Price Paid:  $2000.00 from AV / Columbia, South

Summary:
I choose this unit for very obvious reasons. Integra stands behind their products. Prior to purchasing this unit, I used Integra’s DTR-9.1 receiver. This unit is nothing short of phenomenal. I auditioned several different products prior to making my decision to stay with Integra - for a fair handshake of course. Initially I went to Tweeter and auditioned the B&K reference 50. They had the machine couple with a pair of Martin Logan’s with the matching center and surrounds. The reference 50 lacked in my opinion warmness. It was existing in sound but lacked personality. B&K boasted a slew of features but lacked features that are common on receivers starting at six hundred dollars; that is transcoding - often mistaking for up sampling. Transcoding allows your unit to pass video signals across component outputs. May not seem like much, but wait until the moment arises when you’ll need to view your digital camera in your media center arrangement. Flawless. Now back to B&K, what is up with that God awful popping when switching connections - DSP’s? B&K advises that it’s normal and necessary to protect the sonic quality of their machine. What about your speakers and amps? I concluded that this machine wasn’t for me. B&K has proven consistently that they lag with keeping up with modern technology.

My second audition was with Rotel’s 1068 beautiful piece of equipment. This unit performed well but lacked digital inputs. What a shame.

Thirdly I listened to Anthem’s AVM-30. My God this machine sounded good. But…. It lacked audio up sampling. What is that all about?

Now, getting to the meat and the true reason I’m here. The DTC-9.4. This unit utilizes Wolfson’s DAC’S on all seven channels. It has multiple DSP surround options with base management. The DTC-9.4 doesn’t overload the user with a bunch of DSP options that the user or users will never use. The DTC-9.4 weighs approximately 20.9 pounds and stands as tall as it’s predecessor DTR-9.1. Going back to the Wolfson’s DAC’S did you know that these DAC’S are used by the famous Proceed AVP2? They have proven to be strong and reliable - most importantly. The DTC-9.4 lacks one thing the other units possess in all fairness. It lacks upgradability. Now, to tackle that. Do you honestly believe that the companies mentioned well sell themselves out to consumers. NOPE! Upgradabilities are good but most purchase machines and generally replace them in five to six years. My system, DTC-9.4, Proceed Amp 5, Pioneer 59avi, Gateway media center FMC-901, Monster Power AVS-2000 signature series, and Two Monster HTS-5000’s. You be the judge. You’ll be hard pressed to find a unit sonically and ergonomically better under 6000.00’s. The unit is well constructed and includes balanced outs for extremely long runs. The benefits of balanced include a three db boost and dedicated run to your amps in question. Kudos’ to Integra. You’ve done it again.

Strengths:
Sonic's, Transcoding, Mutiple DSP's bass management and balanced outputs. Most importanly, Integra need I say more. CHAD remote.

Weaknesses:
Volume window small. CHAD remote difficult to set up.

Similar Products Used:
Integra DTR-9.1, Proceed AVP2