!Pre Amp Suggestions!

tavogee
tavogee Posts: 91
edited January 2011 in Electronics
If I were to replace my Onkyo receiver with a pre pro instead, which one would this community recommend? I would need one which has all the HDMI and other connections for my blu ray, cd, phono and cassette. ANYONE? THANKS TAVO
LIVING ROOM: Onkyo TX-NR808 Receiver | Emotiva XPA-5 Amplifier | Polk Dsw Pro 660wi Subwoofer | Polk RTi A9 Fronts | Polk CSi A6 Center | Polk FXi A6 Surrounds [5.1 Channel Setup]
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  • rdb2001
    rdb2001 Posts: 791
    edited January 2011
    tavogee wrote: »
    If I were to replace my Onkyo receiver with a pre pro instead, which one would this community recommend? I would need one which has all the HDMI and other connections for my blu ray, cd, phono and cassette. ANYONE? THANKS TAVO

    That really all depends on your budget and listening preferences. If you give us those, I am sure you will get alot of replies.
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  • nooshinjohn
    nooshinjohn Posts: 25,550
    edited January 2011
    Some very good pre/pro's are out there, but I have found that they tend to lack full function HDMI support. My TGP mkV Sunfire is an excellent choice, but it only supports HDMI video. I use the optical out from my bluray for audio. It also has decent phono support and is set up for cassettes as well.

    As stated above, your budget and preferences will help us help you.
    The Gear... Carver "Statement" Mono-blocks, Mcintosh C2300 Arcam AVR20, Oppo UDP-203 4K Blu-ray player, Sony XBR70x850B 4k, Polk Audio Legend L800 with height modules, L400 Center Channel Polk audio AB800 "in-wall" surrounds. Marantz MM7025 stereo amp. Simaudio Moon 680d DSD

    “When once a Republic is corrupted, there is no possibility of remedying any of the growing evils but by removing the corruption and restoring its lost principles; every other correction is either useless or a new evil.”— Thomas Jefferson
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  • tavogee
    tavogee Posts: 91
    edited January 2011
    Well I have A9's Fronts, Csi A6 Center, Fxi A6 Surrounds. I also have an Emotiva XPA-5 Power Amp coming off the Onkyo TX-NR 808 receiver. I have been reading that I would get much better sound running a pre pro verses the Onkyo, is this true? Also, are those Emotiva pre pro's recommended?
    LIVING ROOM: Onkyo TX-NR808 Receiver | Emotiva XPA-5 Amplifier | Polk Dsw Pro 660wi Subwoofer | Polk RTi A9 Fronts | Polk CSi A6 Center | Polk FXi A6 Surrounds [5.1 Channel Setup]
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  • jinjuku
    jinjuku Posts: 1,523
    edited January 2011
    tavogee wrote: »
    Well I have A9's Fronts, Csi A6 Center, Fxi A6 Surrounds. I also have an Emotiva XPA-5 Power Amp coming off the Onkyo TX-NR 808 receiver. I have been reading that I would get much better sound running a pre pro verses the Onkyo, is this true? Also, are those Emotiva pre pro's recommended?

    There are a lot of un-happy people with the UMC-1 pre's from Emotiva. I guess they are straightened out now but I am bit gun shy of there passive electronics. Their amps I have no problem with.

    You could try their UMC-1 and return it if not satisfied (minus return shipping).

    If you have a local AV retailer you may want to see what they carry and if you can demo in home.
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  • cincycat13
    cincycat13 Posts: 888
    edited January 2011
    Where do you hear the sound as lacking? Looks like a decent HT setup that is pretty new. I'd look at a dedicated subwoofer for my next step if I had that system. Is it mostly used for HT or music listening?
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  • tavogee
    tavogee Posts: 91
    edited January 2011
    I actually have a dsw pro 660wi (hard wired). I have just been reading around the forums and have heard that a dedicated pre pro is much better for clarity etc.. than a avr. I don't have one so I am just going with what I have read on the forums.
    LIVING ROOM: Onkyo TX-NR808 Receiver | Emotiva XPA-5 Amplifier | Polk Dsw Pro 660wi Subwoofer | Polk RTi A9 Fronts | Polk CSi A6 Center | Polk FXi A6 Surrounds [5.1 Channel Setup]
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  • blueboxer
    blueboxer Posts: 621
    edited January 2011
    I have been playing around with a NAD T-175HD and Anthem D2 over the last week and am very pleased with both. I upgraded to the pre/pro and amp at the same time so I cannot comment on how much of an improvement over a avr as a pre may have been. I can hookup my Denon 2809 and take a listen sometime early next week and let you know. However, overall I found the new combos much more detailed and involving than the AVR ever was. I did run an Arcam 600 and was very pleased with it, very close to the separates that I am running, but I still have to give the nod to the NAD/Amp combo.
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  • aboroth00
    aboroth00 Posts: 1,106
    edited January 2011
    jinjuku wrote: »
    There are a lot of un-happy people with the UMC-1 pre's from Emotiva. I guess they are straightened out now but I am bit gun shy of there passive electronics. Their amps I have no problem with.

    You could try their UMC-1 and return it if not satisfied (minus return shipping).

    If you have a local AV retailer you may want to see what they carry and if you can demo in home.

    I believe Emotiva will cover return shipping, you should inquire just to make sure. I kept telling people for 30 days they can try it out free, because prior to the first official release of the firmware return shipping was free but i'm not so sure about now.

    With that being said, a lower or entry level pre/pros are hard to come by because simply there isn't much of a demand for pre pros under 1.5kish. You simply don't see a lot out there when you can just get a receiver and rely on its pre/pro section. With receivers you can have all the features and benefits of HDMI without it being glitchy or lacking.

    If you can try out a pre/pro and compare to see if you really hear the difference with your gear, that'd probably be the ultimate test. Personally, I love NAD's sound but the lack of features on NAD's pre/pros and functionality of HDMI made me stay away. It just depends on your needs!
    2Ch Tube Audio Convert
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  • blueboxer
    blueboxer Posts: 621
    edited January 2011
    The T-175HD has all the HDMI features, Audyssey, etc... that most of the current receivers have. The only thing it really lacks is support for 3D, but that could possibly be remedied with a future video card. I know a lot of people recommended the Pioneer Elites for a budget friendly pre/pro, my short time with one seemed to shine with HT, but was a little too sterile for music. The NAD GUI is still fairly spartan, but overall I don't feel that it is lacking in comparison, which previous models definitely did.
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  • Sherardp
    Sherardp Posts: 8,038
    edited January 2011
    Pre's are kinda lacking behind with the HDMI bells and whistles right now. If you want more of a forward in your face detailed sound I would say check out the Pio Elites and move the Onkyo elsewhere.

    That said, there are nice ones out, Integra/Onkyo offer nice units at affordable prices. Anthem, Classe, Outlaw ( though they are selling other Pres at the moment) has the Marantz for sale. There are a few good ones out there. If money is good, then I would opt for the Classe stuff.
    Shoot the jumper.....................BALLIN.............!!!!!

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  • PrazVT
    PrazVT Posts: 1,607
    edited January 2011
    I was randomly looking at the Parasound 2100 pre and it has an HT bypass. Would that be a feasible option? You can use the pre for 2 channel and then the receiver for HT?
    Dali Optikon 1Mk2
    NAD D3020 V2
    Schiit Bifrost 2/64

    ..the rest are headphone setups.
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  • aboroth00
    aboroth00 Posts: 1,106
    edited January 2011
    blueboxer wrote: »
    The T-175HD has all the HDMI features, Audyssey, etc... that most of the current receivers have. The only thing it really lacks is support for 3D, but that could possibly be remedied with a future video card. I know a lot of people recommended the Pioneer Elites for a budget friendly pre/pro, my short time with one seemed to shine with HT, but was a little too sterile for music. The NAD GUI is still fairly spartan, but overall I don't feel that it is lacking in comparison, which previous models definitely did.

    Most of my experience I must say with the T175HD have probably been with the older models where there were severe complications with audio lock on with HDMI and made me competely stop thinking about NAD in the HDMI arena. I must say NAD keeps saying its receivers and preamps are modular but I don't see many updates or new HDMI boards but rather completely new iterations. I remember the T175 they said was upgradeable but it turns out the new boards cannot be fitted to it. (Correct me if I'm wrong). Don't expect the boards to be cheap either.
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  • aboroth00
    aboroth00 Posts: 1,106
    edited January 2011
    If you want to consider a newer NAD pre/pro they've just announced the replacement for the T175HD, the T187.

    http://www.soundstageglobal.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=115:modular-nad&catid=56:pre-show-blogs-a-other-ramblings&Itemid=97
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  • blueboxer
    blueboxer Posts: 621
    edited January 2011
    I hate typing on my Droid, sorry about that.
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  • blueboxer
    blueboxer Posts: 621
    edited January 2011
    Reported the **** above.

    From what I understand the new nad still uses the same mdc cards and the 175 can still be updated te the same feature sets, just sans the facelift. THe Reported bugs sacred me away for a while but the sound and video is worth a click now and then, but I have had good luck thus far with no real issues. I found the arcam to have more glitches and the anthem to ae error free. THe nad was right between the Two in terms of sound and ease of use.
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  • tavogee
    tavogee Posts: 91
    edited January 2011
    Thanks everyone. TAVO
    LIVING ROOM: Onkyo TX-NR808 Receiver | Emotiva XPA-5 Amplifier | Polk Dsw Pro 660wi Subwoofer | Polk RTi A9 Fronts | Polk CSi A6 Center | Polk FXi A6 Surrounds [5.1 Channel Setup]
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  • apphd
    apphd Posts: 1,514
    edited January 2011
    PrazVT wrote: »
    I was randomly looking at the Parasound 2100 pre and it has an HT bypass. Would that be a feasible option? You can use the pre for 2 channel and then the receiver for HT?

    I guess it would depend on if you are satisfied with the HT performance of your AVR. To me 2 ch SQ is more of a priority, and the option you ask about is actually where I intend to go. Been saving up and can probably start looking at used soon with out the wife getting to upset.
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  • PrazVT
    PrazVT Posts: 1,607
    edited January 2011
    I guess it would depend on if you are satisfied with the HT performance of your AVR. To me 2 ch SQ is more of a priority, and the option you ask about is actually where I intend to go. Been saving up and can probably start looking at used soon with out the wife getting to upset.

    Right now, I've got SB Touch -> external DAC -> analog CD input on receiver -> amplifier. And when I play 2 ch music, the receiver is on pure direct and I've been very happy with SQ. Obviously I haven't heard my system with a dedicated preamp in the mix, so I have no idea if I'm missing any further improvements. I am very tempted though, especially since a preamp with HT bypass would integrate nicely into an existing 5.1 HT setup.

    I'm quietly looking at the 2100 myself (to match the Parasound amps) ... *sigh* decisions decisions..
    Dali Optikon 1Mk2
    NAD D3020 V2
    Schiit Bifrost 2/64

    ..the rest are headphone setups.
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