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I am looking for a musical pre or reciever with pre out to use with my parasound 885. Any ideas?
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I auditioned the Denon 5800, Pioneer Elite (can't recall the mod#) and Onkyo TS989. The Pioneer was dull and lifeless, the Onkyo and Denon much better with the Denon seemingly a smoother high end while the Onkyo beter balanced and tighter in the low end. I could have lived with either, but choose the Onkyo mainly because of the true "future-proof" architecture.
I would recommend the AVR 305. It comes with 5x150 Amps and supports 7.1. You can move around any of the 5 amps to any of the 7 outputs and use any amp you want for the other 2 positions. This Receiver can be had for under $2,300.00 if you look hard. The sound is extremely transparent. Some might prefer Marantz, Denon and others in this price range, however; I've found that these receivers try to color things a bit. I like to hear the music uncolored. You should go out to www.bkcomp.com and download the owners manual and take a look. I think it has incredible features, like notch filters, etc...
Also, The B&K AVR305 and 307 both have the Ref 30 built right in. At least, that is what the engineers at B&K said to me. This system is upgradeable. You won't get upgradeability with Denon, Pioneer, Marantz or other Japanese manufacturers.Good luck on whatever you get.
If you aren't concerned about dvda and multichannel sacd (when they arrive in the somewhat distant future), I'd recommend a used Meridian 565/562v or Theta Casablanca or Krell HTS. I've seen all of these around the 4K mark on Audiogon at one time or another, and they are all among the premier pre's for music reproduction. They will put a standard receiver to shame for music reproduction. By getting them used, you save a bundle as well.
A have recently purchased a Denon AVR5800 and am quite pleased with its musicality, especially the "pure audio direct" mode which disables the video circuitry and employs 4 DACs per channel to improve D/A conversion. If you end up wanting to use the power amps (as I am), it has seven channels (all equal power) and it's rated at 170 watts per channel in stereo into 8 ohms. The frequency response is 10 - 100kHz in direct analog mode, which is perfect for SACD playback. And of course, it has full the 7.1 pre-outs.While not as good as the much more expensive Krell separates I also auditioned (Krells definitely had a less grainy high end), it smoked the competitively-priced B&K 307 (and even their separates version - forgot the model #s) I heard for overall smooth and balanced response and especially for tightness and clarity in the mid-bass region. Don't even bother with the Pioneer Elite line - to me these sound thin and flat in comparison to both the Denon and the B&K. The Elite simply did not present as clear and deep a soundstage and smeared and obscured subtle details that I could clearly hear with the others. The Denon AVR5800 is a little pricey, but can be found discounted on-line for under $2600.00. I purchased mine from a reputable local dealer for $2850.00.
Give it a try, you might like it.
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