Integra DTR-10.5 .....too good to pass on?

[TasDom]

I'm still shopping for an upgraded receiver / amp for my RF7II's and stopped by my local audio store. He is downsizing and re vamping their in store theater room. He offered me their DEMO unit with very few hours on it for 500.00 and a 200.00 trade in for my Pioneer. So for 300.00 out of pocket, I could get this unit that retailed for 3600.00

At 70 lbs. this thing is a beast. He sent it home with me to demo but I won't have time until the weekend. The only drawbacks are that it doesn't have HDMI or room correction. It does have 7 optical inputs so a work around for my HT shouldn't be too difficult.

I've read several post here on Integra and all seem favorable. There was an HDMI insert board available for this unit at one time but after contacting Integra, they only offered it for a short duration as they had too many issues with this option. He did however mention that they have a trade in program. I could trade this in on a DTR-80.3 plus an additional 1600.00

I'm hoping some members experienced with Integra can chime in with their thoughts....as always thanks for any comments.

[JerolW]

Good price (300) for a monster receiver. Consider that the unit (technology) is eight years old.

jerol

[mustang guy]

I'm still shopping for an upgraded receiver / amp for my RF7II's and stopped by my local audio store. He is downsizing and re vamping their in store theater room. He offered me their DEMO unit with very few hours on it for 500.00 and a 200.00 trade in for my Pioneer. So for 300.00 out of pocket, I could get this unit that retailed for 3600.00

At 70 lbs. this thing is a beast. He sent it home with me to demo but I won't have time until the weekend. The only drawbacks are that it doesn't have HDMI or room correction. It does have 7 optical inputs so a work around for my HT shouldn't be too difficult.

I've read several post here on Integra and all seem favorable. There was an HDMI insert board available for this unit at one time but after contacting Integra, they only offered it for a short duration as they had too many issues with this option. He did however mention that they have a trade in program. I could trade this in on a DTR-80.3 plus an additional 1600.00

I'm hoping some members experienced with Integra can chime in with their thoughts....as always thanks for any comments.

I have owned a lot of Integra products, and still use them. Top notch; however, the unit you are looking at does not do HDMI, and that is usually a prerequisite for home theater use. If you are simply in the market for something to drive music, then this thing will do that well. If you can find a C-HDMI card, I believe it will only support HDMI's 1.0 standards. You would not have:

DVD-A
SACD
Deep Color
xvYCC
Auto lip-sync
Dolby TrueHD
DTS-HD

You wouldn't have any of those with TOSlink either.

It is a great unit for $300 for sure, but I would only recomend it if you don't intend on using it as a home theater receiver.

I am using the DHC-80.3 and a DTA-70.1, and highly recommend the DTR-80.3 because of this. I'm not sure what the retail on the DTR-80.3 is, but it is probably more than $2,000. The question is, do you need it? Are you wanting a top notch home theater, or are you going to be playing music?

[mustang guy]

I found this little tidbit in a post on avsforum.

soulpunisher - The Integra is priced higher because it is only sold through dealers. However, all dealers can buy it for 40% off list price. Meaning, if MSRP is $3000, dealers buy it for $1800. You can find your local dealer from the integra website. I will be buying the Integra DTR-80.3 either this week or next. I called a couple dealers and made them go to war on price, so I will get it for 20% off - $2400. The point is, that you can get the Integra for cheaper than the Onkyo, IF you have a good relationship with a dealer, OR are a better salesperson than they are. Just remember, that all Integra dealers have a yearly quota and even ONE of the flagship models takes a big chunk out of that quota.

Since the dealer cost for the DTR-80.3 is $1,800, then you would be getting a deal at $1,900. That's about $500 less than they would sell it to you for at the dealership.

[TasDom]

I found this little tidbit in a post on avsforum.

Ironic, I read the exact same article while researching. After much consideration and calling the dealer on another subject I returned the unit to him. He looked up his cost after he sent it home with me and was glad I returned it. It would of been great for 2 channel but I need one that's more geared for HT.

Sometimes the thought of such a sweet deal creates blinders in regards to the pros and cons. After thinking of the age and lack of features as well as the size of that monster, my search continues.

After a lot of reading and reviews I am leaning more and more toward Onkyo / Integra although Marantz is still a strong contender as well.

Thanks for the input guys!

[Youthman]

It's easy to get caught up in the 80% off Blue Light Special. Those deals are super sweet if the features and technology meets your "current" needs. Those type deals are super sweet for guys that don't need the latest/greatest technology (ie 2ch setup).

[TasDom]

It's easy to get caught up in the 80% off Blue Light Special.

Most definately. I'm not impulsive and try to be patient but man o man, I'm dying to feed these 7's an energy drink!

[Thaddeus Smith]

You would not have:

DVD-A
SACD
Deep Color
xvYCC
Auto lip-sync
Dolby TrueHD
DTS-HD

For reference, my Denon 3808ci has all of these - it came out in 2007 at an MSRP of $1700. I picked it up about 1.5-2 years ago from a guy on Craigslist that was selling it for $900, but managed to do an even trade. They still go used for around $500.

The point: you can still get some great deals on mid to higher-end old tech that will support current standards, minus 3D.

[mustang guy]

You would not have:

DVD-A
SACD
Deep Color
xvYCC
Auto lip-sync
Dolby TrueHD
DTS-HD

For reference, my Denon 3808ci has all of these - it came out in 2007 at an MSRP of $1700. I picked it up about 1.5-2 years ago from a guy on Craigslist that was selling it for $900, but managed to do an even trade. They still go used for around $500.

The point: you can still get some great deals on mid to higher-end old tech that will support current standards, minus 3D.

Absolutely. HDMI 1.3 came out in mid 2006. Any AVR made in 07 or later would likely support everything you care to have as far as HDMI goes. What would possibly be missing would be other stuff like web music (Pandora, Internet radio, etc), and the newest Audyssey MultiEQ X32. The latest Audyssey is nice, but I have systems with older versions that are more than adequate when driving decent well placed speakers. As for internet music, that can come from the dish or cable company, a computer, and some blu-ray players.

Here is a used Integra that would do the trick:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Integra-Onkyo-DTR-9-9-THX-Ultra2-Plus-Dolby-DTS-HD-Home-Theater-AV-Receiver-/370596678814?pt=Receivers_Tuners&hash=item5649488c9e

Specs: http://63.148.251.135/redirect.cfm?type=sell_sheets&file=DTR-9-9-hqp-sm.pdf

It has had 6 offers already, so there is a lot of interest.

[willland]

The only drawbacks are that it doesn't have HDMI or room correction. It does have 7 optical inputs so a work around for my HT shouldn't be too difficult.

That will not prevent you from enjoying the HD bluray codecs(DTSMA and Dolby TrueHD). Your BD player must have multichannel analog outs and must decode the signals to send to your receiver's multichannel inputs. No difference in sound quality with analog 7.1 and HDMI. I have been running my NAD T773 receiver with this option for quite some time now and it just plain rocks.

I do think the Integra DTR-10.5 for $300.00 $$$ is a great deal, with HDMI or not. The internal amps in this receiver are seperates-like similar to the older Yamaha RX-Z9 which is legendary.

Bill