My Onkyo 805 took its last breath in my HT set up. I am thinking about replacing it with a Marantz 6001 and one of the Emotiva amp, not sure which one but was looking at the UPA 7. I never have experience with an additional amp so I don't know what to expect. I am trying to keep my budget around $1K. With my limited budget, am I better off with just a receiver? Thoughts and other suggestions appreciated.
Man, that's a bummer, I'm sorry. What exactly happened? Anyhoo, a few of the things that might be good to find out are:
-the voltage output at the preouts (if too weak, your outboard amp might not ever get to use its potential)
-output impedance of preouts
-input impedance of amplifier
You want at least a certain ratio, like at least 10x the impedance at amp than the preout's impedance. (and if ever using tubes, perhaps a much greater ratio). However, usually the ratios are fine no matter what you pick, it's finding out if the preout voltages are enough that will take more work. Well, I recently learned about this from Gene/AH.
I don't have any experience with Marantz but I do read great reviews. Would I be able to tell the difference with less wattage between the Marantz and Onkyo? That was the reason why I thought about adding an amp.
Very difficult to answer without a lot more information I suppose, but one thing I will say is that Onkyo does seem to offer the most amplification per dollar spent, among the major receiver manufacturers.
2ndly, I have been reading mix reviews about the effects some receivers have on sound. Some say that it does change sound and others say it doesn't. I have not done any comparison so I can't say. I hope not because I don't need my Rockets to be anymore laid back than it is now.
Yeah, I believe receiver/prepros do impart their own signature. However, I DO think that their effect on SQ is much less than many other things, including listener position, speaker positions, treating of the acoustical space, eq, let alone the choice of speakers themselves. Due to this belief, I don't really ever "audition" receivers. I think the EQ that receivers use will definitely provide the greatest differences in SQ from brand to brand. On that note, your deceased 805 did have the best Audyssey (consumer) in the XT. Marantz doesn't offer anything higher than vanilla MultEQ last I checked.
People enjoy the MCAAC on Pioneer if only for more user flexibility. I don't think it will have the same resolution as XT, and it will only correct down to 63 hz, IIRC.
There were recently some 885 prepros being had for really cheap recently, I want to say $500!?! However, with your recent Onkyo experience, it wouldn't surprise me if you want to look elsewhere.
Back to my EQ spiel. Outlaw prepro hopefully will arrive soon, but will eat your budget all on its own. The Trinnov EQ is attractive in that the option is there to defeat EQ above 300hz (which is probably a good "guess" at the Schroder transition frequency of many rooms). Anthem offers ARC, which I think is even more flexible with cutoff of EQ, but this is pointless, as it's way over budget.
Anyhoo. I agree with Adam. Since your budget will most likely preclude you from a dedicated prepro (due to economies of scale), just get the receiver first.
I would also consider just getting a 3ch amp for the front stage, as surround material is rarely taxing, and in almost every situation, the surrounds are also closer to the actual listener, and most likely also easier to drive anyways. The 3ch amp is nice if it saves you money, and perhaps gets you even more amp where it's needed most.
Wow, that was long!
