Add-on for HT to a modern stereo receiver

[thedelihaus]

I've got enough speakers, so I thought it might be nice to add a HT kit to my modern stereo Marantz 4320.

Used is fine, and the goal is $250 or less, as I could buy a new Denon entry level HT receiver system for $249.

But I'd prefer to just add on to my already-here Marantz.

Any suggestions?

I'd like it to have 6.1 channels and Dolby Digital EX, DTS-ES and Dolby Pro Logic IIx decoding.

Built-in amps preferred, but open to suggestions here as well.

Thanks,

Paul

[tcdriver]

The easiest, cheapest and most efficient way to get the capability and features you desire is the buy the Denon receiver. I bought a modern receiver to get these kinds of features and enjoy it very much. I did use a quadraphonic era receiver before and did look into trying to add on the newer formats and decided it was not worth the effort. That is my two cents.

[cubdog]

HT systems can be somewhat cumbersome to navigate. I would buy a dedicated HT receiver to keep things simple. Yamaha and Denon seem to offer the most value in budget receivers.

cubdog

[mguy]

Onkyo have a refurbished surround receiver on their website for $110.00

[RichPA]

For an add-on, I think that your best bet is something like the Technics SH-AC500 processor - doesn't have amps included, but should be available for less than $200 and does both dolby digital and dts, iirc. The earlier SH-AC300 would be even cheaper but doesn't do dts. Add-ons with amps built in were common in the dolby pro-logic days, but have not been very common since dolby digital and dts have been around. Sony made a similar stand-alone processor, but I don't recall the model number right now.