Any word on Denon's new Pre-Pro? (1 Viewer)

[Tim Christianson]

Where is Denon's flagship Pre-Pro??
They now have an upgrade for the 5800 Receiver, but no announcement has been made (as far as I know) on a new PreAmp.
Their last Pre-Pro was the AVP-8000, which was the first to feature Dolby Digital along with THX post-processing.
That was 1996 or 1997.
Where is the new flagship Pre-PRO???
Tim

 

[Kevin C Brown]

... Along with Sony, Pioneer, Parasound, Marantz, Yamaha, Onkyo, ...
(Sigh)
I have $1500-$2000 earmarked for a new pre/pro. But there isn't one out there yet that I want to get!

 

[Trevor Schell]

With Denon's 58XX upgrade packages, which most likely will
be updated everytime a new model becomes available, makes the Denon 58XX's a great choice for a pre/pro.
A pre/pro with amps to boot.
A great way to start with your move to seperates.
I still use the Denon to power up my rear surrounds.

 

[Ricky T]

Larry,

I've read your citation 5.0 and $3k prepro financing threads. I think you are a prime candidate for a 2 channel analog preamp unity gain instead of spending extra money on a prepro for "enhanced" 2 channel performance. In the end of the day, the best 2 channel preamp is a simply a 2 channel preamp, with no digital processing.

For about $1600 street, you can get the Denon 3802 for HT and the Adcom gfp750 active/passive preamp with unity gain, and put it between the Denon and your power amps.

Since the preamp sits between the HT receiver and front amp channels, during stereo listening, the HT receiver (or HT prepro) is taken out of the equation. And when the receiver is on for surround sound processing, the preamp's unity gain function makes it "disappear" with a flick of a switch. With this setup, you can have the best of both worlds: pure 2 channel (even tube) and the lastest HT processing/video-switching/features. And you can freely change any one of the three components (HT, preamp, power amp) without affecting the others.

If you start with a receiver and 2 channel amp setup, you only need ONE extra pair of interconnects to place the preamp between the two:

Receiver preout >> Preamp input/unity gain >> 2 Channel Amp

Then, you would connect the analog outs from your CD player into one of the preamp source inputs. When the unity gain (no need to worry about the preamp's volume setting) is activated with one button, the preamp is "off" and no one, even you, would even know of its existence in the system.

IMO, this is a great alternative to those people who feel they need to buy megabucks receivers and prepros for superior analog bypass, 2 channel performance. You can also subsitute a 5.1 prepro (several choices in the $350-1000 street range) or a Lexicon (used DC1 for ~ $1200) for the HT receiver.

Here are some other preamps with this unity gain:

Sim Audio Moon i5

Plinius 8150 or

Anthem Pre2L SE

BAT VK20

Sonic Frontiers Line 1

A well designed 2 channel preamp (like those I listed) will beat the 2 channel analog performance in anything with HT processing, no matter what the price.