Moving to seperates, need advice

[Pete H]

After spending a month listening to my old Sansui 8080 against my Onkyo TX SR 805, I’ve come to the conclusion that the Sansui just blows the Onkyo away musically and it’s time for the Onkyo to go and time to move on to separate pieces. I need a great processor to handle the HT and want it to be able to run HDMI and offer a lot of connection configurations. I have a stack of Carver M200t’s that I don’t have any issues with and sound great with my RF’s, so amplification isn’t an immediate need and will be an upgrade in the future. What I want is a great pre amp and processor that will reproduce audio extremely well and not break the bank. I’m relying on some of your experience to help me make good choices.

[CECAA850]

Define "break the bank".

[Youthman]

I’ve come to the conclusion that the Sansui just blows the Onkyo away musically and it’s time for the Onkyo to go

I too never found Onkyo to be very "musical". Definitely preferred HK and Yamaha over it for 2ch listening. Good luck with your search. I haven't moved into the world of separates yet so I can't be of much help there.

[Saturn5]

I'm a big fan of Outlaw Audio. Great equipment at very reasonable prices for what you get. They don't currently have an HDMI pre/pro available, but the new model 997 with HDMI and Trinnov Optimizer should be out sometime soon. (it's been delayed, so n official release date yet)

http://www.outlawaudio.com/products/997.html

[Arky]

I would think the budget choices would be Outlaw & Emotiva. I have been very pleased with my Outlaw separates.

[papashawn]

Another vote for Outlaw. I have been pleased with my 990 and unless you need a phono stage, the upcoming 997 should suit you fine. The trinnov optimizer sounds like a really great feature. You might also look into the Onkyo PR-SC886. Looks like a very full featured Pre/pro.

[Pete H]

Define "break the bank".

I would like to keep it around $1,000.00, but I'm always looking for a deal

[Oblio]

Have you thought about using your 8080 amps with AVR pre-outs ? I'm thinking of trying that this weekend, using the 8080 for the L/R with my HK AVR.

[Pete H]

I haven't done that yet, but let me know how it works out for you. I just wired the RF 7's up to both with the oppo as the source and did some A/B listening and there's no comparison.

[CECAA850]

You might look for some reviews on THIS after it's out a bit.

[Pete H]

You might look for some reviews on THIS after it's out a bit.

I've looked at it and hope they get some units out there soon. One more thing to add to the mix, is that the processor must be able to connect to network media drives ( I would like it to be able to stream wireless also)

[Pete H]

I can't believe that there's not anyone on this forum that has a kick *** processor that wants to chime in. Maybe I have this posted in the wrong place.[*-)]

[CECAA850]

I can't believe that there's not anyone on this forum that has a kick *** processor that wants to chime in. Maybe I have this posted in the wrong place.

There are plenty of kick *** processors, but not necessarily under 1K.

[o0O Bill O0o]

The Emotiva is it. Next would be the Outlaw Audio varieties..

Go used and Look for Meridian and Lexicon..

Otherwise stick with a reciever that has pre outs and use an external amp.

I got a Lexicon CP3+ back in college and I never knew how good these seperates were and how much thought is put into them.

_Bill

[Pete H]

I can't believe that there's not anyone on this forum that has a kick *** processor that wants to chime in. Maybe I have this posted in the wrong place.

There are plenty of kick *** processors, but not necessarily under 1K.

I'm not saying that I wouldn't reach for the right piece. I just don't want to make a lateral move and I would hope that going from a $1,000 receiver to a $1000 processor and seperate amps should be a nice step up, I would hope anyway.

[CECAA850]

HERE'S the cure for a lateral move. One of the best sounding pre/pro's out there. It also has Audyssey. I wouldn't invest any money in a pre/pro without some form of room correction software. My pre/pro sounded great straight out of the box. A year later, Anthem came out with their own propriatary room correction software, "ARC". It took it to a whole new level once I installed and ran it. It takes the room out of the equation and as we all know the room has more influence on what you hear than anything else.

[o0O Bill O0o]

OH WOW! That is a great suggestion. Can you live with telling your wife that you want a processor made by "NAD" :-)

Why not go for the HD version ;-)

http://www.audioadvisor.com/prodinfo.asp?number=NAT175HD

-Bill

[CECAA850]

Why not go for the HD version ;-)

The price.

I was trying to stick as close to the OP's budget and goals as possible.

[Rudy81]

I went to the Integra DHC 9.9 last Spring and love the unit. It has everything I could ask for and paired with my Parasound HALO amps, does what I need in 2 channel. A bit above the price range you have mentioned. I think in order to get everything you want, you may have to up your budget a bit.

[Pete H]

Why not go for the HD version ;-)

The price.

I was trying to stick as close to the OP's budget and goals as possible.

To me this is probably one of the most important decisions that I will make regarding HT as my expectations will be to have this be the brains of the HT system for years to come and then my efforts will be focused on the Jamboree build and tubes. I didn't go over the differences in the HT vs Std. yet, but will look at them both. The used Lexicon is very tempting, in spite of the lack of HDMI, which isn't a big problem as I only have two devices using HDMI into the HDTV and personally I prefer to keep the audio running seperate into the receiver, or processer.