What Pre-Amp for Carver AV-705x Amp (1 Viewer)

[Alan Pummill]

Hi folks,

As this post explains, I lost my Pioneer Elite VSX-09TX receiver to an electrical storm, I am thinking pre-amp instead of receiver as a replacement.

http://www.hometheaterforum.com/htfo...hreadid=139211

Or should I buy a cheap receiver to hold me over until September when I can buy a Pioneer Elite receiver through my wife who works for Pioneer, (for about half of retail)?

I have never used a pre-amp, and don't know much about them. I may add a second amp, since I bi-amp my main speakers with 4 of the 5 channels of the Carver.

Any input or suggestions would be of great help in my decision on this matter!!

 

[Arthur S]

Alan

You already have one separate amp. You are thinking about buying another separate amp. For me, it would come down to the feature set that you want. Pioneer is putting their room equalization on lower end models I believe. So you could get a Pioneer and just use it as your front end.

It seems to me that you pay a premium when you by a preamp. Feature for feature, receivers give you more for less. The economies of scale have something to do with the higher price of preamps. I would guess that receivers outsell preamps by at least 20 to 1. Low volume means higher prices. The larger companies like Denon and Pioneer don't even make preamps. Receiver amplification doesn't seem like an important issue for you, but I think that receiver amps are quite good these days.

Also, every amp, preamp and receiver will have its own unique sonic signature. Without trying them in your home, it is really quite difficult to discern the real differences.

Finally, as new formats or features emerge, it is usually cheaper to replace a receiver than it is to upgrade your preamp (if you can upgrade it at all, that is).

Artie

 

[Alan Pummill]

Some very good points, Arthur. The VSX-09TX was a great receiver, but when I added the Carver amp....wow!! It really brought my Paradigms up to a higher level of sound reproduction.

Pioneer just released a new receiver...912k or something, I may check it out!!