[pugs]

I'm ready for a system overhaul.  When funds are available, I want to upgrade speakers first.  I'm also thinking of selling my Odyssey monos, Tempest, and Cary 303/200.  

I'm thinking about replacing the Odyssey gear with a digital receiver, and the Cary with a dAck possibly using my Pioneer DV47a as a transport (possibly modded).

Out of all the new budget digital receivers, which has the least fatiquing most impactful sound?  Which is the consensus favorite?  Will the digital receiver be completely outclassed by the Odyssey gear?

I see there's a Panasonic XR45, 50, and 70.  What are the differences between them?  What other digital receivers are out there?  I've seen the JVC F-10, but what else?

[gongos]

There are a lot of threads on this topic.

[pugs]

There are a lot of threads on this topic.

There's a lot of bits and peices, but for the time I looked at past threads none specifically answered my questions.

[jswallac]

Like everything else, it is a matter of taste.  Your ears belong to you and are connected to your brain.  That said, there seems to be a general concensus that the Pannies are best if you have a digital input and the JVC is best for analog input.  Since you said that you plan to feed the receiver with the Ack! you will likely be best served with the JVC.  Now your decision is which JVC.  Some say for music the older ES1SL bests the newer F10.  Of course the newest crop that have just been introduced are unknowns regarding sound.  What we do know is they are very aggressively priced and more feature rich than the past generation.  Change is the one thing you can be sure of in this digital amp area.  To further complicate things, the Vinnie Rossi modified SI amp is claimed to be several steps above the best of the digital receivers.  Oh, did I mention the Sony ES line?  There is another camp that rave about these.

[pugs]

At least at the price they're selling, it's possible to keep trying the newest models and not take a big hit selling the old unit.