Sunfire's delightful $4,000 TGR-401 AV receiver now shipping
by Darren Murph 
posted Oct 27th 2008 at 9:08PM
Just saying the word "Sunfire" sends chills down the spines of wallets everywhere, and sure enough, the outfit's latest bad boy receiver ain't no bargain. The Theater Grand 401 Receiver (TGR-401) -- which includes 200-watts x 7-channels of amplification, SIRIUS satellite radio support, dual Olé touchpad ports, a VIA!migo socket for iPod connectivity and a configurable front panel input -- is now shipping to those who are willing to cough up the requisite $4,000 (MSRP). Aside from a sleek, sexy exterior, you'll also be buying three HDMI v1.3a inputs / one HDMI output, a microphone input, eight-channel input for DVD-Audio or SACD, eight balanced XLR outputs and a sophisticated video upconversion system for squeezing the most out of every source. Anyone buying in?[Via CNET]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Brian @ Oct 27th 2008 10:31PM
What, no Dolby True HD or other current formats on Blue-ray for $4,000
JDUBB @ Oct 28th 2008 9:34AM
US manufacturers still don't have access to chips that decode Dolby TrueHD and DTS HD audio. This is by far one of the best AVR's on the market. $4000 is not bad at all for this receiver. Funny that Glenn even tries comparing this to Denon or Yamaha.
glenn s @ Oct 28th 2008 2:34PM
@JDUBB
Why not compare it to Denon and Yamaha? Why not compare it to Sony for that matter. Sunfire is supposed to be a top quality brand. They charge a high premium for their products. In order to justify that premium, they should be able to wipe the floor with the likes of Denon, Yamaha, and Sony. But they can't. They only thing marginally interesting about this unit is the balanced XLR outputs.
glenn s @ Oct 28th 2008 1:25AM
My father was an audiophile back in the 60's when that meant you had STEREO. And in the 70s when in meant that you had separate components and really expensive amps and speakers. That was when those things were dramatically better than run of the mill consumer electronics. Sorry, but if you are an audiophile today and buy into this crap, you are a dumb ass. I'll give them kudos for one thing. They are charging ONLY $4000 for this. That's only about 3 times what Yamaha or Denon change for the same features. They used to ask for a lot more.
Joe Maki @ Oct 28th 2008 11:52AM
3 HDMI in and 1 out is so 2006.
Drew @ Oct 28th 2008 12:08PM
Hey Glenn S,
Could you please find one AVR that delivers 200 watts to each channel, just one thanks.
Denon actually charges 6 grand for 5308 that only has 150 watts / channel. So that kind of sounds like 2 grands more for less features.
The ability to hook everythink up to this including HDMI and delivering clean power to all channels is actually the most important features of any AVR and what makes them expensive the rest is marketing fluff.
The real reason people get separate amps is because they don't deliver this kind of power cleanly.
I know plenty of audiofiles that think Bob Carver is a legend and would kill for this gear.
glenn s @ Oct 28th 2008 2:20PM
I knew that I would draw fire for that post. I was actually referring to lower end Yamaha and Denon units. I would place the 5308 you refer to in the same category of overpriced stuff. 'Crap' was perhaps a poor choice of words. I know that Sunfire is very high quality gear. However, the marginal improvement in the listening experience that you get for the extra $$$ is way out of proportion compared to say, a $2000.00 AVR.
You need to roughly double the watts per channel to get an extra 1db volume, and generally speaking that allows you to play at lower volumes with less distortion as well. That is my rather unsophisticated understanding of it. But over the years, improvements in the electronics have also resulted in much lower distortion levels, so unless you have an extremely large home theater, with 4 or even 2 ohm speakers, this kind of power is overkill. And, as others have pointed out, the rest of the specs are meh. This has a place in a home theater right along side $10k speakers and a $10k front projector. Otherwise, you are not getting any benefit out of the extra power (from the speakers, not the projector :). And the only people who should even consider paying that much for a system better be able to pay for it without going into debt, or their priorities are in the wrong place. So if you can do that, I'm seriously jealous. At the same time, you could spend your money more wisely.
I can't say that I know many audiophiles anymore. I used to, but they were my father's buddies, and most of them are either dead or can't hear anymore. Bob Carver IS a legend in those circles. I still have some of the old vintage gear in my closet.
My real point, and maybe I should have said is more succinctly, is that the gap between 'audiophile' gear and higher end gear from the standard CE manufacturers is much smaller than it used to be, and IMO not worth it unless you are just trying to show off.
drew @ Oct 28th 2008 5:01PM
No worries, my Marantz cost me nearly a full decimal point less and I can rarely get mine to -4 db without having spouce issues.
Sunfire is fairly up-market and if they need the power it is there.
Although their HRS subs are the best bargain in subwoofers.