Looking at a new AV receiver

Interesting. It's deal of the week at Richer Sounds.

www.richersounds.com/product/av-receivers/sony/strdn1040/sony-strdn1040

It is a nice AV Receiver, had a listen to one at Richer Sounds recently as we were upgrading - eventually opted for a Pioneer though. I have used Sony AV Receivers for years and they are very reliable, got a really good deal on the Pioneer and couldn't resist - 9.2 channels is heavenly!! Plus the app lets me turn the music on when I'm hundreds of miles away, confuses the neighbours.

I do like Richer Sounds, I had a voucher emailed to me the other day, think it will give you an extra few quid off, you're welcome to use it if you want it. Or, just sign up to their VIP Club and you'll get the same monthly offers, assuming you haven't signed up already.

Thanks for the voucher offer, but I'm going to need to buy it locally (with one of those dodgy European plugs on it)
Had a peek at the what hifi reviews & it won product of the year 2013

I just looked at the rear panel of that beast & started having palpitations.

Eeek!

It was delivered this very morning & is abso-freakin'-lutely incredible!!

I'm working my way through them at the moment.
Ordinarily I try to avoid any "artificial intelligence" as much as possible.
But some recordings can benefit from a small tweak.
Going to work out all the network connectivity stuff today too.

It does. If you go pure direct you get just that. Same with auto.
The HD DCS emulates (& rather brilliantly) a cinema experience.
& I like the pure direct shuts off the display leaving the amp to focus on the audio delivery & not unnecessary lights.
& holy cow! It really rocks out with music. Not many AV amps actually do that so well.