Integra DTC-9.4 pre-pro in Da house

Ive had my Integra DTC-9.4 pre-pro for a week or so. I recently had the Yamaha rx-v2400 and before that Lexicon mc-8, before that an Aragon Sounstage, before that a Lexicon mc-1, hkavr8000 and Ill stop there. I have it mated currently to a Parasound 2003a amp powering the fronts and a sherwood powering the back four m5's (I have a 7 channel Sherbourn 7/2100 on the way) and NHT T5/M5 7 channel setup in a smallish 14X15 room with an svs20-39+ powered by a crown xls-402.

The Integra comes with the chad remote (500.00 retail by itself). It is thx ultra 2 certified, and has all foremates except dplIIx. It comes with a phono stage, has adjustable bass management (it is global to all speakers set to small however), net tune (you can hook up to the internet to play net audio etc.), component video switching, balance connectors for all 8 channels and weighs about 23lbs, features a low jitter clock, 192 dacs and it upsamples audio on redbook cd's dss viewing etc, pure-direct mode, rs-232 port,zone 2 out.

First of all the two channel performance on this pre-pro ranks right up there and is similar to the aragon Soundstage, it has a dead quiet background and brings out all nuances of the cd (good or bad). My bass is really tight and defined.It is neutral across the board and Ive noticed that my soundstage is very precise and I can locate instruments not only side to side but front to back.

I love the way this thing upsamples cds, it sounds excellant in pure audio mode but I think even better when the upsampling is engaged (smoother sounding) plus I can use my subwoofer in this mode which suprisingly blends in better then it ever has.

Multi-channel for sacd, dvd-audio is totally transparent. Nothing more to add here other then it does a fantastic job of getting out of the way (no bass management on analog inputs)

DplII viewing via my dtc-100 is also more dynamic then I have heard on my other pre-pro/recievers (maybe it has something to do with the upsampling?).

Its performance carries over to movies. The dialog is crystal clear and has a natural sound about it. Seperation and processing are top notch and again my bass is now rock solid.

I havent messed with the chad remote to much but so far it seems to be laid out in an apropriate matter and navigation is straight forward.

It does have a few things that could have been done better
Sound adjustments are only in 1 db nothces
Bass management has adjustable crossosvers but it is global to any speaker set to small and goes in 20hz increments instead of 10.
There is no "both" setting letting the bass from all speakers set to small go to both speakers set to large and subwoofer (I guess it goes to just the subwoofer ?)
There is no subwoofer limiter (kinda odd).
not upgradeable

Overall this processor excells where it counts, Sonics on all sources are on par with my other pre-pro's, tons of USEFULL features (upsampling,phono stage,net tune,balanced connectors,adjustable thx ultra 2 settings).Build quality appears to be very good and navagation is simply. IMO this piece is an incredible bargain, please give it an audition if in the market

John,

Great read!

Even though when you set speakers to small, can you have different crossover points for mains, centers, and surrounds?

Is there bass management available on the 5.1 analog inputs?

Lastly, can you set different speakers levels for different surround processing modes? IE, I run the sub hot in DD and DTS, flat for stereo, multichannel music.

thanks!

Curtis,

Unfortunately for some the answer is no to all three questions. I have bass management on my denon 2200 dvd audio/sacd player so thats no an issue for me. The adjustable crossover is global to all speakers set to small and as far as I can tell speaker levels arent independent per input. I have 7 m5's all around so again for me the global crossover isnt an issue. I also have an adjustable volume knob for lfe trim on my x1 crossover.

I can see how this may be a dealbreaker for some but if you can possible get around these issues I can assure you it doesnt dissapoint.

Thanks John,

I am currently using my HK 525 as my pre/pro...which has all of these features.

the hunt continues....

Thanks for sharing. That is high praise, indeed, if you consider its 2 channel performance on par with the Aragon. Also, they must really be doing something right with the upsampler, because all of the ones I've heard so far built in to players and processors, really haven't made much difference to my ears(I haven't tried any outboards though).


I wouldn't consider that a big deal. After all, I think it's only going to sound better in that mode if you have an underperforming sub(after careful placement to avoid cancellations).

DJ

David,

I didnt have these pre-pro's at the same time, so there wasnt any direct a/b done. The Aragon very well may be a tad better then the dtc-9.4 in two/multi channel..All Im saying is that the dtc-9.4 does an extremly good job in this area and I dont feel as though I've taken a step down, which like you say is pretty high praise indeed. Considering the price and features of the dtc-9.4 it is a sonic bargain.

question,

Will this unit apply THX Re-EQ to the 8 channel analog input, or does it have to be a digital input (optical)

Prolly not, dude...this post is 6 years old! ;)