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Krell HTS 7.1 vs Denon AVR-X4300H

Trying to build a home theater system which can double as audiophile stereo, either 2 channel or 5 channel. 
Sound is more important for me than picture. 

ordered epson 5040ube
already got krell KAV500 amp
just placed an order for oppo 205 blue ray
have rel S5 sub
considering vienna acoustics 4 ohm speakers, mozart for front and haydn for rears, with center maestro

Need a home theater processor. Have a good offer on Krell HTS 7.1. (1000$) vs. Denon avr x4300h
What would be better for my setup. What are pros and cons of either preamp? I would use the devon as preamp for sound only as it doesn't have anything modern in terms of video. As I mentioned, music is very important to me. What would be a logical choice here? Any other suggestions for preamp and spearers are welcome, I'm new to this home theater stuff. Also, Dolby atoms is not important to me, my amp only has 5 channels, unless i can use denons amp in addition to my krell amp to add more speakers, not sure if this is possible. 

My current 2 channel audio system is Mcintosh ma6600 with mcd550 and vienna acoustics mozart, and I love the sound. 
ei001h
sfall
346 posts
 
" HTS 7.1 was an 8000 preamp, so I assumed the sound would be better than anything else that I would get for 1000$. "

I would definitely not assume that. I recommended a 2 channel preamp just for this reason.

" I can certainly spend more, but not sure what I need. What I ultimately want is a processor with current audio decoders with good quality for home theater. Why wouldn't Denon be good for this ? How is marantz better?"

For movies, either one is fine. I would pick the Marantz but only if it didn't lower the amount I could spend on a 2 channel preamp.

" also considering krell krc 3 preamp, is there a good way to integrate this into home theater ? Would this pre amp be better for 2 channel than HTS7.1 and denon? Any thoughts on this preamp? "

I had a krc3. Yes, I would take it over the HTS, but preamps have come a long way. I'm pretty sure it doesn't have a HT passthrough.

Here's an article that explains this issue far better than I can.

http://vandersteen.com/media/files/APJ%20Files/APJ_4r.pdf
auxinput
2,920 posts
 

The HTS 7.1 was a $8000 processor, and I think it was an extremely good processor. I had it for a long time. It makes a good 2-channel analog preamp, though I would say that it’s slightly soft for a 2-channel preamp because of its analog input stage. It can sound very good when used as a digital DAC/processor, but it is getting very old at this point.

The McIntosh MX150 aren’t that old. They are only 2 generations old and MX150 does support HDMI and bluray formats. Though, it is not new enough to support 4K (it’s only HDMI 1.3). I suggested it because you liked your 2-channel McIntosh setup.

In reference to your Denon, it is a receiver, which means a good portion of the unit cost has to go into the amplifier section. It may sound okay, but you’ll get much better sound quality with a dedicated processor. I recommended the Marantz because it does have an excellent design for a processor at that level. Good power supply (2 x 10,000uf capacitors) and discrete balanced output stages. Sonic signature is a little on the warm side, so it will not be as fast on the attack as the Krell stuff (or other processors such as Anthem or Arcam). I wouldn’t go for a KRC3 since you already have such an excellent 2 channel system. I think the Marantz will do a good 2-channel representation as well as provide for a good theater experience. The KRC-3 is on the warm side and others have had better experience with something newer like the Parasound P7.

Trying to make an awesome sounding 2-channel plus home theater system is going to cost a whole lot of money.  The best you can you can do with that budget is something decent.  It's not going to compete with your McIntosh 2-channel system, but it should sound pretty good anyways.

ei001h OP
290 posts
 
You said HTS 7.1 will limit me to the compressed formats, DTS etc. But what if I connect my OPPO with analog out to HTS 7.1 analog inputs. Will the HTS screw with uncompressed high def sound from the OPPO? How would this work? Do the benefits of HTS apply in this set up? 

Also, would it be possible to integrate krc3 into HTS home theater system? Would this make sense? Would KRC3 improve the preamp section for my 2 channel audio? 

Im thinking of directly connecting my OPPO video to my Epson projector via HDMI. Would I lose anything by doing that? What would be an advantage of using 4k processor in this situation? 

My vision is to have a home theater with Krell KAV500 amp, OPPO 205, Epson 5040ube, vienna acoustics speakers. I need to decide which pre-amp/processor to get. Krell krc3 is very visually appealing to me, and I would prefer to somehow integrate it into my home theater, whether I need it or not. It looks very nice with a matching amp. 

appreciate everyone's input 
auxinput
2,920 posts
 

The Oppo does have excellent video processing, so you would not lose anything by going directly to the projector.  I don't think any 4K processor/receiver would be better in this case.  The only thing that could be better than Oppo video processing is if you put in a Lumagen before the projector to do the processing and color correction.

You could certainly connect the 7.1 analog output from the Oppo to the 7.1 input on the HTS 7.1.  At this point, the Krell becomes a pure analog preamp (it won't mess with any analog-to-digital-to-analog conversion and you'd get the full resolution of any hi-res audio from the Oppo).  This would give you pretty good resolution.  Just make sure the 7.1 is in full working condition.  And keep in mind that the reliability of this older product may not be long.

The resolution of the KRC 3 is not going to be as good as the HTS 7.1.  If you went this choice, I would highly recommend having the KRC 3 recapped - using best quality capacitors available.  The KRC series was warmer with generally less resolution, as well as the KAV 500 amp.

The only reason to use a 2-channel preamp is if you didn't care about the quality of HT at all (in other words, HT is just something to watch movies on and takes much lower priority for sound quality).  In this case, you could use the left/right out of your Denon receiver to use on an input to the KRC 3 in pass-through mode.  Then use Denon receiver to power all other channels. 

sfall
346 posts
 
" The only reason to use a 2-channel preamp is if you didn't care about the quality of HT at all (in other words, HT is just something to watch movies on and takes much lower priority for sound quality). "

I don't know if I would go that far. Generally speaking, 2 channel audio is much more demanding than HT audio. You can get away with lesser equipment for HT.
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