pretty much looked like this..... Yamaha DSP-A1, Pioneer Elite VSX-49 Tx/Txi, Integra DTR-9.1/9.1U and of course Sony ES....

There's perhaps no more obsessive company than Sony, but they were/are pretty much all like this... focused, and purpose driven. They sold for between $3500 and 5000, but I'm not certain that any of them made money on these models, but that wasn't the point. This went on for a number of years but by the middle of the next decade, it was over (maybe I'll write about what came after some time). So, what does this mean to "frugal" among us (like me), for which $3500-5000 in year 1997 dollars is a LOT of money.

......well, like I said last time: electronics hold no value. That's versus not having value. These devices in a functioning state hold a lot of value. Most of them had 7 (or more) channels of power conservatively spec'd at between 135 and 170 watts RMS. Plus they all have pre-outs if you don't think that's enough power, or if some of those channels fail. They all have a bewildering array of features ranging from multi-room control to automatic microphone adjusted surround set up. Wi-Fi? Bluetooth? USB? Smartphone App? Uhhh....no, none of those things. Probably not HDMI switching either. But the sound of them!!! And the build quality!!!

And quite often, they originally came with remotes like these that can be programmed to control virtually anything. They can all be purchased on eBay for between $100 and $300 on any day. If you're a patient sort, I'd wait for one that's sold "for local pickup only" that's close to your location. Why? It'll save you $50 or more in shipping, the wear and tear of shipping, and most importantly, limit your competition. 

Why do this? The sound for one. These things sound amazing (make sure it's in good condition). And if you've ever owned anything that's "top-of-the-line" (even used), it's a bit of a revelation. I've owned, sold or used a number of these devices. The only thing I can compare it to was the years that I owned a 1988 BMW M5. It was the only series of these that were hand-built at the Motorsport facility on Preussenstrasse in Munich. There's no good way to describe it. Does the fact that there were NO options for that car tell you anything? When I sold it, a guy flew to Lubbock, Texas from Seattle for it.....