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Help please upgrading my old Pre/Pro..

IBackground:

I've been running my current system for almost 20 years and it consists of the following: It is a 5.0 system as I am not running a sub for either music/HT and I'm pretty happy with the Stratus Golds job on the bass as they go down to about 36HZ.

PSB Stratus Golds - Front Main
PSB Status C6 - Center
Niles Audio In-Walls - Rear Surround

Acurus ACT-3 Pre/Pro
Panasonic BMP-BDT 300 Blu-ray player
Aragon 8008x3 - L, R, C
Aragon 8008x2 - Rear Surrounds

Luxman 10 band Equalizer (+- 10db equalization)

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While I am very happy with this setup and it does sound great for both HT and 2 channel stereo I am looking to upgrade my PRE/PRO (Acurus). MY ACT-3 was bought in 1997 and has 24 bit Crystal DACS. It does Dolby Digital and DTS but does not have the newer decoding formats. I am also looking for a unit that will provide bass/treble adjustments as I like to boost both and is the reason I am running the Luxman in line for the Front Mains (Stratus Golds). I'd like to remove the Luxman if possible if I gain the tone controls and/or 10 band EQ in the PRE/PRO.

So my wants in a new PRE/PRO come down to this:

1) hopefully a bit better sonic quality than the Acurus ACT-3
2) new surround sound decoding that HOPEFULLY a new pre/pro can down convert to my 5.0 system? Will this sound better or just about the same as my old pre/pro processing and at that point not worthwhile to upgrade?
3) be able to adjust tone/EQ to boost the bass and treble like I prefer
4) not an absolute want but gaining wifi streaming to play music off my desktop PC and Spotify would be nice (without purchasing separate unit like SONOS connect etc. to do the streaming)

Someone mentioned to check out the new Marantz AV7703 or possibly bump up to the AV8802a but I didn't think that Marantz sound quality was on the same level with say Acurus/Aragon but I may be mistaken as I haven't listened to any of the Marantz pieces?

That said, can the "sound gurus" on this fine board provide some opinions/options on my pre/pro upgrade wishes?

venom
venom OP
11 posts
 
Aux,

What pre/pro are you currently running?
auxinput
2,920 posts
 

I run the Krell S-1200U 3D as a processor.  If you scroll up, I posted a big message talking about the S-1200U.  The paragraph starts with:

"Another option I will put out here is one that I went with. I just recently chose the Krell S-1200U 3D..."

venom OP
11 posts
 
ah I missed that, sorry Sir! You are lucky, as Krell is a fine choice. Wish I could afford one but just not in my budget right now
xyobgyn's avatar
xyobgyn
42 posts
 
I think you are looking over a very affordable option by not considering the Marantz 7702 Mk II .....

You don't need more than that.

If if you love love love it, sure, one day splurge for an 8802a or 8803 when they show up.

Love mine with Oppo 105, Brystons all around, B&W 802M LCR etc.......

Sounds indistinguishable from 8801 I had as I look to move to ATMOS one day. 
euphonymi
1 posts
 
I'm on my 3rd Marantz SSP and have been happier w/each one in both sound quality & function.
Sound quality
AV7005 New- big improvement over my first SSP - used Rotel RSP1098 
AV7701 Refurbished - marginal improvement over 7005
AV7702 Refurbished - slight improvement over 7701
Media compatability & function for music drove most of the upgrading since the 1st Marantz purchase. This ended up being a bigger factor than anticipated for me so be really careful to insure you get what suits your needs & future growth expectations. Having extra components to cover scenarios your SSP can't becomes burdensome and annoying if that's what you're expecting from it. My music collection is too large & complex to tolerate converting from what I've settled on. I want to spend my time listening not converting and correcting meta data. I was getting really tired of keeping a portion of my music in 2 formats so I could get the best quality on mobile and in-car.

The Marantz media playback only gained in track FWD & REV & gapless playback with the AV7702 I believe.  Yes, welcome to 1986 technology. Video wasn't a priority for me until recently with an OLED 4K TV & subsequent acquiesce to a new 4k blu-ray player. Unfortunately I'm stuck without HDCP 2.2 compatibility, but I've found a work around that avoids another upgrade for now.  Streaming 4k video is really compressing and loosing much of the advantage while paying more. Even regular HD streaming they strip the original high quality audio down to a regular res 5.1. That's fine in many situations, but a complete non-starter for me in a premium HT experience.

As for streaming content from the internet, I thought that would be a bigger deal to me, but I'm using it less and less really. It's good for trying new stuff, but the quality is so comprimised the value isn't there to me. The Marantz will play a crappy MP3 as well as or better than most. I recently tried Tidal w/MQA. I have hope for MQA's adoption and growth, but it's going to take awhile.  Tidal itself was ok, not great. & keeping the MQA quality flowing consistently was tricky. You can direct stream MQA high res to the Marantz thankfully. Keeping the settings aligned between software, computer, and Marantz got annoying quickly.  

I have yet to find a configuration where streaming over wifi delivers the full quality expected, even if it's a local stream.  It's acceptable in some situations, but for me it's not when listening critically. 

If high res audio is important be careful how you use processing features like tone adjustments & Audessy. I think Audessy does a terrible job of room correction. It's gotten marginally better in each unit I have, but I try to avoid it when possible. Most processing up converts or down converts digital signal depending on source.  The Marantz has a custom EQ that you can set up, but I don't really use the future.  A few well placed acoustic treatments might do wonders vs trying to compensate with the EQ.  For me, I want the best digital conversion possible with excellent digital & analog filters and as little interference as possible to the preamp and ultimately the amp.

My view is SSPs have short shelf lives and loose their value quickly. Formats and codecs probably won't ever settle down.  The alternative is separating functions out of the SSP but then you add layers, compromise quality sometimes, and often add complexity. & that's still no guarantee.  All of my SSPs have been used/refurbed except for the first Marantz. They will loose their value no matter what.  So factor real life cycle into your decision.  From my research, most high end SSPs are far behind from a tech perspective, there simply aren't the resources/business case to keep pace.  Emotiva seems like an interesting alternative, but they seem to be slow delivering upgrades & they still cost $$.  I'm tempted to try them when I'm ready to upgrade again.
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