Cheap receiver + amp vs Expensive receiver

Hi, thanks to you all.

Actually most of my budget was spent, and will be spent in the future, on the 2 channels system. HT is an after thought. (i.e. I won't spent the $ on a Krell or a brand new Anthem etc, I'll spent the $ on the 2 channels sys instead)

However, HT is something my whole family enjoys. Currently, I have a Harmon Kardon HK635, which is a pre-HDMI era receiver (it's resell value is like dirt right now). After the HK635, I learned that the digital front end is so easily and quickly becoming obsolete.

I do believe good amps are always worth the $.

So I was thinking, asumming my budget is less than $2000, if I get a good ~$1000-$1200 used power amp, and mate it with a $500-600 current receiver (e.g. Denon, Onkyo, Pioneer), I'll have a good analog amp and the most recent decoding front end. (I know the analog preamp sucks but it's all about picking the lesser evil).

Another option is to have the pre-out from the receiver as an input to my 2 channels setup using HT bypass. But I dislike the idea of buring 11 tubes for watching TV and movies.

Cheers,

K

Man, given your priorities (which are identical to mine by the way) I'd buy one of the brands you mentioned in the $500 range with the audyssey room correction built in and be done with it. Take the grand you save and put it into your 2-channel rig and/or more music. I seriously doubt inserting a $1000 amp into your HT system in the way you propose will make that big of a difference in how much you enjoy movies (I'm assuming you're currently using a sub, but if you're not THAT is where the additional money would be best spent rather than on an amp). As always, I could be wrong.

Can I make a comment on "prosumer". I totally disagree. Consumer gear like HK gives you as many features as possible for the buck. Pro gear like QSC gives you a bulletproof design and reliability for the buck. Both have made huge compromises to get where they are. That's where high end audio fits in. An Anthem unit will have lots of feature and should have great reliability with the best technology they can reasonably put in the gear. The Anthem will have better quality parts, better remote controls, better DAC's and Video processing and so on...over the HK. An Anthem amp will keep up with the volume level of a QSC (to a certain extent) but with much lower distortion levels and way better imaging.

It looks like a 2nd hand Onkyo Integra pre/pro + 2nd hand 5 channels amp will be much better a brand new $2000 receiver!

Kschiu - with the Integra pre/pro and a 5 channel amp, how would you use the new amp for HT and the tube amp for 2 channel? Usually with this type of hybrid system, you use a HT bypass solution, but that is a lot harder with a tube amp?Swapping speaker cables can be a pain.

I agree that the pre/pro + amp is the way to go. Note that a receiver with pre-outs can also be used as a pre-pro - depending on the features you want and the price.