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Overview

The Ultimate is based on Sunfire's Theater Grand III preprocessor. It's functionality is very similar and in fact the same software updates are used for both the TGIII and the Ultimate. The Ultimate has a 200 Watt per channel x 7 amplifier in the same chassis.

The Ultimate is software upgradeable and mine has been upgraded a couple of times. The software upgrades can be loaded by using a serial cable connection to a P.C. or by a special audio CD played in a CD or DVD player connected to the receiver. I've used both methods with equal success.

The Ultimate is 7 channel capable without the use of any external amplifiers. If you choose to use a 5.1 setup, the 6th and 7th amplification channels can be used for side axis speakers or to power a 2nd stereo zone.

Amplifier

The Ultimate can provide approximately 200 watts per channel with 7 channels driven concurrently. This is more than enough juice for all but the grandest home theaters. In my smallish room of about 200 square feet I couldn't possibly stress this amp without causing structural damage to my house and eardrums. The amplifier produces a much warmer sound than the Yamaha it replaced. While I don't count myself in with the audiophile crowd, I feel confident that almost anyone would be very happy with the musical reproduction of this amplifier. It will also provide plenty of punch for those big gun sound tracks in your collection.

Features and Setup

There is a full array of inputs and outputs on the back of the Ultimate and it should handle most any setup. There are three component inputs rated at 100Mhz and not one but two component outputs. The first set is of course for your main display device and the second set of outputs can be used for recording devices or for a second monitor. The second monitor option is very handy in a front projector setup for when you don't want to fire up the projector. There are also two sets of outputs for both S-Video and Composite.

Setup is straightforward and can be accomplished with only the single line display in the receiver. There are several nice features like gain trims for each input to balance the volume across your sources. There are also 'on the fly' trims to allow temporary adjustment of any of the speakers. The remote provided with the Ultimate is the very usable Home Theater Master MX-500 with Sunfire's ROM. It's really a shame that more manufacturers don't go this route instead of producing clunkier and less flexible OEM remotes.

Receiver

The receiver is brilliant compared to my mid-range Yamaha. It brings out details in soundtracks that were completely lost to me before. The digital to audio converters (DAC's) are excellent as well. My Denon DVD-5900 player is used as my benchmark. I would give the Denon the slightest of edges over the Sunfire's DAC's on CD playback, but given the quality of the Denon's output, the Sunfire gets high marks in my book. [Edit] I've re,re,re listened and I'm now leaning to the Sunfire as the DAC winner.

A Customer Service Story

To get to where I am today with the Ultimate, there were a few problems to overcome. Out of the box, t he receiver had a muting problem on DTS tracks. After 30 or 40 minutes of DTS playback, the sound would mute and the only way to recover was to power cycle the unit. There were also some mild pops when changing from digital to analog sources. The pops were most evident when channel surfing on DirecTV.

I contacted Sunfire and arranged to return the unit for some hardware upgrades. I'll note here that the folks at Sunfire don't know me from Adam, so I'm just another customer as far as they are concerned. The shipment was arranged and the upgrades were completed (in only a day or so on site). The total turnaround time was two weeks. They replaced a DSP (Digital Signal Processor) board that had been thermal sensitive, along with a couple of other changes. The muting and popping issues are 100% resolved and Sunfire has a very happy customer.

A note on SPot Reviews

The editors at HomeTheaterSPot often are reviewing equipment that they have voted for with their own dollars. This has some plusses and minuses for you the reader. On the minus side, we are often reviewing equipment that we own and therefore have some built in biases (hopefully very minor). On the positive side, we review as true customers and we see equipment that hasn't been sanitized before shipment to a reviewer. So we review the equipment warts and all. We also on occasion get to see how the manufacturers will handle problems that arise. While you never want to encounter problems, it's good to know if the manufacturer will make the customer whole again when there are issues.

In this case I tip my hat to Sunfire for doing what's right and not giving the customer a run around before admitting a problem.

Conclusion

I only have good things to say about this receiver. There have been quibbles by other reviewers but I really don't see their points. I'm very happy with it's performance for both music and movie soundtracks. It has a great feature set, and it comes from a company that obviously stands behind what they sell. I'd be thrilled if they upgrade to include Dolby Pro Logic IIx processing and activate the firewire input for multi-channel audio, but those features would just be icing on the cake for me. If this unit's price is anywhere close to your budget for a receiver or separates, go get one!

Features:

Seven channels of power amplification
200 WATTS rms PER CHANNEL into eight ohms from 20Hz to 20kHz with no more than 0.5% THD
Efficient tracking downconverter power amplifier generates little heat
Two of the seven power amp channels can be configured (via on-screen-display setup) to amplify the surround back, side-axis, or second zone channels
Preamp outputs for all channels
Auto signal sensing input switching � Automatically turns the unit on, selects your source and surround mode
Holographic Imaging now in noise-free DSP for the ultimate soundstage enhancement of two-channel sources
7.1 Channel Dolby Digital, Dolby Digital EX, DTS, DTS-ES, DTS Neo:6, and Dolby Pro-Logic II decoding, plus Sunfire's exclusive Side-Axis outputs for 9.1 channels total playback! (An additional stereo power amplifier is required for all 9.1 channels)
Second zone can play sources independent of the main zone
Full-time digital downmix provides accurate two-channel output for tape recording, digital outputs, and second zone from multichannel digital sources
User configurable nine channel 'PARTY' mode engages all speakers from any two channel source
Direct two-channel analog bypass mode
Learning remote control with LCD
FM/AM tuner with 40 presets
Three 100MHz+ HDTV compatible wide-bandwidth component video inputs and two outputs
Six audio/video inputs, each with audio, S-video and composite video
Three audio-only inputs, including Moving Magnet Phono input for LPs
Eight channel analog audio input using RCA connectors for DVD-A, SACD, or other external multichannel source
Digital audio (S/PDIF) inputs for six sources: four coax or optical, plus two coax only
Coaxial and optical digital (S/PDIF) outputs provide two-channel digital downmix from 5.1 sources or analog inputs like phono
Three subwoofer outputs
Side-axis side speaker outputs for completely enveloping soundstage (total of 9.1 channels) Comprehensive all-digital bass manager with crossover frequencies of 40 to 160Hz DSP tone controls
24-bit A-to-D converter and 24-bit/192kHz Multibit D-to-A converters
Separate trigger outputs and infrared inputs for both zones
High-current (500mA total) trigger outputs easily handle the most power hungry accessories
Sunfire exclusive: FLASH memory upgradable by playing a CD.
IEEE-1394 (Firewire�) port for future expansion
Dimensions: 17" wide, 5.75" high (includes feet), 16.5" deep
Two-year parts and labor warranty

Rating:

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