2. amps-preamps
  3. 1015256119

Preamps in general

Ok, I know the story, Lexicon (which I own) is a great HT piece, and does 2-channel great (IMO) but there are better 2 channel units out there. From all I have read, and all my logical prowess, I can only assume that with dvd-a and sacd-multi, Lexicon will be among the best for those formats. Am I wrong?

I am mainly into this hobby for 2-channel, but can't ignore the onset of future formats. Do you all agree that the decoding power of Lexicon will make it wonderful for the multi-channel music formats? What preamps do you guys consider better...Anthem AVP-20, Tag, EAD...etc???

I like opinions, but facts and experience are better;).
mdomnick
mdomnick OP
332 posts
 
Bookner,

I can't commnet on Sunfire as I have not heard any of it. I think Bob Carver is a dedicated audiophile and I respect him as a designer (however I did own a Carver amp, TFM35X, which wasn't musical at all, but I'm not sure Bob was affiliated with Carver at the time of production). I would like to hear Sunfire, as it has gotten good reviews, but I would also check out Anthem AVM20 and the Tag Pre/Pro. I wish to God I could sit down with all these pre/pros and do A/B testing. Anyone A/B demo-ed some of these things? I may scrap Lexicon in favor of Anthem or Tag. Just too many decisions to make:/
sean
6,231 posts
 
Bookner and Mdomnick ( or anyone else for that matter ), drop me a line if you're interested on comparing notes or if you have questions on the Sunfire TG II. I can't say i'm anywhere near being an expert on this unit, but i can relate my findings with it. Sean
>
soix
9,591 posts
 
Mdomnick,

To answer your second question, yes you can use two preamps in a combined HT/Stereo system very easily. The easiest solution is to buy a stereo preamp that has a home theater passthrough feature, which allows you to only use the stereo components for 2-channel listening but also lets you seamlessly switch to a pre/pro(your Lexicon) for surround music/movies by pushing one button. You never have to worry about volume matching and in stereo listening the Lexicon is totally out of the loop. Personally I think this is the least costly and most sonically pure way to go. Here's a partial list of companies that make stereo preamps with HT passthroughs:
Adcom, McCormack, Sonic Frontiers, Rogue, Levinson/Proceed, VAC, AR, Conrad-Johnson, PSE, and probably a few others I've forgotten.

You can do this with any stereo preamp, but if it doesn't have an HT passthrough feature you'll have to set the stereo preamp to a pre-determined reference volume level every time you switch to surround music/movies. Not a big deal, just a little bit of a pain and definitely more of a problem if other people(i.e. non-audiophiles) use your system. Hope this helps and best of luck.

Tim
More to discover