Pre/Pro made in the US or Canada ?

[Kolia]

Does one even exist ?

I'm planning my next upgrade and if possible, I'd rather give my money to a local company.

Anything good made in the US or Canada ? With HD format decoding, HDMi switching and conversion.

 

[jostenmeat]

Hey Kolia, you got me pretty curious! I started googling around . . .

Firstly, I'm just sharing google results, and we all know how, ahem, reliable info on the internet is . . .

I didn't notice, somehow, the HD requirements at first, but I ran into tube products like Rogue and Bellari.

Then there's Mark Levinsion, but that might really challenge your intents!

Based on some very old posts, other candidates to investigate include:

ATI (which also made some Outlaw amps, however the latter seems to be only designed in the USA and not built here).

Mcintosh.

B&K.

Outside chance, Sunfire.

You never listed the ceiling of your budget, but I think the one company that might warrant some more investigation on your part is Anthem.

http://www.anthemav.com/?gclid=CMi5zKLevJkCFRo-awodsAcW6g

I believe Warp said he just ordered an Anthem product, so maybe he knows something about this.

I think the best you might do is "built" here, but I'm pretty certain that there will parts inside that were built elsewhere.

 

[PENG]

Anthem and Bryston are Canadian companies and I am quite sure they make their prepros locally in Ontario. I don't think they offer the latest HD codecs yet.

 

[zeuiax]

What about B & K??

 

[MidnightSensi]

I looked pretty hard before buying my Onkyo pre-amp, as I'm a pretty big believer in buying american audio products (I own crest, m&k, crown, bag end, dbx, diamond) ... but the trouble was it was just out of my league in pricing.

I wish there was a good american pre-amp manufacturer, or at least assembler which is about as close as we can get with anything in america now days.

Lexicon is, I believe. But, for home audio from Lexicon, get ready to pay.

 

[Lordoftherings]

Does one even exist ?

I'm planning my next upgrade and if possible, I'd rather give my money to a local company.

Anything good made in the US or Canada ? With HD format decoding, HDMi switching and conversion.

Hi Kolia,

May I ask you where you live, Canada or USA?

For Canada = Anthem, Bryston, (Lexicon?), (NAD?).

For USA = Krell, Parasound, Theta Digital. (Also ATI, Audio Research, Cary Audio Design, JBL, Outlaw Audio, Sunfire, Mark Levinson...)

Happy hunting.

______
Bob

Note: I am Canadian, so I will go with "Anthem".
If I was American, I will still go with "Anthem", it is still North America continent.
Anthem is an excellent performer, with incredible features, plus the best value for the money. Also it is very well built, and uses excellent parts, it have all the HDMI
functions that you need, all the new high resolution audio codecs, and the great
Anthem Room Correction (ARC).

 

[3db]

If your budget is extremely generous

Try looking at this Canadian company which does it all.

http://www.simaudio.com/main.htm

 

[MidnightSensi]

Try looking at this Canadian company which does it all.

http://www.simaudio.com/main.htm

What do they cost? That preamp looks nice.

 

[3db]

What do they cost? That preamp looks nice.

Unfortunately, this stuff is priced up in the stratsophere... hence the generous budget comment.

some pricing but not necessarily the pre/pro stuff (prices in the review)

http://www.soundstage.com/revequip/simaudio_i3.htm
http://www.simaudio.com/reviews/tier_i-5.htm
http://www.hometheatersound.com/equipment/simaudio_moon_aurora.htm

just to give you an idea

 

[MidnightSensi]

I guess its difficult to compete with the Onkyo Pro SC885 I picked up for under a grand and probably won't find a deal like that again.

I would spend more to buy American pre-processors, but, there simply don't seem to be many options under 3-4 grand.

 

[Swerd]

Anything good made in the US or Canada ? With HD format decoding, HDMi switching and conversion.

What about B & K??

… I would spend more to buy American pre-processors, but, there simply don't seem to be many options under 3-4 grand.

B&K is located in Buffalo, NY and makes all its products there. All their models have excellent audio performance. Their customer service is good, and all their owners manuals were written from the start in English!

B&K's latest pre/pro, the Reference 70, decodes all the latest HD format video and audio formats, has HDMI switching and converstion. It is expensive, but comes in around 3 grand, maybe less if you work at it.

If you don't require all the latest HD format decoding and HDMI features, there are a number of good buys of used previous models, the Reference 50 and Reference 50 series 2, available on Audiogon.

If you are looking for a used model, you should also consider a used B&K receiver, the AVR505 (5-channel) or AVR507 (7-channel) or the series 2 versions of those. B&K's receivers have the identical preamp/processors as in the separate pre/pros. So an AVR507 will be the same as an Reference 50 pre/pro with the addition of a quite good 7×125 watt amp section. I recently bought one of those used, and use an external 2-channel amp to drive my main speakers, and use the receiver's amps to drive my center and rear channels. I've had it about a month, but so far I'm real happy with it .

You should also know that the remote control that comes with all the models I've mentioned above is one of those programmable remotes that can replace up to 20 other remote controls. It is programmed on a computer and seems to be very capable. I'm still learning how to best use it. Apparently, it is the same as a Home Theater Master MX-800.

 

[zeuiax]

http://www.conradjohnson.com/

PS Audio

 

[Swerd]

Conrad Johnson and their subsidiary McCormack are both made in the USA.

I'm not real familiar with their products, but if I recall, neither of them make HT pre/pros at all, much less with all the latest HDMI features that the OP says he is interested in.

 

[oldgoalie33]

Outlaw's multichannel amps are made in the USA by ATI, but their mono amp is made overseas, along with their pre-pros. I've owned Outlaw multichannel amps in the past and plan on buying another one soon as they are made in the US. I could buy an Emo amp for a bunch less but it's made in China. I only wish there was an under $1k affordable pre-pro that was made here (I, and IMHO a lot of others, consider sub $1k 'affordable'). I've yet to find one.

 

[Lordoftherings]

Japanese deal of the century

Hi,

You can pick up the Onkyo PR-SC885P right now in sale for only $599.
Nothing Canadian, American or Japanese come even close to that deal.
You will have to pay in excess of $2,000 to compare it.

It is the best deal right now in the history of Audio.

Cheers,

LOTR

 

[Kolia]

So there are a few options out there. I'check them out a soon as I can!

I was hopping to keep pricing near 1,000$

The Emotiva is still in my short list. At least it's designed here. I qualify for the upgrade rebate with them so it makes it very cheap!

I'm Canadian and live in Ohio so I can buy any side of the frontier

 

[greggp2]

Peng,

I know for sure that the Anthem D2v and AVM 50v have the latest HD Codecs... These two top of the line Anthem's seem to be the most complete Processors around in the high end category, with Video Upscaling, Top of the line DACS, HD Codecs, True Room EQ software, etc..

They are amazing units. I want one, but don't want to part with the cash right now... :-(

Anthem and Bryston are Canadian companies and I am quite sure they make their prepros locally in Ontario. I don't think they offer the latest HD codecs yet.