Preamp recommendations

[ch11587]

I'm also in the mood to offload an amp or 2 of mine if you are interested. But Bill did speak first. If you are interested I have a BK 7250 and an Acurus 200X3.

[tmassey]

Also..my sub goes into "standby" mode if no signal is being sent to it which is a feature I really like. Do these higher quality amps have a similar feature or do I need to manually get up and power up the amp every time I want to watch a movie? My Onkyo is not "switched"...I should have bought the next model up to have gotten that feature.

You won't have to do anything to your sub. It has an onboard amp so it does not need to be hooked to your external amp. It will stay hooked up to your onkyo as is. The only thing you will have to do because your Onkyo doesn't have a trigger is turn your amp will not turn on/off when you hit the power on the onkyo.

[endover]

Okay tmassey! That is one distractingly nasty pic you've got there. Every time I read your stuff I get stuck looking at that thing. It's like watching a nasty car accident. You "should" turn away but for some reason, you can't!

[tmassey]

I am not the most photogenic guy in the world.

[derrickdj1]

That avatar is , well, something else, lol.

[endover]

I'm still contemplating all this good stuff so let me ask this. IF, IF, IF I was to sell my La Scala's and use some of the money to add one of the aforementioned amps (Emotiva, B&K, Acurus, etc...) could I expect much change in the quality of the sound that coming out of my speakers since it's still being "directed" by my Onkyo 709?

Also...I'm assuming that once I add the high horsepower amp that all I need to do later on (years later) is get rid of my Onkyo 709 and just purchase an updated pre-processor that wouldn't cost an arm and a leg? In other words, I will have purchased the high-horsepower engine now all I need to upgrade is the brain?

[willland]

use some of the money to add one of the aforementioned amps (Emotiva, B&K, Acurus, etc...) could I expect much change in the quality of the sound that coming out of my speakers since it's still being "directed" by my Onkyo 709?

That is a very hard question to answer. What I will say is, when I added my first outboard amp to my Onkyo TX-SR705 driving my RF-63's, there was a very noticeable difference in soundstage and overall presence. Fuller, more detailed, effortless. Using the same setup with my Fortes, it was not as dramatic but still noticeable.

Also...I'm assuming that once I add the high horsepower amp that all I need to do later on (years later) is get rid of my Onkyo 709 and just purchase an updated pre-processor that wouldn't cost an arm and a leg? In other words, I will have purchased the high-horsepower engine now all I need to upgrade is the brain?

Don't write off the 709 just yet before you get a chance to use it as a prepro. I am sure it is very capable and up to the task.

Bill

[tmassey]

Processors are usually pretty expensive, however in a lot of cases, they are built in a way where they are more easily upgradable via firmware updates, and usually offer better components, keeping you current for much longer. So up front, they will likely cost as much as or more than an AVR, but they will last you longer.

As far as impact on sound quality, processors or avrs are usually last on the list as far as bang for buck goes. The difference in sound quality is so slight, that people claim it has no effect whatsoever. As long as it supports the lossless audio formats, has preouts, and good automatic room correction, there are other areas where there would be much more potential for upgrade.