seperates or a receiver.......which one and why?

sickicw

when lots of people move into the world of seperates, they start with a receiver with a pre-out and then buy a seperate amp like the outlaw one you are talking about. I would say buy your receiver and then when you get some extra cash invest in a good amp. yes, you will be able to tell the difference with the extra amp,and yes the receiver will still process everything correctly such as hdmi and just buypass the internal amp.

jhw59

I'm interested to hear if any of the posters would change their answers 3.5 years later. Do today's HT receivers make separates an audiophile only choice?

PolkWannabie

No ...

AndyGwis

I think everyone should have a receiver before getting into separates. Call it logical progression, call it a right of passage, whatever. There are pluses and minuses to every kind of setup, and each should be experienced and enjoyed before you know you're ready and interested in the next step.

I don't think anyone should go right from their old 500-1000W HTIB or boombox to separates and high end speakers. You just won't be able to enjoy it, and you'll be spending tons of money to get something you don't understand.

I feel the progression should be followed, but the time spent with every stage can be different for each person. HTIB are the cheapest most convenient and space effective units. If people are happy with those, they should just buy a new HTIB with each new technology. In 2008, thousands of people will be saying, hey come check out my new Samsung Bluray / HDDVD 2000W HTIB, and they'll be happy as hell.

But, if you are wanting more, people should separate the speakers, source, and receiver. It will cost more, take up more room, have more remotes, and more cables/wires. Some people will like this setup enough to keep it, upgrading some pieces here and there.

However, if you are still wanting more, you should get a separate amp and at least try it out. I got two Carver TFM-6s for a decent price just to see if I could tell a difference. Well, I certainly did, and it got me really into 2-channel listening.

Am I going to run out and drop another $3K for pre/pro and a 5-channel amp for my HT? Hell no, not worth the time, money, space, etc. I'd have to buy new speakers to justify having separates, and then it would be more like $5K. And, add another $1K for better cables/wires, a bigger stand, etc. Not worth it. I think receivers are great for HT. Not enough decent pre/pros for the same price that can do all the same things as my HK. If I want to upgrade, I'll get a 5-channel amp down the road.

But, for music/2-channel buffs, it's totally worth it. You don't need the same functionality to listen to music (I don't even have volume control or a remote wiith my 2-channel rig), and there's not much processing / format / etc. changes going on in the music arena. Plus, there are only 2 channels, ie by numbers alone it's cheaper to go separates in this arena than HT.

So, I'm building a 2-channel rig piece by piece to take advantage of the slight benefits seen in separates.

jhw59

AndyGwis,
thanks for a well expressed opinion. One further question, does room size matter in the receiver vs. separates issue? Small room-receiver. Big room-receiver or separates. For a reference, I'll say that my 180 sq foot potential HT room is small

PolkWannabie

No ... It's about quality, not quantity ... While Andy's answer is clearly better spelled out then my previous it pretty much boils down to you upgrade in stages until you either can't hear the difference or you just don't care any more ... There are loads of people out there who never need or want to go beyond a good AVR. There are other people who would say that there is no such thing as a GOOD AVR. It's about personal taste, priority and budget. I have never considered myself to be an audiophile, but by the same token I wouldn't say that there are no benefits to be had from some degree of separates in a HT environment. To each his/her own.

AndyGwis

I wouldn't say you should have one or the other for a big or small room, per se. A bigger room would definitely need more volume, which could be obtained through more watts, higher speaker sensitivity, etc. I think a modest to decent AVR will get Klipsch really loud and full with minimal work. Klipsch all have like 93-98 sensitivity. . . unless it's REALLY a big room, then looking into some separates is probably advises since quality AVRs with 150 wpc are all $2000+ new.

It really does come down to refinement, detail, budget. Some could argue that a smaller room would only require a decent AVR to get good volume, dynamics, etc. However, others would claim that, with a small room, you could get a better quality seperates system going since you could do well with a nice 50wpc 5-channel amp and not need to drop hella dollars on a 200wpc 7-channel amp.

In audio, there are rarely right answers. . . only opinions (some more thought out and better supported through experience than thers). It's got to be the most subjective hobbies out there. But, that makes it fun.

dmk_187

Newbie speaking on the subject, so take what I say as easy as possible. I was way deep (and still am) in car audio. I installed, researched, fabricated, and pissed a lot of people off. I have really gotten into the home audio bit now and I think it does bleed over into car audio in some terms. My HT will consist of the following:

Rti10 L/R fronts
Csi5 Center
Tc265i rears
Rotel pre not decided because I want integrated HDMI
Rotel Rmb-1077 (i plan on going to 7.1 when the media is more available and the amp will push my speakers as hard as I want them to be pushed)
Rotel 1080p player (havn't gotten to it yet)
Probably Blue Jeans Cable (i think it's quality at a nice price)

I just posted that all of that to prove a small and sometimes missed point. Do you research your product? What you want? What you can afford? What you'll be happy with in six months when they comeout with the new Blu-ray player $200 cheaper than yours? With all the technology being sported out there today, you can quickly get dragged into the $3000 processor and the 300wpc x 7 amp to puch it Lsi system you had no idea you wanted until you walked into that HT store. I pissed a lot of people off in the day about buying a car system for $400 and having to tell them "No, this will not crack your front windshield."

I don't think it really matters what you use, receiver, or seperates, old, or upgrade, make sure your know what you're buying and make sure you willbe happy with it. Someone has already said this earlier in the post, I'm just supporting them. Just make sure you're happy with what you are paying for. If it takes seperates, get them, if the denon 2807 will do the job, then go that route. If you can't make up your mind, hit the forum. I have gotten so much feedback to help point me in the right directions and to give me opinions.

I'd rather have damn SEPERATES though........ And a damn nice recliner for the living room...... This thread is an opinion thread right??? Thanks for all the opinions on my system though.