Budget for separates? (1 Viewer)

[Dennis_Chen]

Hello, new here. Got a rather newbie-ish question.

I'm looking to upgrade my home theatre (mainly for movies), but not anytime soon. Right now, I'm just focusing on what potential budget I will need. I'm pretty much aware of prices for receivers, what features they include, and what constitutes entry-level, midrange, high-end, etc. But I'm utterly clueless with regards to separates. What's the minimum I should even be considering to spend if I'm going the separates route? What price range would constitute "low-end" and "mid-range"? Note that I haven't made up my mind either way regarding receiver vs. separates; however, I am curious if good separates would even be affordable.

 

[Mark Dickerson]

Dennis:

I have been shopping this territory and quality separates appear to start at $1698, the package price of an Outlaw 950 pre/pro and the Outlaw 7100 amp. Goes up from there. Adcom has a nice package available for about $2K and I think the Rotel package goes for about $2500.

Hope this helps.

 

[Mark C.]

Actually, you can get a Rotel pre/pro and 5-channel amp for around $2,300, if you go with a lesser amp. But Outlaw offers the best prices for HT separates. I can't vouch for Outlaw quality because I have never listened to Outlaw gear. Outside of Outlaw, figure anywhere from $2,000 to $2,500 for an amp and pre/pro.
Happy hunting.

 

[Lam Nguyen]

Dennis,
$2000 to 2500 would be entry level for seperates. Outlaw and Rotel are popular on this forum and would outperform many flagship receiver costing more. Check out rotel website and read the review from Whathifi, this combo is in the same league with some that cost more than twice as much.

 

[chun howe]

what about adcom gtp-830 match with gfa-7605?
i am thinking of this combination. but i read gtp-830 has white noise at all volume level, small but noticable.

anybody with gtp-830?
is additional $500 worth the upgrade to gtp-860?

the gfa-7605 amp is only 125Wx5 and this is good enough for paradigm monitor series speakers right?

 

[Chris Tsutsui]

What about getting a refurbished HK Sig2.0 from harman audio along with an amp. The prepro may only be 5.1 but it's only $500. I've heard that those prepros have gone for less than $150 on ebay from Harman too.

I'm thinking how much of a difference is there between the 960/7100, and just getting the Outlaw 1050. Is it significant to justify the 50% price increase?

 

[ManW_TheUncool]

Don't forget that you can always buy used/demo/refurbed equipment in excellent condition for much less than the price of brand new gear. The HK Sig 2.0 seems like one good example. Seems like used/refurbed HK stuff can be easily had on a budget, if J&R's "regular" selection of clearance items is any indication.

For example, I bought my used B&K 5-channel, 100wpc amp for ~$650 a few years ago--and sold my old B&K ST130 for ~$300 to help fund the upgrade. At the time, a brand new, latest revision of that amp would run ~$1300. Seems like you can often find good used amps for 50-60% of brand new, latest revision. Preamps can be tougher since you might "need" more of the latest technology, but if you only need the basics, something like the HK Sig 2.0 is quite affordable as already mentioned.

_Man_