Anyone else interested in the Integra DTC 9.8 Pre/Pro? (1 Viewer)

[ericks]

My local dealer here in CT. He won't ship outside his selling area though, per Integra's dealer agreement.

 

[Sanjay Gupta]

Thanks. It's a shame that companies force such agreements on their dealers. Goes against the spirit of an open market system.

 

[Randy Ghost]

I ordered mine today. I was told 1st of Feb before he will have one in stock. I'm upgrading from a 10 year old Kenwood KC-Z1. Sure goning to miss the touch panel that came with the Kenwood.

Randy

 

[Ron Reda]

I hope to hook mine up this weekend. I'll post some initial comments once I get it up and running.

 

[Ron Reda]

Well, I got the Integra set up last night. I finished setting up around 1AM, but was up until 4AM putting it through it's initial paces. Some first impressions:

The simplicity and ease of set up - I have to say, at first I was a little bit overwhelmed by all of things this piece can do, but once I got everything hooked up, the set up was a breeze. Everything is so logically laid out, it was refreshing. It seemed like they actually gave a lot of thought into how the menus were grouped and how they flowed, etc. Very well done. I'll also mention that I really liked the supplied remote. It too was laid out very well and easily trumps some of the other "universal" offerings I've used in the past from Rotel (AWFUL remote), Denon (better than Rotel, but still very cluttered) and Yamaha.


Flexibility and options - As well done as the set up was, I was equally impressed with how many options are available to tailor the parameters towards your liking. From the listening modes to the various inputs, there seems like there's no preference the Integra can't accommodate. One unforgivable omission: as I've previously mentioned in this thread, I find it pretty much ridiculous that there is only one sub out on this piece. My 6 year old Rotel even had 2 sub outs. I'm just not sure how a piece like this, with it's myriad of inputs of every conceivable sort, could not have one. I mean, come on Integra...not only is there plenty of room for just one more input jack, but you could have omitted a lesser user input or feature and provided this. You would think that in this day and age, they would realize that someone buying a piece of gear like this would be running 2 subs. Oh well, I'll buy the Y-splitter, but I just think that after spending $1600, I should be set and wouldn't have to make any other purchases (I already had plenty of cabling) to set my system up to my liking.

Video - I went the pass-through route, so nothing really to report here other than that there seems to be no degradation to the video signal at all, although it is a nice option to have the capability to tailor the video realm for your various sources.

2-channel analog audio - Being an audio guy, this is where I had the most trepidation going in. Just how well would the Integra stand up to my long time Rotel mainstay? Disclaimer: I was so eager to get the unit set up, that I simply plugged in the (very) rudimentary distance settings (only in feet vs. the Integra's 1/5 of a foot) from my Rotel into the Integra just to get the party started. I did however pull out the Radio Shack SPL meter to make sure all channels were on an even kiel. Later on today, I'll take actual measurements or just let the Audyssey process run and see what happens. The first thing I tried was the analog CD input accepting a signal from a CD transport digitally feeding an outboard DAC which runs analog to the Integra. I chose "Harder to Breathe" from Maroon 5's first album as I not only know exactly how this track is supposed to sound, but I also wanted to hear how wide of a soundstage the Integra threw as well as measure it's bass prowess. Using the "stereo" listening mode, after hitting play I was initially a bit disappointed. The details in the intro to the song weren't presented in the manner that the Rotel did. The Rotel seemed to pull them from the background and (not unrealistically) shine a light on them, allowing them to easily be heard. The bass was also a bit of a letdown. It seemed a lot more shy than my previous pre/pro. At that point, I walked over to the sub to see what it was doing and noticed that it was putting out some sound. I guess "stereo" is the 2 channel mode that does actually go through some processing and after setting it to "direct," I got no bass from my sub. After setting it to direct, I felt like I enjoyed the sound a little bit more. Not as much as I did with the Rotel, but a little bit more than before. Please keep in mind that at that point the unit had only been on a short time (say 45 minutes) and the innards hadn't really gotten to know each other just yet (AKA burn-in), so I'm reserving my judgment on the analog input's sound until (a) things burn-in a bit longer and (b) I set up the Integra correctly using the true distances. I'm also going to try running the upsampled signal from my DAC digital coax out (vs. analog) to the Integra to see if I can notice a difference.

***Addendum - I feel compelled to add this right now. In hopes that all the circuitry would gel overnight, I left the unit on (not standby) as I had always done with the Rotel. I began typing this when I woke up, so I hadn't had a chance to re-listen to some 2-channel stuff since last night. In the middle of typing this, I figured I'd head down to the HT to turn on the DirecTV box, set it to Dolby Digital EX and let the signal flow through it some more. While down there, I decided to slap some Dave Matthews Band "Crash" in the CD player. Although I wanted to, I hadn't listened to this last night due to how late it was. This is another CD (more so than the aforementioned Maroon 5 album) with which I am totally familiar with. Being a HUGE DMB fan, I've listened to this CD innumerable times and therefore know every nuance in this album...every note, piece of percussion, guitar fret noise, everything is burned into my psyche and even my soul. I was not prepared for what I heard. Last night, things just didn't sound "right." Not certain if it was just hearing something other than my trusty Rotel in my system (I almost felt like I was cheating on it with another pre/pro...I know, pretty strange but that's how it felt after 6 years with the Rotel), I can only describe the sound as slightly veiled in comparison to the very open sound I was accustomed to. I perhaps would even say a tad compressed in terms of the soundstage as compared to the width that the Rotel threw. That was all about to change. I was floored. I don't know if it was leaving the unit on all night, the fact that I really didn't push it all that hard in terms of volume last night for fear of waking my wife or at the very least , the change in CDs, but things were indeed different. Gone was the narrowness (?) of the soundstage. It widened significantly. The sound was still ever so slightly recessed, but I felt confident that it would open up some in the coming days. The speakers sprung to life with the jazz groove of "#41." The textures hidden in the background that I am so intimately familiar with were immediately audible. In fact, to use a common review cliché, I had heard things in the song that even I hadn't heard before. I was truly listening "into" the song. WOW. My intent was to listen to a few measures before getting back to work (on a snowy Saturday...in Georgia???). So much for that. I sat through that track and the next track, "Say Goodbye." The fluid, circular drumming in the intro of "Say Goodbye" has always proved to be great demo material for friends, but it also is a measurement tool to hear how well a source can convey the sound of an expansive drum set and a ridiculous about of toms of every shape and size being played so fast, so well. At the height of the intro, just prior to the point when Carter Beauford slams into the song proper, he executes an amazing drum roll that can sound compressed at high volumes on lesser systems not up to the challenge. Not so here. The Integra conveyed every drum hit perfectly. I was now sitting in front of the drum set. I got chills, goose bumps, my hair stood up on end and (without sounding completely melodramatic and over the top) a tad choked up in the sense that the Integra brought me THAT close to the music. It really touched my music-loving soul***

Multichannel digital audio - As expected, this is where the Integra really shined. It really is the digital powerhouse that everyone as said. I won't go into it's prowess in this realm too much because we all know that's what the Integra was made for. It easily handled the sound from my DirecTV H20 box (optical digital), my Denon 2910 universal player (digital coax out & multichannel analog L/R out for SACD/DVD-A) and my PS3 (HDMI). In fact, where I was most impressed in this regard was the processing of the uncompressed Blu-Ray PCM signal from the PS3. It handled everything with aplomb. The disc that really shone was the Blu-Ray of Dave Matthews & Tim Reynolds "Live at Radio City." When listening to the Dolby TrueHD track, I felt like they were playing right in front of me. I heard all of Tim's slide and delay effects, as well as the fret noise/buzz and all of Dave's percussive nuances in his playing. Superb. If you like good music and are even remotely a fan of DMB or Dave himself, run out and get this disc. It's a must-have for any music lover and is spectacular on Blu-Ray, audio and video-wise.

There's lots more to say, but I'm about spent for right now. I'll be posting some more comments/observations later after I get a chance to really dial things in a bit more. I'm sure the Integra will only get that much better in the coming days. I'm gonna wear this thing out. So as you can tell, I'm enthralled with this piece. For $1600, it is THE steal of the year in HT right now, even in the infancy of 2008. It's just that good. Minor quibbles aside [some latency in accessing the menus via HDMI when viewing another source (only 1-2 seconds, no biggie at all), some minor lip sync issues when leaving an HD broadcast to go to a SD commercial, no way to watch TV while listening to another source (at least I haven't found a way...if anyone knows how to, please enlighten me!)] and my annoyance of the lack of a 2nd sub output, one can easily look past these things and simply enjoy the Integra for what it is, a rare overachiever and one hell of a pre/pro for even $1,000 more. Very well done, Integra!!!

 

[Randy Ghost]

Thanks for the review Ron.

Randy

 

[Randy Ghost]

Ron,

Now that you have had a little time to play with it I would to know how the SUB output is? On the last Onkyo products I had they all lacked in the bass and SUB department.

Randy

 

[Ron Reda]

Randy,

I still haven't configured the 9.8 with Audyssey yet cuz I've been too busy enjoying it! However, while I initially thought it was a tad bass shy, now I would say that it's probably more accurate bass than what I was hearing before. In my listening on Saturday, I've come to the realization that I may have some bass modes in my room.

 

[ericks]

I haven't bothered running Audessey yet, but the bass is better now than it ever has been in my system.

 

[Ron Reda]

I'd agree with that. I have a feeling the LFE bass in my system may have been somewhat off for a while, but I just kinda got used to it. It seems more even now.

 

[Ron Reda]

ericks,

Have you messed with Audyssey yet?

 

[ericks]

No, as I don't have a display device yet for this system. I will be soon though as I just ordered a JVC DLA-RS1 projector that should be here by the end of next week.

 

[terence]

The 9.8 is an excellent break through unit! Anyone looking for a new Pre/Pro with all the latest chips, the 9.8 is the hot ticket.

 

[Ron Reda]

Indeed...it had everything I was looking for. It seemed to be the only pre/pro at this price point that had so many features. Other pre/pros were either way more expensive or didn't have the feautre set of the Integra.

 

[ericks]

I got my projector in on Friday so now that my entire system is together I've been tweaking everything. I ran Audessey yesterday and it made a dramatic improvement in every aspect. Dialog intelligibility was improved, brightness was decreased, midrange became fuller, and the bass more powerful. I ran the mic at each of the six seating locations in my room.

 

[Gustavo Menendez]

Hello, I had the Integra DTC-9.8 since October 2007.
I use it with Axiom Speakers, Sherbourn Amplifier (5X200) Outlaw Mono-Blocks for 7.1 and a Velodyne Sub. The Display is a Mitsubishi Diamond DLP 73-Inch.
When I play the HD-DVD (on the Toshiba HD-35) it sends the "full bitstream" for the Integra to decode DTS-HD Master Audio. The sound is unbelievable in quality and spaciousness I can’t be more pleased! The same happens with Blu-Ray using the Panasonic BD-30 the quality of the sound and video is out of this world. In a few days I am going to do an Audyssey Professional Audio Calibration. I am looking forward to the results. I don’t know how it can sound any better!

 

[kryten_tl]

I got my Integra 9.8 last week. I was upgrading from a Yamaha RX-V1600, mainly as a precursor to a new HDTV soon. My current TV only has component inputs, but I have a BD player connected to a Sharp LC-42D64U in another room. The 1080p content made me realize it was time to upgrade the main TV.

When I first connected everything to the Integra, the sound quality was only marginally better than the Yamaha. After running the Audessey, there was a huge difference in the SQ, much better than what I had been getting with the Yamaha. So now I can't wait to hear some of the True-HD/DTS-HD content in a few months when I get a new TV and move the BD player to the main room.

 

[Gustavo Menendez]

Last night I conducted an Audyssey MultEQ Professional audio calibration..

The process is a lot more involved than the one available via the Integra unit itself. I did six locations; this weekend I am going to do it again for 10 locations. One of the parameters it wants to know is the dimensions of the room.

The results surpassed my expectations; the clarity and image were tremendously increased; the whole system sounded like I had changed speakers!

Each speaker “gets” a filter that smoothes the perceived sound within the room it is in! The six locations created a “bubble” of excellent sound around the three theater seats. I find difficulty in finding words to describe the new sound environment; using a SACD with Patricia Barber (2-Ch audio only) sounds like from a much wider “holographic” expanse in the room.

Each location creates a process for 8 speakers (7.1) (Seven Speakers plus Subwoofer) in my system. After it “pings” each speaker it stores the results in the laptop; after you are done with the “number of locations” it stores the results on the Integra pre/pro; it also creates a client report of the results. You are able to “listen” with and without the filters, that way you can tell the difference in performance. I also played a Blu-Ray movie for a few minutes; the music is spread all over the stage and the dialogue is crystal clear, and the surrounds feel like they are all over the room, in addition the bass is rock-solid and very deep! The military talks about “Shock and Awe” this certainly really applies here!

 

[Ron Reda]

Wow, you guys REALLY have me wanting to run the Audyssey! Since I've always used my trusty SPL meter, that's all I used when I got the Integra. Now it seems I may have some tweaking to do. OK, then I have one quick question (that I think was one of the subconscious reasons why I haven't run Audssey yet)...presuming it will set my fronts to "small" (which I don't want), are you able to reset them to "large" once the process is done? The reason being is that when I listen to CDs, SACDs or DVD-A in stereo, I don't use my sub and want my fronts to handle the information in the 60-80Hz range.

PS - Gustavo, I too am using Axioms, albeit some that have been around a long time, the versions that they put out before they first started selling them online.

 

[Steve Blair]

Quite the opposite. Audyssey seems to set most people's speakers to large. You can change this afterward without affecting the setup.