Pre/Pro choices.

[Still-One]

Originally Posted by PHC1

I am considering all the different pre/pro's out there. Krell, Simaudio, Classe, Meridian, Mark Levinson, McIntosh, Cary.... what else am I missing, what else should I consider?

Serge
For the most part you named most of the contenders. One question I have, where do you want to do the decoding, the source or the pre-pro? You are likely to change sources faster so whichever processor you decide upon should be flexible and allow you to continue to route a processed signal to your speakers. The Classe' and Levinson units are pretty slick.
Jim

[PHC1]

Originally Posted by Stillone

Serge
For the most part you named most of the contenders. One question I have, where do you want to do the decoding, the source or the pre-pro? You are likely to change sources faster so whichever processor you decide upon should be flexible and allow you to continue to route a processed signal to your speakers. The Classe' and Levinson units are pretty slick.
Jim

Jim, I am thinking the pre/pro should do the processing since I am looking to spend a good chunk of money on it.

[1KW]

Serge,

Unlike 2 channel you will only be state of the art for a short time. The reason I went with the MX120 was it was brand new for $2800 (list $8000). For cable TV and DVD it has the latest codecs . For Blu Ray I use the latest codec's from the blu ray player and use the analog out to the 7.1 analog inputs on the MX-120. These 7.1 codecs only come into affect when you are watching a blu ray disk, the rest of the time you will be using 5.1 which can be emulated to 7.1. The bottom line is my home theater still has the same home theater processor as the top of the line MX-136 and the ability to play the latest codecs without going too crazy. I also have been happy with the MC207 which has no trouble driving my speakers .

[schaefer11]

If it doesn't have digital room correction I would scratch it off the list. Why by a unit and start the whole power cord/interconnect/DAC etc. dance if your room hasn't been taken out of the equation.

If I replaced my now antique MX132, the best room correction would be most important factor.

[PHC1]

The room is going to be fully treated with acoustics in mind. Plenty of theater and dedicated audio listening rooms have and are still being done without room correction and sound great. Still, the room correction sotware may be of some benefit to me and I would certainly like to try it in the HT environment with multiple speakers.

[Face]

Do you listen to multi-channel music or 2 channel with this rig?

[KahunaCanuck]

I don't want to be another "buy what I bought" but here I am...I think the Classe SSP 800 does the most important thing best...the sound. It doesn't come with Audessy as Classe didn't feel it was beneficial to the sound. It does have a PEQ built in, and is very simple to operate, with a very intuitive GUI. It has full XLRs or RCAs, and can handle 2 subs. HDMI is pass through as they didn't want to waste money on another video scaler when you likely have one in your Bluray or pj/tv. There have been a few little software bugs (which every company is having to deal with), but customer service has been excellent. Classe as you know probably is owned by B&W, and made in Montreal.

While I am sure the upcoming MX150 is going to be amazing, for an asking price of $9k the SSP 800 is actually pretty good bang for the buck.

[PHC1]

Originally Posted by Face

Do you listen to multi-channel music or 2 channel with this rig?

It will be both for sure, hence the emphasis on the quality of 2 channel as well.

[howiebrou]

I don't think you can go wrong with any of the major brands.

What I would suggest, however, is buy into a system which allows upgradeability in the future without throwing away the whole pre/pro. My Meridian 861 is modular in construction and those who bought it over 10 years ago could have upgraded to the latest version by paying small amounts on the way. Since pre/pros are subject to change this would appear to be the best investment.

The 861 does not yet do the newish codecs like DTS master etc etc. I rely on my BR player to do that. But the sound is out of this world. Add in room correction that is mild compared to others on the market and I still think it is the market leader after so many years. I even use analog through it and it sounds great.

If you continuously change the latest and greatest I think one would never be happy and the money spent would not be worth it. Better to get a product that is excellent at its core, is upgradeable and is not updated only to please the peanut gallery as some brands do.

howie