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Home Theater Processor or Dedicated Preamp?

Hi,
This question must have been asked frequently but I couldn't find any thread that talks about this so here it is again, hoping that someone can shed some light.

My preference is 95% music and 5% movie.

My current set up consists of a pair of Martin Logan Aerius (to be upgraded to a larger ML model), an Adcom GTP-500 preamp, Marantz DV6400 player, and Acurus 5x125W amp.

I'm considering the following (All used Audiogon prices):
1. (budget $800)Preamp/Processor: Krell HTS2, Proceed AVP or should I go with a dedicated Preamp and if so which one is the best for my budget?
2. (budget $1000)Amp: 250-300W (8-ohm) 2-channel
3. (budget $400)CD/DVD player: Emotiva, Oppo, or anything else?

Any help would be greatly appreciated.
johncdnt
srosenberg's avatar
srosenberg
209 posts
 
i went from a theta casablanca pre/pro to a dedicated 2-channel preamp... no camparison. the 2-ch pre was better in every way. much better.

i started with a counterpoint, recently moved to an aesthetix calypso for the HT bypass. as good as the counterpoint was, the aesthetix is even better.

if music is your priority, i've yet to find a HT pre/pro that could keep up with a decent 2-ch preamp.
tgrisham
1,291 posts
 
For my money, I use a less expensive receiver, an Onkyo that has every decoder built in, and a nice pre, Modwright, with HT bypass. When I use the Onkyo for movies and SACD, it works fine and is affordable and reliable. I listen mostly to music, so usually the receiver is off. I have a limited number of SACD and DVD-A discs.
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