Best Home Theater Seperates below $4K

I've auditioned the B&K Ref 20 as well as the B&K 3090 preamps. the 3090 wasn't as good as my Conrad-Johnson PV10A preamp with a Wadia 12 DAC for 2 channel music, so I didn't returned it. the Ref 20, however, seemed about equal, plus all the additional inputs, S-VHS switching, and DD/DTS processing makes it a good buy, IMHO. never heard the new Parasound, but the conversion of all analog to digital makes me wonder about it's 2 channel analog abilities. as for amps, I've tried the Parasound 2200II, now discontinued, 225wpc model. great amp. big, heavy, and plenty of power. I suppose subwoofers also count as separates, so I vote for the Def Tech PF15TL, which I've owed for a year now. 15" woofer + 325 watt amp for ~$700 = great bargain.

If you can find one complete, the Angstrom 200 & 205 with DTS is BY FAR the best sounding unit in this area. Not even close (sorry Lexicon and Meridian). THE BEST amps are Acurus. The are hard to find, but well worth the effort. DVD player is the Sony 7700. Most useful features and qualty.

YOU ARE ABSOLUTELY RIGHT ABOUT THE ANGSTROM 200&205. MIKE MOFFAT (THETA) HAS DESIGNED AN INCREDIBLE HOME THEATER PREAMP AT ANY COST.ANGSTROM 200 W/DTS($3900). ANGSTROM 205 AC3 DECODER ($1500)

I'm in the same process so let me tell you what I did. If you don't mind buying used equipments, you can build a very decent system. These are what I bought and will look for 1. Classe SSP-25 ($1400 shipped) 2. Citation 7.1 power-amp ($1000 shipped) 3. B&W ASW100 ($500 shipped) 4. B&W Matrix 802 S2 (in progress of buying for $1900) 5. Sony DVP S7700 ($700 new) Hope this helps