a receiver /pre-amp/amp combo under $3500 (1 Viewer)

[John A. Casler]

My bigger burning question is, do separates provide other benefits I'm not considering?

Once you are in the land of "high end" music, finiky speaker loads and special needs or tastes then seperates are the way to go but they too add a whole host of problems and associated costs. Extra cables. Amps to match your taste and speakers, AC Power requirements, rack space, component interaction, grounding, and the list goes on and on.

As I said earlier to Joy.

Decisions, decisions,

Regards,

John A. Casler

 

[Camp]

I too am upgrading my receiver and considering the separates vs. receiver conundrum.

I too am upgrading from a h/k receiver. Currently an AVR-7000 (though I had an AVR65 before that). I wouldn't go h/k again -that decision has been made.

Both the AVR-7000 and 65 have been good performers so I have no issue with h/k on that front. It's the little things that eliminate h/k receivers from my shopping list. The interface is poorly designed...I mean it's fine for a $500 receiver but not for a receiver in the class of the AVR-7000 or 8000.

What little things? For example, you program an input to default to a specific surround format and the thing will never reliably remember that setting. Set the primary surround mode on Video 1 to Logic 7C and you're going to get stereo in a few minutes.

I can tell you from experience that Vmax is no reason to buy h/k. It's nothing special at all. Logic 7, however, is very nice on DPL sources but DPL2 is almost as good for non-DD or DTS programming (Logic 7M -the music mode -is very nice though).

I would love to go the separates route but no pre-pro I've found in my price range (or even beyond my range) can meet my input requirements. I need 6 digital audio inputs and at least 3 component video inputs. As sexy as the Outlaw 950 is it can't do what I need.

That's why I'm leaning toward Denon 5803, 4802, Elite 49TX and Yamaha's forthcoming RXZ1.

 

[michael_f]

John,

Thanks for the response and comments. I wouldn't find adding the extra amp bothersome as much as I'd like to be able to do 7.1 out of the box and not shop/research more components for a bit. Ultimately, this setup is moving out of the two story family room, into a dedicated HT in what is currently the unfinished basement. At that point, I think I'd be much more inclined to investigate just the right blend of separates to match the environment.

The Denon 5803 sounds like a good candidate. From what I understand the features are almost identical to the Elite 49tx with the nod going to Denon's reputation, amps, and quality. Everyone has their threshold and for the extra $$ over the Elite, I would probably start looking into external amps.

I do like the O3s. I have a lot to learn and time to put in listening to other brands, but, to me, they sound great. I don't see them discussed much and would be interested in comments from anyone who can compare the O3s to brands.

Camp,

I'd have to agree on the h/k interface. It's never done much for me and doesn't seem intuitive.

I believe I've got more questions and decisions to make than before. Keep the info coming.

 

[Russell _T]

Jody,

I'm a little late jumping in here, but I have a question about Sherbourne. Aren't they releasing a 7 channel version of their 1500A soon?

Camp,

Just out of curiosity, what components are you running that you need all those digital and component inputs? Surely you could direct cable (bypass the pre/pro) enough of the components to make the Outlaw viable for you?

Joy,

The long wait for the Outlaw gear is about over, but if you are not on the waiting list, it may be months before they start shipping to the rest of the public. However I think that for most people wanting to get into separates, the 950/770 combo would be well worth considering.

 

[Camp]

Russel,

Here's my source list. I'll start with my component video requirements:

1. Sat

2. DVD

3. Xbox

4. PS2

5. Gamecube

And here are my digital audio sources:

1. Sat

2. DVD

3. MiniDisc

4. PC (feeding MP3s)

5. Xbox

6. PS2

The Outlaw would cover my digital audio needs. I thought it only had 5 digital ins but I just double checked...I was wrong.

I would need some sort of switchbox to handle all those component sources though. The 2 component ins on the 950 added to the 2 on my Sony XBR400 would leave me swapping cables for 2 sources...something I'd rather not do.

 

[Dan Driscoll]

I'm a little late jumping in here, but I have a question about Sherbourne. Aren't they releasing a 7 channel version of their 1500A soon?

Russell,

The 7 channel won't be just an expanded 5/1500A, there simply isn't enough room in the chassis to add 2 more channels. The 7 channel amp will have smaller toroids and heats sinks. Also, instead of being true class AB, it will be Class G. It will operate in AB mode most of the time, but when the current demand exceeds a fixed limit it will switch in class G mode. This will cause some additional distortion.

Class G is fine for home theater and I got the idea when I talked to Ron Fone at Sherbourn that the HT market was were the new amp was being aimed. We talked about the 7 channel amp for my system, but when I mentioned that my primary concern was music, Ron said he didn't think the 7 channel would be a good fit for me. From that I got the impression that it wasn't really intended for the multi-channel audio market. OTOH, they definitely do market the 5/1500A and their other amps for both audio and home theater.

 

[PaulKH]

49TX...

MCACC is way more than a gimmick - works incredibly well. I leave its settings on all the time. Makes my speakers sound better than I ever thought possible.

Video conversion is a nice feature (my S-VHS goes in S-video and comes out component to the TV), but I've learned doing component switching isn't such a hot idea through the receiver because the inputs may have different contrast/color/etc. so you really want them going to separate component ins on the TV. So my DVD goes through the receiver (pass thru) and my HD tuner goes direct to TV (video).

As far as shutdowns go - no issues here... and those who have reported this seem to be playing audio at ear-bleeding levels. One guy commented that it shutdown when he recorded 118dB levels!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Well, hello? Oh sorry, he can't hear me now.