Best AV processors for under $10K

For me, the question is complicated by your preferred source material and whether the subs stay on-line for two channel listening. IME, subs (virtually) always sound better when managed in the digital domain (including room correction). If you keep the subs for music and your sources are all digital, then IMO the "music" side of your system should sit within the digital "cinema" side.

In this case, I'd choose a pre-pro primarily for it's software, the impact of which will IMHO swamp the benefits of purist analog construction. I like Audyssey xt32, but Meridien and Anthem's ARC are highly regarded in many circles. Bottom line: In this case I prefer Onkyo/Integra to Theta (and its software limitations) for music.

But....

If you lose the subs for music and/or prefer analog source material then it's a different kettle of fish. I suspect that you might be best off with Mezmo's suggestion of 2 front ends: $2k worth of Onkyo/Integra for video and the balance for a high end analog 2 channel preamp.

Just MHO.

Marty

Very good points and this is why I consider the 8801/Oppo105 a killer combo , I run my mains fullrange with no sub at times for 2/ch sacd,usb or redbook playback because my room is well treated and the performance is stellar and having said that now that I have a pre/pro with XT32 on board I have the best of both worlds at the touch of a button prior to the addition of the 8801 the 2 box solution did sound best but now unnecessary in my case, it even sounds stellar doing 2/ch mains set to small and using Audyssey with the sub at an 80hz crossover! having this kind of processing power is what its all about!

jdub39,

A bug in the Cary 11a causes it to not distinguish between LPCM and DSD via HDMI, so it provides no bass management with digital input. I presume the 8801 distinguishes the two and does provide bass management with LPCM. Is that correct? Can the 8801 be set to bypass XLR input from the 105, so you can listen to the analog output of the 105 rather than that of the 8801? If so, that does seem like a very nice setup.

db

Dbphd
Yes it does bass management for DSD and LPCM and Audyssey as well for both, For the XLR inputs there is a processed by the 8801 via XLR inputs and a "Direct" and "Pure Direct" on the XLR inputs for the 105's Sabre dac's to be heard with the pure direct disabling the video as well as processing in the 8801 and while of course not fully balanced it gets the job done well.

I have to agree with Mezmo. If you want to have the best of both worlds you really need to get HT equipment with some type of passthrough and use 2 channel equipment for audio. I've never heard any type of theatre equipment that can compete with really good 2 channel gear. I had a Meridian 861 in my system and while it was very good for movies, it was easily bettered buy stereo equipment that cost far less. Also, for 2 channel, if you pick your equipment well and set it up properly, you really don't need any of the room correction features that HT products offer. Doing so compromises the sound quality of your other components.