The best receiver I ever heard would be separates tied together with a big rope...but outside of that, I like my 9090db the best. There's just something very nice about how it sounds, and I love the sound of the tuner in it. That said, I don't care for it's phono section at all (easily solved by an outboard). I also like my McIntosh 4100. The rest of the receivers I've had, which is a lot of them, sort of lived in a similar good but not great area as far as sound for me. I liked some, hated some, and most were kind of so-so, but fun to play with.