Integra DTR-70.6

Comes with all original accessories calibration mic etc.... 

The DTR-70.6 receiver is Integra's flagship. What sets it apart from most of the receivers on the market are its 11.2 channels of Dolby Atmos-capable glory. Many consumers scoff at anything beyond a 5.1 home theater setup as being not worth the hassle, mostly due to the incremental increase in sound quality/enjoyment versus the hassle and cost of setup. While I tend to agree with this sentiment, I'm here to tell you that the jump to 11.2, if done properly, is exactly the game-changer many of us have been hoping and waiting for. Trust me when I explain that I'm as skeptical as (if not more so than) the next guy when it comes to being duped by manufacturer smoke and mirrors, but Dolby Atmos, when setup accurately and given the proper source material, is exactly the jolt that the home theater realm needs. This is not simply adding more speakers to entice people to buy new gear; this is a completely redesigned methodology in terms of sound recording, sound engineering, and ultimately sound encoding onto a Blu-ray disc. Since the focus of this review is the Integra receiver and not Atmos in general, I'll supply you with a link that's worth your time if you want to research Atmos. Also, if you have experience with Atmos and disagree with my assertion that this technology is game-changing, please share your thoughts in the comments section, and I'll be sure to engage.

The DTR-70.6 is an 11.2-channel, 135-watt-per-channel beast of a receiver. It measures roughly 17 inches wide by eight inches high by 17 inches deep and weighs a hefty 47 pounds. The feature set includes everything you'd hope for in a flagship receiver being rolled out in 2015, including eight HDMI inputs and three outputs. The HDMI 2.0 connections include support for HDCP 2.2. copy protection, 3D, and 4K upscaling and pass-through. This receiver is also THX Select2-certified and features built-in support for Spotify, Pandora, SiriusXM, and more. The amplifier and processor blocks are independent of one another, preserving and enhancing sound quality by limiting interference.

By now it should be clear that I highly recommend the Integra on multiple levels: overall sound and build quality, its Atmos capability, power, and bleeding-edge features set. And it's that last bit I'd like to focus on as I try to wrap this up. The Integra is the first receiver I've auditioned that has made me second-guess my $8,000 worth of separates. Does the Integra sound better than my reference rig? In terms of resolution and transparency, it does not, although at $2,800 that's not a reasonable expectation. Where it wins is obviously with Atmos, but also in the areas of features and convenience as a whole. There are plenty of little perks that this receiver delivers, as well--like convenient app control of streaming sources and the fact that, when powering up the receiver after listening to Pandora, it will default to playing that same station. On paper, it sounds trifling; in practice, it's incredibly convenient to press one button and be greeted with streaming bliss.

Further, due to the fact that the Integra has such a vast feature set, I was able to greatly simplify my setup, as I no longer needed my Mac, phono amp, Squeezebox, DAC, etc.--not to mention all of the cables associated with those components. It was liberating and speaks to what many are trying to accomplish these days in their systems: convenience and simplicity. 

Let's just forget about Atmos for a moment. Even if you remove this receiver's most cutting-edge feature, the Integra is still a paragon of audio engineering, both in terms of sound quality and feature set. It's also the first piece of audio or video gear that I've given five stars across the board; that should be all you need to know