Replace my Denon AV receiver and go with seperates.. Advice.

[TomDac]

Hi all,

I'm contemplating ditching my Denon AVR4800 and going with seperates to control my HT and audio system.

I've heard reQuests being driven with Sunfire gear (Theater Grand 3 and Cinema Signature amp) and LOVED the way they performed together, but don't want to limit myself if there is something better out there.

So with that being said, can you guys give me some recommendations?

Here's my list so far:

Sunfire Theater Grand 5
Theta Casablanca
Krell Showcase
McIntosh MX135

Remember this is AV control center ONLY. Amplification comes later. I look forward to your input.

Thanks!

Tom.

 

[jimbo]

Tom,

I did the same thing a few tears ago. I had a Denon receiver and thought I should upgrade. I looked at the Sunfire and the Krell showcase which were available at Ultimate electronics. They were nice, but I also auditioned Classe electronics. The Classe, I thought just blew them both away in sound quality and video switching. I found a six month old CAV-150 six channel amp on Audiogon for a very good price and bought it. When I hooked it up using the Denon as a pre I was seriously underwhelmed. It made a little difference but not much. Next I found a SSP-60 processor on Audiogon which I also bought. I hooked up my new processor and could not believe the difference it made. Suddenly I redicovered all of my CD's, SACD's and DVD's. This thing rocked. It was much better than anything I had hoped for. Go for the separates, you will not be disappointed.

 

[Munster]

I have had the Krell showcase and the lexicon Mc8 in my system for

long periods and tested the Sunfire Grand. I ended up purchasing a second

hand Meridian 568.2. I feel it handles HT better than the others and Musically

I like its Trifield Mode over the others.

For HT, I heard things the other processers seemed to muddle. Set-

up can be a little agitating but it was well worth it.

 

[Reverb2009]

Tom,

I had a Sunfire Theater Grand III for a couple of years, it was a good pre-amp but honestly there are better pre-amps out there for both price and performance. I have heard both the Krell showcase and theater standard, and the showcase does sound good but IMO lacks that refined sound the theater standard has.

Audio Advisor has B stock Parasound Halo pre-amps from time to time, that might be a good option for you. I would also recommend you take a look at used Anthem pre-amps, you can get an AVM-30 for around $1800.00 or the older AVM-20 for around $1500. I love my Anthem Statement D1.

 

[amey01]

I don't have much knowledge of HT stuff, but I'm sure they'd all be better than a receiver!! I've heard the Krell Showcase stuff with B+W speakers to exceptionally good effect if that is anything to go by.

 

[TomDac]

Hey Guys,

Thanks for all the input. HDMI switching is a huge consideration also.

Zip, I looked at the specs for the Parasound Halo C1 & C2 and I like that they both have the ability to do HDMI switching via an optional controller. Pricing on the used market seems pretty reasonable. 3200 for the C1 and 2000 for the C2. Anyone have any realtime experience with the Halo gear?

 

[Reverb2009]

Hey Guys,

Thanks for all the input. HDMI switching is a huge consideration also.

Zip, I looked at the specs for the Parasound Halo C1 & C2 and I like that they both have the ability to do HDMI switching via an optional controller. Pricing on the used market seems pretty reasonable. 3200 for the C1 and 2000 for the C2. Anyone have any realtime experience with the Halo gear?

Totally agree with you their Tom. At this point HDMI switching is a must, Toshibas 2nd generation HD DVD player the HD-A2 will not have analog 5.1 audio outs like it's little brother the HD-A1. The only was to get the new sound formats (Dolby Plus, Dolby True HD) out of the HD-A2 is HDMI. Or you cold spend $1000 and get the new HD-XA2 with analog outs but a $500 price increase hardly justifies analog outs.

I can’t comment on Parasound’s performance (never auditioned one) but I have met people that swear by them. There a lot of positive reviews out their for the Halo gear.

 

[DrJRapp]

Hey Guys,

Thanks for all the input. HDMI switching is a huge consideration also.

Zip, I looked at the specs for the Parasound Halo C1 & C2 and I like that they both have the ability to do HDMI switching via an optional controller. Pricing on the used market seems pretty reasonable. 3200 for the C1 and 2000 for the C2. Anyone have any realtime experience with the Halo gear?

I've owned a Halo C2 for a brief period of time and was impressed with it's handling of multi-channel HT audio, but not so with it's 2 channel music abilities, even in bypass mode.

Today one needs more than just HDMI switching, one needs a pre-pro to be able to accept up to 8 channels of PCM audio thru HDMI. Some form of HDMI video processing is important as well.

I think you would quickly fall for the Anthem Statement D2's overall performance if you were willing to fork out the coin. For a bit less you could get the Anthem AVM50 which is a "junior version" of the D2 lacking the stellar sq of the upsampling D2.

 

[attyonline]

A price ceiling would be necessary to make a valid recommendation. I think you get maximum bang for the buck with an AVR receiver. Yamaha, Denon and Rotel make very good receivers with good sound. You can add a five channel amp if you need more power/current. I personally like the Yamaha 2700, which has HDMI upconversion, three HDMI inputs, nice analog bypass, room EQ and Burr Brown DACS. It sounds very good for the money and better than many high priced pre/pros IMO, esp when used as a preamp. You can also replace it economically in a year or two if new technology comes available.

 

[TomDac]

I definitely want to stay away from the receivers.. I mean, that's what I have now...

So... My price range... Hmm. I would like to keep it under $3500 if possible.

2 channel performance is equally important at HT performance, so great comment about the Halo C2, DrJRapp. Also, I'm sure the Anthem Statement D2 is awesome, but I can't justify $5K.

Tom.

 

[benleeys]

Hey Guys,

.... HDMI switching is a huge consideration also.

Just a thought, Tom. I seem to remember reading somewhere that not all HDMI outputs and inputs are compatible with each other, like there are different versions of it. Much like USB connections on computers. You don't want to end up having your display HDMI input being unable to accept HDMI output from your processor.
Ben

 

[Reverb2009]

Just a thought, Tom. I seem to remember reading somewhere that not all HDMI outputs and inputs are compatible with each other, like there are different versions of it. Much like USB connections on computers. You don't want to end up having your display HDMI input being unable to accept HDMI output from your processor.
Ben

There are different HDMI versions 1.0, 1.1, 1.2, 1.3. All are backwards compatible with each other, but mixing say HDMI 1.1 with a 1.3 component wont give you the benefits the HDMI 1.3 spec adds. Also not all companies making HDMI components have been adhering to the HDMI spec, so some components have not been playing nice with each other. The biggest offender of this has been cable box manufactures, lots of people have been having problems getting their HDMI cable boxes working with video scaliers and various TVs and video components.

 

[DrJRapp]

So... My price range... Hmm. I would like to keep it under $3500 if possible.

Also, I'm sure the Anthem Statement D2 is awesome, but I can't justify $5K.

Tom.

Then I would take a serious look at the Anthem AVM50, that's what my dealer has for his own personal use, even though I'm sure he could have a D2 if he wanted one.

As far sa justifying $5K goes, once you've heard and seen the D2 in action, the price isn't that hard to justify. Matt Evert a reviewer for audio/video revolution liked The Summits so well that he kept them after the review for his own use, he did likewise with the Statement D2. Also, Robin has an Anthem Statement P5 amp that she loves with her MLs. All Anthem gear runs a tad on the warm side of neutral, which seems to compliment stats nicely.

 

[tonyc]

You know Tom I might just go with Outlaw to get into separates and upgrade as the newer HDMI technology stabilizes. I bet a year from now there will be multiple choices with functioning HDMI 1.3. I found so far that my Mitsubishi 65" Diamond (with DVI) works just fine with my HDMI equipped HD DVD player so long as you use an adapter.

 

[TomDac]

Thanks for the replies everyone,

From what I've read, I really like the Parasound C1 & C2. They have the ability to add a HDMI switching controller, are very musical as well as great for HT and the company is based in the Bay Area.

After the holidays I'll go start seriously looking at them and listening, experimenting, etc.

For amplification, I still like the Sunfire Cinema Signature to power everything. So I'm looking at $5K or thereabouts for both items....

So, Parasound C1 or C2 as AV controller/PreAmp with Sunfire Cinema Signature. Any thoughts on this combo?

Tom.