i have my eye on a very nice pioneer elite 49txi or 59. either one is good.

i used to have the pioneer vsa e8, an awsome machine with a very cool lcd remote. it had the dedicated input for LD and ac-3. I loved it, but i traded it away for a reciever with hdmi and upscaling of analog sources. mostly becouse i was tired of changing cables all the time to my projector.

I bought the E8 after hdmi was standard, and these elite machines was pretty much given away for free. I have seen that the prices for these old elite machines are higher today than a couple of years ago.

I regret trading away mine, but i didnt have any use for 2 recievers.

I heard that pioneer was working on a 3D upgrade for the susamo, but it was a long time ago so i guess it never came. I cant understand how they could ignore this issue becouse as long as it doesnt exist an 3d upgrade it will be one of the biggest scams in the reciever market. In sweden the price were at 10k usd, and pionner must have known when they made it that 3d was just around the corner.

Still I want it, but its way to expensive for a reciever without 3d, not that i use it but it doesnt feel right to buy such expesive "outdated" equipment.

I use a Pioneer Elite VSX-49txi. It can be found used for under $400. It works great for me as I connect my HDMI sources to the TV directly. I run 7.1 analog out from my blu ray into the "multi in" on the receiver and get DTS-HD/Dolby TRUEHD. It has a built in AC-3 demodulator and works great for me using both older and newer source players.

http://www.pioneerelectronics.com/PUSA/ ... /VSX-49TXi