I think the Elite's and Marantz are similar in their excellent music reproduction. In his review of the Elite 52 in the December issue of Home Theater Chris Lewis says,"compared with it's peers in the $1000 level the vsx52 stands out from the crowd with musical performance,just like the vsx43 before it", solid,dynamic and relatively warm and audio performance that stands out from the crowd". One of the strenghts of the Elite line is their exceptional load tolerance which in real world usage means they have lots of reserve power inmultichannel mode and never run out of gas even in the most demanding points of a movie. Last night I watched "The Bourne Supremacy" and toward the end of the movie there is a long, very loud and demanding car chase scene that is a real test of a receivers ability in movie mode and my Elite 45 never wavered or showed any strain at all and in fact after several hours at high volume is usually barely warm. Elite's are excellent receivers like a few others and like all others need to be carefully matched with the right speakers. Elite's do best with dynamic, lively speakers and not so well with warmer, laid back speakers. Paired correctly they are just excellent both for music and movies. A few other brands are as good overall also but not very many.
Therealelitefan, what do you think about Polk's RTi10 with the Elite vsx52? I prefer sound on the warm side (as opposed of the bright side), with a solid base, good sound stage, ...
I think that is a wonderful combination. That would give you a very nicely balanced sound, not too bright but not dull at all. I have a friend with a Elite/Polk system not even as good as this and his sounds very good. Go for it.
I listened to 2-channel music on the RTi10 this morning on an HK430 (at FutureShop). Was very impressed (great base, mids, sounstage). I was able to switch between a couple of other floorstanding speakers (RTi8, JBL E60 and E80, Bose, Athena). RTi10 was the best, RTi8 very close. I like the Athena too, but not as much as the RT's. JBL was horrible on HK. I wish I could listen to the RTi10 on Elite and Marantz, but there are no stores in my area that carries Polk's along with the Elite and/or Marantz. Anyway, that's my problem ...
Have it, love it. I feel like the 10s lose a little midrange campared to the 8s. The 10s bass response is excellent though. I find the 8s with a powered sub is a great combination.