Should a buy a new preamp or a receiver?

[djperez81]

Here is my situation, my weak link in my setup is my onkyo 801 which i have hooked up to a adcom gfa 7000 thx. I am trying to decide whether to buy a new onkyo 708 or 709 or can a find a nice pre that would support dts-hd and dolby true hd? I am very pleased with the power from the adcom so thats why i was wondering if there is a nice pre in my price range. my budget is about 400-500 bucks.

[justlord]

I'm assuming that based on the audio formats, that you'll be connecting your home theater devices to it. Would you also like to have video connections as well?

Either way, there are a lot of nice receivers out there for your price range. For me, the receiver or pre-amp should have enough HDMI inputs for expansion to last awhile. This way, I'm not running a whole bunch of cables to the back of the TV. Check out www.crutchfields.com, or visit your local Bestbuy, and you'll find quality pre-amp gear there as well.

Yamaha and Pioneer have a lot of praises, but Onkyo is right up there as well.

Good luck on purchase and let us know what you get :-)

[Marty913]

Here is my situation, my weak link in my setup is my onkyo 801 which i have hooked up to a adcom gfa 7000 thx. I am trying to decide whether to buy a new onkyo 708 or 709 or can a find a nice pre that would support dts-hd and dolby true hd? I am very pleased with the power from the adcom so thats why i was wondering if there is a nice pre in my price range. my budget is about 400-500 bucks.

Offhand I'm not aware of any preamp / processors (ie: non-receivers) in the $500 range that will handle the lossless formats (others may jump in). If you're asking about receivers, then what justlord said above. Pioneer, Onkyo, & Yamaha seem to be forum favorites but you can throw in Denon, Marantz, and HK as well. If you want new, then it may be a little more difficult since the lower-mid models of most of those brands may not have pre-outs. Used is wide-open.

[justlord]

Offhand I'm not aware of any preamp / processors (ie: non-receivers) in the $500 range that will handle the lossless formats (others may jump in). If you're asking about receivers, then what justlord said above. Pioneer, Onkyo, & Yamaha seem to be forum favorites but you can throw in Denon, Marantz, and HK as well. If you want new, then it may be a little more difficult since the lower-mid models of most of those brands may not have pre-outs. Used is wide-open.

Good point Marty,

I completely forgot to look for the pre-outs. Those Onkyos that you're looking at DJ is a pretty good deal, and has pretty low THD, too.

[dudeinaroom]

Don't know much about it but http://www.emotiva.com/umc1.shtm<<<<click and check it out. $499 right now.

[chumlie]

Here ya go. Outlaw audio at outlaw.com has Marantz SR 5005 for $499 Free Shipping.

[jbooker82]

Here ya go. Outlaw audio at outlaw.com has Marantz SR 5005 for $499 Free Shipping.

Here you go. $399. It is a refurb.
http://www.accessories4less.com/make...r/1.html#!more

Onkyo will have more surround sound listening modes, better upscaling, and the better Audyssey MulitEq XT automatic setup if you get a 2011 model (TX-NR709 or higher).
http://www.accessories4less.com/make...ml?&r=4ee43779

[chumlie]

Good call Jb...

[Syndil]

I've said this before, but just in case you haven't heard it...

If you're going to use an external amp, why not take the money that would have been spent on an A/V receiver with a built-in amp section you'll never use and instead put it towards a better preamp. Doesn't necessarily need to have support for the lossless formats or even HDMI. You really only need support for those formats for one source: your Blu-Ray/SACD player. So if you get a decent universal player that can decode those formats on-board and send them via a 7.1 analog output (read: Oppo), it frees you up to buy an actual preamp worthy of pairing with your amp.

After auditioning several HT preamps in my listening space I decided on the Outlaw 990. No HDMI, no TruHD, no DTS:MA--don't need them. It has a 7.1 input for those, and I let my TV handle the HDMI switching. You could also go with a Rotel RSP-1068, the Emotiva UMC-1, Anthem AVM-20, B&K Reference 50 Series 2... Many more to choose from that are much higher quality units and better buys than your typical consumer-grade Japanese AVR, all for between $300 - $500. I'm all about getting the most bang for your buck, but IMO an AVR isn't it.

Anyway that's my opinion, just thought I'd put it out there in case maybe you hadn't considered that option.

[tonyb]

Doesn't necessarily need to have support for the lossless formats or even HDMI. You really only need support for those formats for one source: your Blu-Ray/SACD player. So if you get a decent universal player that can decode those formats on-board and send them via a 7.1 analog output (read: Oppo), it frees you up to buy an actual preamp worthy of pairing with your amp.

That works as long as you actualy have 5.1 speakers. In other words, say you want to run without a center channel or without a subwoofer, then all that info is lost using the analog connections because re routing of the signals only happens in the digital domain. For example, using the analog connections, if your center channel speaker takes a dump, you have no way to route that signal to the fronts without a processor doing it in the digital domain. So until you can come up with the coin for a new center channel, you'd be up sh$ts creek. Also depending on the preamp, you may lose some bass management capabilities. A bdp or cdp is not a processor and alot of preamps aren't either. Thats not to say that there are alot of preamp/processors out there to be had.

[Syndil]

I don't consider the loss of a speaker something I should have a flawless contingency plan for. To me, that just means I need to replace the speaker ASAP and I can suffer the consequences until I do. YMMV.

Also, the Oppo BDP-93 is indeed a processor, and is likely a far better processor than anything included in an AVR. It handles speaker/bass management on board, so the signal it sends via the 7.1 analog outputs is exactly what you need it to be, requiring no further management from the preamp. If you're not familiar with the Oppo line of universal players, I highly recommend you check them out. Once I find a bargain on an Oppo my setup will be complete.

[tonyb]

The Oppo is a very good player, and as with other players offers up some bass management, but not to the extent a good processor can do, especially when you add in all the other levels of adjustments available in a processor. If thats up your alley then rock it, all I'm saying is there are caveots to just using analog connections.

[F1nut]

Let's see 8 RCA cables or one HDMI cable? Hell it's only HT, make mine an HDMI cable.

[Syndil]

The Oppo offers full-featured bass/speaker management as you would find on any processor. Crossover, latency, downmixing, trim... all there.

Whether you choose to send the signal digitally on to your processor or to have the Oppo decode it, it has to be broken out to analog eventually. The number of cables involved is just a non-issue IMO. And quite frankly I don't think any AVR in the sub $1000 range is going to have a decoder section that can hold a candle to the Oppo's. But like I said, YMMV.

I am surprised at the resistance I am getting. I've seen some (highly) questionable upgrades recommended on these forums, but a high-quality preamp over using a Japanese AVR as a preamp seems like a no-brainer to me.

[F1nut]

Besides that fact that your suggestion would require the OP to buy an Oppo and a pre amp with his stated budget of $400-$500, which is never going to happen, the number of cables certainly matters to many.

Talk about highly questionable recommendations.

[pearsall001]

With the OP's budget set at $4-500.00, an AVR with pre-outs to use his Adcom amp is his best option. This way he gets plenty of bells & whistles, the latest & greatest digital decoding, etc, etc. Now if he can raise the bar with his budget...well that's another whole ball game.

[tonyb]

Syndil, it's not a matter of resistance or push back, just trying to work with the OP in his given budget is all. Nothing wrong with the option you mentioned, as it has it's upsides and downsides and we need to point out the downsides also when handing out advice so the OP can make a rational decision on what suits his needs best. Simple as that, don't take it personal bro.

[Syndil]

Not taking it personal at all, just surprised me a bit.

A preamp can be had well within the OP's budget. Outlaw 990s are selling for $400 or less right now--got mine for $360 shipped. All the other preamps I mentioned can be found for less than $500 on Audiogon or elsewhere. Yes, that does mean that, until he can add the Oppo, he will miss out on TruHD and DTS:MA, but the preamp will still be able to handle the rest of the formats via S/PDIF or optical digital from his current Blu-Ray player. This is the exact situation I am in right now. It's an affordable investment in a better system overall, with the temporary sacrifice of those two formats.

Again, YMMV. My intention was not to start an AVR vs. preamp war, but since this was the OP's exact question, I am giving my reasons for choosing a preamp over an AVR.

[Syndil]

And of course as dudeinaroom mentioned, the Emotiva UMC-1 does have support for the lossless formats and HDMI, and currently is right at the top of the OP's budget.

[howardru]

I'm very pleased with the Onkyo 709 and all the listening modes. 8 HDMI in, 2 out, 110 Watts per channel, network streaming audio, Audyssey, 2 zone, 7.2 support, network download, upscaling etc, pre-amp outs etc..... the unit Rocks.

Check out all the info and comments on the AVS Forum for 709

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showt...340545&page=13