What pre-amp?

Do you mean a power amp? If you were to get a pre, you would also have to get a power amp. You could hook a power amp up to your Onkyo though, without needing a seperate pre.

Just a quick follow-up silversubaru to make sure you got your question answered. You have a pretty nice system so it'd only logical you would pursue (or at least wonder about) separates. Did you want recommendations about costs, brands, etc. Most of us here have had both separates and receivers at one time or another but it can be one of those "religious" argument things. Any follow-up questions, just throw 'em out there.

Like Manman said, there are some great receivers out there, and you can get great results using a receiver and a power amp. But unless you're talking about an 8000 dollar receiver, the pre-amp/power amp combo is nearly always going to yield better results.

I love my Onkyo receiver too...but I'll never try to claim that it's better than any pre/power amp combo, because it isn't.

You're making a good move on going with an external power amp. It's not necessarily about having more power, but having better, cleaner power. External amps are always going to vastly improve your sound quality.

after hearing the 8000 doller comments, I'm curious from those who have gone through a lot of equipment, what WOULD the price point be where you start finding receivers by themselves that sound better than a similarly priced pre-amp/power amp combo? I have only heard a few setups with separates, but from what I've read around here, I've never heard anyone claim that a single receiver matches or exceeds a combo at the same price point.

dorokusai wrote: »

$8000? Seriously? You should get out....or search the internet more.

Apparently the slight exaggeration didn't come across there.;)

Fair enough, but the question was not really "what do you prefer" it was whether or not sound quality is as good or better (when you get to a certain price point- if applicable) running just a receiver versus a separate pre-amp power amp. Preference could involve more than sound quality (like convenience which was stated before). I'm not really talking about for a specific setup- i'm talking pure potential. If everything else in the system were top of the line or whatever- all else being equal, would you get better sound qualirty out of one or the other. So far from what I've gathered, separates will usually win at any given price point, but I was just asking if that is actually true or not. If there are some super high quality receivers where you'd get the same potential performance versus a pre-amp/power amp combo for the same price.

manman wrote: »

Fair enough, but the question was not really "what do you prefer" it was whether or not sound quality is as good or better (when you get to a certain price point- if applicable) running just a receiver versus a separate pre-amp power amp. Preference could involve more than sound quality (like convenience which was stated before). I'm not really talking about for a specific setup- I'm talking pure potential. If everything else in the system were top of the line or whatever- all else being equal, would you get better sound quality out of one or the other. So far from what I've gathered, separates will usually win at any given price point, but I was just asking if that is actually true or not. If there are some super high quality receivers where you'd get the same potential performance versus a pre-amp/power amp combo for the same price.

manman raises some interesting points. Here’s a couple scenarios:

A NAD T175 Pre / NAD 955 Amp combo versus a NAD T755 Receiver. Price would be roughly the same and I suspect the parts quality would be similar. I doubt there would be a huge difference in perceived sound quality.

Next, let’s assume the above NAD separates combo narrowly wins (because separates always win, right?). Would the Sunfire TGR-401 Receiver then beat the NAD separates? The Sunfire does cost $1500 more but still it would be a quality receiver beating quality separates. Would the Sunfire then be stomped by the less expensive Rotel separates?

I guess my point is that separates do not always beat receivers in quality sound. I’m not even sure usually is a fair term unless you know the what separates versus what receiver. I'm not even sure price point is any guarantee.

silversubaru wrote: »

LOL! Sorry guys, wrong wording on my initial post! I meant POWER amplifier! Does that make more sense now? As I understand things, I can add a power amp to my Onkyo and then use the power amp to only drive the front RTi8's.
I guess the real question is what power amp should I use to run the 8's and make them sound better than how they sound by being driven in a bi-amp mode at the moment through the Onkyo....

You really need to provide a budget for someone to help. You also need to decide on the number of channels. I went with a nice 2-channel amp because my Rti 10s were the only speakers that really needed/wanted more power than the Onk 875 could give.

However, many people will advise you to go with 5 channels and not think about upgrading again. In my case, if I ever decide to sell my Onk and buy a pre-amp, then I'll have to buy another 3-5 channel amp.

There are a lot of factors, but your budget will at least help narrow the options. Btw, I got my "open-box" amp from Audio Advisor (no affil) for a real good price and it cames with a full warranty. I would check them out. They have some NAD 2-ch amps (like 150 wpc) for cheap right now.