Do I need to ditch my Denon 3801 for seperate pre/pro? (1 Viewer)

[David Barteaux]

I've been using a Denon 3801 reciever with my Rotel 1095 amp and I am questioning if its time to upgrade to a seperate pre/pro. The 3801 has DTS-ES 7.1 discrete, Dolby Digital EX, DTS Neo, etc., as does the new Rotel-1066 and Outlaw 950. Will I see a dramatic improvement in sound if if move to a seperate or should I wait until seperates surpass the surround modes that the 3801 offers now?

Dave

 

[Dan Hitchman]

It's totally up to you, but from what I gather the O.A. Model 950 will definitely beat the Denon in shear sonic quality, not to mention having a much lower noise floor.

$899 ain't bad if you can sell your Denon receiver and recoup some of the loss.

Dan

 

[David Barteaux]

Thanks Dan. Has anyone actually compared a seperate pre/pro against a Denon 3801?

 

[Sihan Goi]

Well, I was considering a Denon 3801 a long time ago, but in a store demo with the Denon 3801 connected to an ATI 1505 and then switched to a Parasound 1800 prepro, the sound was drastically different. The Parasound sounded more airy, had a larger and deeper soundstage, and imaging was more precise. There was a greater illusion of where the instruments are in the soundstage, while the 3801, while clear in its delivery, was more vague and shallow in its soundstage and imaging.

With that said, the 1800 is only an entry level prepro with its own list of shortcomings. The Rotel RSP-1066 should outperform it, and mate very well with your RMB-1095. I'm not sure about the Outlaw though. They dont' really have much of a track record...but from the beta testers it should be pretty promising.

I eventually ended up with a RMB-1095 and a Tag AV32R however.

 

[John Morris]

Hi David: If you do a search here, you'll find that I used a 3801 as a preamp for about 4 months. I now have had an Outlaw 950 beta unit for about 2 months. There is NO comparison. I MUCH prefer the 950 for music, and probably for movies too.

 

[Luis M]

John, I have the 3801 and I am on the waiting list for the 950/755 combo.when you say that you much prefer the 950 for music and probably for movies too... What do you mean by "probably"? I watch as much movies as I listen to music. Is there a difference between the 3801 and the 950 in DTS and DolbyAC-3 or is it hard to tell?