I have to chime in here, this is an interesting conversation, I have used many different higher end receivers, and in my opinion, integrated receivers are not in the same league as seperates as far as sound quality. I guess some people may desire the latest "features" however to me, i could give a flip about features, as long as i have the basics (dd, dts es, 5.1,6.1,7.1, etc) it's sound quality that is most important. And to me, excellent sound is never "outdated".