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Quality home theatre receiver with quality sound?

Friends Parasound amp from 70s is dying. She is a 70+ widow who listens to music  from cds or Music Direct 50% of time and has TV and movies on remaining time. She has Gallo 3.1 speakers and appreciates their quality sound. I need to order her a replacement  unit and figured a decent midfi AV receiver would do well for her needs at this point given her budget and demands. She is ok up to $1000. I have honestly paid little attention to this category. I was thinking Marantz as I have had success with their gear for similar prices in quality and sound. Looks like all the midfi guys are in this category, e.g.  Denon, Yamaha,  Onkyo, etc. Anyone have experience from which  they can recommend a unit or brand? She doesn't care about surround sound or multichannel or a subwoofer. Bluetooth  would be  nice as she runs an IPhone and IPad. 
joekapahulu
geof3
1,125 posts
 
Go with something like this... I have one in my office setup. Great little inexpensive unit. All in one, and done. https://www.marantz.com/en-us/product/network-audio-players/m-cr612
mesch
3,403 posts
 
I have found 2-channel audio to work well for video. Higher sound quality per $$ spent. Only if one has a dedicated music/video room does the $$ spent provide a return on investment. Generally requires far greater $$ however. 
telescope_trade
555 posts
 
Might check out the Denon DRA-800H. It is a 2 ch receiver with HDMI, and lots of other features. I bought it as a hold me over, and IMO it really does not suck!! Read that how you want, but I think it’s pretty nice!! And is only $550. (Cheaper at some places)
joekapahulu OP
240 posts
 
Ok, no AVR. So stereo is fine. She has a Parasound pre and amp from the 70s. Her husband was a former musician and appreciated good sound. (I was very surprised how good the Parasound gear sounded for the last 25 years I have known her but the Hint is too pricey as a replacement . ) However, as age has caught up and one channel of the amp is out and there is no one to repair it out here, new is it. She knows  that newer stuff will likely sound better. An integrated will probably  work fine for her as long as it can drive the Gallo 3.1s. I don't know if she will like the Outlaws looks. So, a few options would be good. No dealers on Kauai so it will come from the net. Audio Advisor or Crutchfield or Music Direct unless someone suggest a good dealer. New with warranty for reliability.  Marantz, 
millercarbon's avatar
millercarbon
12,531 posts
 
88dB speakers. So she needs a hundred watts at least just to wake em up. So 100wpc, big volume knob, input selector, under a grand. Less is more. 
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