Integra is Done Playing Catch-Up

Integra, Onkyo's flagship division, has recently announced that it would be upgrading members of its receiver and preamp lines. Previously, the only non-custom, control center that that featured HDMI switching was the 7 series receiver (DTR 7.7). Now, there are two receivers (DTR 5.8 and DTR 7.8) and one preamp (DTC 9.8) that feature HDMI among other new technologies. The DTR 5.8 is a 7-channel receiver rated at 90 watts at 8 ohms, since the last edition of the DTR 5, it has gained features such as Faroudja video processing, Audyssey EQ, XM-HD and Sirius compatibility, as well as HDMI upconversion and the latest surround decoders for Blu-Ray and HD-DVD. The DTR 5.8 has gone up $100 from its previous price with all of the additions and is sold for $900. The Integra DTR 7.8 also includes the same features as the 5.8 but comes with THX certification and rates at 130 watts per channel and has 3 zones instead of 2. This piece has also gone up $100 and can be found for $1300.

The DTC 9.8, Integra's only preamp, for the first time features HDMI switching. Like the DTR 7.8, it is THX certified and supports the latest DTS and Dolby Digital decoders for the HD formats. It too, has the Audyssey MultEQ XT, video upconversion through HDMI as well as 3 zones. The preamp retails at $1600.

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