David Ranada

When you watch a movie like Spider-Man 2 in an Imax theater, as I did recently, you're likely to be struck not only by the sheer size and detail of the picture, but also by the seemingly effortless ability of the Imax system to put out immense amounts of sound. Much of this ability comes from having lots of amplifier power.

Many of us yearn to own a glistening flagship receiver: the prestige . . . the state-of-the-art performance . . . the vast array of features . . . the satisfaction of knowing that you own the very best. But flagships can be prohibitively expensive, as well as awkwardly large and extremely heavy. Ask any admiral. And then there's the complexity issue.

A well-worn adage says that all things come to he who waits. Yamaha's RX-Z9 receiver is so chock-full of features, it must have been waiting a long time.

The sense of déjà vu was overwhelming when I started working with Hitachi's DV-RX5000U - and not only because its DVD-RAM capabilities let me play a recording while it was still being made!