need advice: 2 zone; 85+ w/ch; moderate price

Howdy,
I'm looking for advice on a home theater receiver.
Background: We currently drive our home music from a collection of
MP3's on a mini-server running optical out into an Onkyo home theater
receiver. It all works well, but we would like to be able to drive the
music to the second zone while someone (our daughter, typically)
watches a movie in zone 1.

Some priorities:
1. Needs to be able to take digital input for zone 2. (HT receivers
like the Denon AVR-883 would be perfect, but don't do digital to zone
2.)
2. Needs at least 85 watts/channel to zone 2. (We have a combination
of B&O and Polk speakers scatters through the house, and often listen
in multiple parts simultaneously.)
3. Would like to spend well less than $1k (pref less than $750).
4. Things like good DSP, warm sound with things like jazz, and low
harmonic distortion would be great, but the first three things are the
highest priority. A superseded model of some great thing would be
great.

I know this sounds like a small niche, but I'm not finding the right
combo on manufacturer sites. Help appreciated.

John

a2dl wrote:
Howdy,
I'm looking for advice on a home theater receiver.
Background: We currently drive our home music from a collection of
MP3's on a mini-server running optical out into an Onkyo home theater
receiver. It all works well, but we would like to be able to drive
the music to the second zone while someone (our daughter, typically)
watches a movie in zone 1.

Some priorities:
1. Needs to be able to take digital input for zone 2. (HT receivers
like the Denon AVR-883 would be perfect, but don't do digital to zone
2.)
2. Needs at least 85 watts/channel to zone 2. (We have a combination
of B&O and Polk speakers scatters through the house, and often listen
in multiple parts simultaneously.)
3. Would like to spend well less than $1k (pref less than $750).
4. Things like good DSP, warm sound with things like jazz, and low
harmonic distortion would be great, but the first three things are the
highest priority. A superseded model of some great thing would be
great.

I know this sounds like a small niche, but I'm not finding the right
combo on manufacturer sites. Help appreciated.

John

All that really comes to mind is picking up a powerful pre/pro like a used
Lexicon DC-1 off ebay for a few hundred bucks and throwing a used 2
channel amp at it for another few hundred. You're below $1000 and
have a piece of gear that musically will leave a Denon in the dust.