Old School Mac Owner Looking at Denon
 

Along with the Mac stuff you can see in our signature, we own a Denon CDR-W1500 that's served us very well (for a long time). We also recently added a new Oppo 203 (SACDs) to our modest system, but the Denon is our got to for the HDCDs in our collection.

After more than a decade in a very quiet condo environment, we are finally back in a home again. We have lots of room to listen to our audio equipment now so, long story short, we're in the process of setting up an entertainment room where we can enjoy stereo audio and our OLED television.

In short, we would like to start out with our very first 5.1 setup, so the MX-130, by all accounts, won't cut it. Bearing in mind that we would still like to enjoy our 2-channel setup, which Denon preamp/processor would you be looking at?

I realize that I'm dropping in several equipment names/numbers, but the signature space wouldn't allow for anything more...so I'm adding our Sony X800M2 to the list as the unit we presently go to for Bluray movies and DVDs.

Thank you for your time...

Denon no longer makes preamp-processors.

Used Denon?
 

That's good to know, Kal. Did they make something, perhaps in the recent past, that might fit our needs?

Not really if you need up to date codecs/video as well. They have not had a serious prepro since the AVP-A1HDCI. A friend of mine has 2 of them!!

But why Denon? For a cosmetic match?

It's been kind of tough getting specific suggestions about an alternative to our Mac MX-130, so I'm kind of grabbing at straws, Kal. We already own a Denon CDR-W1500 (HDCD player). It has serves us very well, for a LONG time, so brands that prove to be reliable -- unlike the Carver and Nakamichi stuff we've owned -- are way up on our list.

By the way, do you have other brands/models in mind? If you do, I'd love to read about them.

I know it is hard to disabuse one's self of personal experience but our individual personal experience is anecdotal and not statistical. Personal comfort is real. I have been using Marantz prepros for a while and have not had any disappointments. That said, I am not a HT guy.

My comments about many are in my MITR column at stereophile.com. I suggest you look at Marantz, NAD and Anthem in the medium price range and Trinnov, Storm and Bryston as a step above.

Medium and High
 

Thank you for identifying some other brands to look into, Kal.

I've already been talking to the Bryston people, but it's still nice to see it in your list.

Stereophile.com, hmmmm... :scratch2: See, I told you that I've been out of the loop for ages. :umm:

I'll second Kal with Marantz. They are the Denon+ Mc- of PrePros... The McPrePros are basically all Marantz's anyhow. Excellent QPR.



Bryston PrePro totally different league, but the price tag shows you that. And if you want room correction you're in the 5-figure range.

AV Separates?
 

Are you two referring to what Marantz calls their "AV Separates"? As in, the AVXXXX and the MMXXXX equipment?

If so, would you mind telling me the difference(s) between AV and MM?

For Marantz, the AV-XXXX products are Preamplifiers/Processors. The MM-XXXX products are their power amplifiers.

You are probably familiar with the term ‘Receiver’. Think of a Receiver as three discrete products in one. A PreAmplifier, A Power Amplifier and an AM/FM tuner.

In recent years, the higher end market has generated products in each of those categories.

The term ‘Processor’ is focused mainly on a home theater Dolby video signals as well audio signals.

Tom and Kal are more expert in explaining this but this is a start.