Receiver or Pre/Pro recommendations

[snatchss454]

Hey all,
I currently have the setup listed in my signature. Im looking to upgrade the receiver to just to get the HD formats,HDMI 1.3 and 1080P video switching. I use this setup for 98% home theater.

These are the receivers I was looking at:
Pioneer Elite SC-05 - Top Choice
Pioneer Elite SC-07 - At the TOP of my budget
Onkyo TX-NR906 - Top Choice
Yamaha RX-V1900 - Top Choice
Yamaha RX-V3900 - A bit pricey
Emotiva UMC-1 - Great price but Id be limited to 5.1

Im looking to spend around $1-1200 dollars. Ive been thinking of getting a pre/pro to go along with my outlaw amp but I have ZERO experience in that arena. Also a concern would be that I only have a 5 channel amp and and if I ever wanted to add more speakers I would need to upgrade the amp, but with a receiver I can use that to power the extra speakers. If I went Emotiva I could put the extra funds towards a 1080P HDTV also.

I guess with the choices I listed its like splitting hairs but I figured you guys could propably pursuade me in one direction with issues or features I hadnt thought about or even open my eyes to new choices.

Thanks for your help and insight,
Shane

 

[jostenmeat]

If it was me, I wouldn't go overkill. I'd rather throw that towards a nice display (and your current one could be for all I know . . .) and/or speaker/sub upgrades, or room treatments, etc.

If you've got an Outlaw amp, you obviously don't need to worry about beefy amps.

What will make these units sound the most different is actually the EQ/RC they employ. Onkyo will use Audyssey MultEQ XT, Pioneer will use MCAAC, Yammy will use YPAO, and I've no idea what the Emo will use.

Then you have VP: Onkyo will use Reon HQV + ISF controls, the Yammy will use Anchor Bay VRS, no idea on Pio or Emo.

I've only ever used XT for RC, but I'm a big fan. Some people love MCAAC in that it is much more tweakable than Audyssey, if not to the same level of resolution, perhaps. YPAO is the most basic of the three mentioned.

Both Reon and Anchor Bay are well respected VP brands.



do ya need all that? If you don't, you know even a $300-400 receiver might work . . .

I'm using a refurbed Onkyo 805 as pre/pro, and maybe my ONLY regret in skimping is not having Audyssey Pro capability (Denon 5308, AVP, NAD T175, Integra 9.8/9.9 . . .)

 

[bigred7078]

You could get the UMC-1 and their UPA-2 (small 2-channel amp) and you would be all set for a 7.1 And still come in cheaper than what you can get alot of those receivers for

 

[snatchss454]

Thanks for the response JostenMeat! I dont really want to go over board in the upgade. I do realize that the power section of the reciever will basically go to waste if I dont add more speakers.

My first thought was to do just what you are doing and use a refurb Onkyo from accessories4less as a pre/pro. Which really just sounds like the most logical solution, but with so many options out there it became confusing. I had heard some reliability issues with Onkyo's lower end products which bumped up my price point and then I just started comparing with other manufactuers. How do you like your receiver? As a pre/pro does it have the heating issues?

I also think I want to try another brand because I just wasnt in awe by the way my setup sounded. The quality of the sound was good but it just didnt have the intricate details that I was after. It just didnt seem full.

Thanks again for your time,
Shane

 

[snatchss454]

You could get the UMC-1 and their UPA-2 (small 2-channel amp) and you would be all set for a 7.1 And still come in cheaper than what you can get alot of those receivers for

Currently researching your advice. I have not read much about emotiva, are they a solid company. Hows the sound quality?
Thanks,
Shane

 

[bigred7078]

Currently researching your advice. I have not read much about emotiva, are they a solid company. Hows the sound quality?
Thanks,
Shane

I have used several pieces of emotiva gear and i have thoroughly enjoyed them all. The SQ is fantastic. They make some top notch equipment.

 

[greggp2]

I have an Emotiva XPA-2. It sounds great to me and I'm driving B&W 802's with it. Pretty much everything I read before buying Emotiva was positive. Most negative comments are from people who have never even owned the product and think because it is a bargain for the money, it must not be good.

As far as the UMC-1, a lot of people are gun shy on this product. It has been in pre-production testing for a long time and has been delayed several times. It is likely that Emotiva is trying to work out all the bugs. As of now, it is supposed to be out in March, but it may still be buggy. A lot of people here are holding off or buying other Pre/Pro's/Receivers to do their processing. Emotiva has great customer support though, so it may be worth getting if you don't mind having to do firmware upgrades as time goes on.

As far as an Amp though, they are solid and you can't really go wrong. They offer a 30 day trial on their product, so the worst case scenerio is you could always send it back if you were unhappy. I doubt you will be though....

 

[snatchss454]

Thanks for the responses guys, it has been great feedback. Im really looking hard at the Marantz SR7002 for $879 and the Onkyo TX-SR806 for $599.

How do these two stack up against each other? It would be for mostly home theater but I do have alot of live music DVDs that dont have the greatest recordings.

I wouldnt mind giving the Emotiva UMC-1 a shot but the release date is TBD and Im looking to have it in a couple weeks.

Thanks again,
Shane

 

[jostenmeat]

My first thought was to do just what you are doing and use a refurb Onkyo from accessories4less as a pre/pro. Which really just sounds like the most logical solution, but with so many options out there it became confusing. I had heard some reliability issues with Onkyo's lower end products which bumped up my price point and then I just started comparing with other manufactuers. How do you like your receiver? As a pre/pro does it have the heating issues?

I like my receiver just fine. At the time, I could not have done any better for the money. I was indeed tempted by pre/pros costing double, and almost did go there.

It does run hot left at 6ohm setting. I changed it to 4 ohm setting and the temperature dropped considerably. I never really cared even at 6 ohms, and I've never installed a fan, though my modular rack is open on all four sides.

Yes, there have been a decent amount of Onkyo complaints. Don't know what to say, expect that I'm on my second Onkyo. The first is at my brother's and even that one is still going strong.

I also think I want to try another brand because I just wasnt in awe by the way my setup sounded. The quality of the sound was good but it just didnt have the intricate details that I was after. It just didnt seem full.

Thanks again for your time,
Shane

If we can eliminate that the lack of being "full" is not from a lack of amplification, it's most likely not your receiver's fault. Some preamp sections are more transparent than others, perhaps, but Denon has got a pretty decent rep anyhow.

I don't know, it's basically impossible to pinpoint I believe. I'd play around with everything. Speaker positioning, listener positioning, treatment positioning, applying EQ. . . .

 

[ParadigmDawg]

Besides Andrew, Adam and me.......

Most negative comments are from people who have never even owned the product and think because it is a bargain for the money, it must not be good.

 

[jostenmeat]

Thanks for the responses guys, it has been great feedback. Im really looking hard at the Marantz SR7002 for $879 and the Onkyo TX-SR806 for $599.

How do these two stack up against each other? It would be for mostly home theater but I do have alot of live music DVDs that dont have the greatest recordings.

I wouldnt mind giving the Emotiva UMC-1 a shot but the release date is TBD and Im looking to have it in a couple weeks.

Thanks again,
Shane

Shane, also with a release date TBD is the new Outlaw pre/pro. I know I keep talking about EQ, because, I dunno, I think it's cool, so... it will use Trinnov which some people are keenly interested in, because correction above 300hz can be disabled. (Some people love what these things do for bass, subwoofer, but don't care nearly as much for upper freq correction).

Just another candidate. While I am not going to make judgment on reliability, after all I'm using Onkyo->NAD in my HT, I would say that it's pretty darn hard to find complaints about Outlaw. Up to a year ago, I think I read ZERO complaints, and within the last year, one single complaint.

 

[snatchss454]

Again thanks for the responses. The thought had crossed my mind on the lack of amplification being the culprit, as I heard that the RTi's love power but with the outlaw being in the equation with 200 watts x5 it still wasnt where I thought it should be which is why I wanted to try another receiver.
I may not have had it setup ideally either being my first home theater system. I thought I had done alot of the research and picked up some pretty good components but it seemed a little lack luster. I wanted to use some wall treatments as well but that was a BIG no go with the wife.
Shane

 

[PENG]

Again thanks for the responses. The thought had crossed my mind on the lack of amplification being the culprit, as I heard that the RTi's love power but with the outlaw being in the equation with 200 watts x5 it still wasnt where I thought it should be which is why I wanted to try another receiver.
I may not have had it setup ideally either being my first home theater system. I thought I had done alot of the research and picked up some pretty good components but it seemed a little lack luster. I wanted to use some wall treatments as well but that was a BIG no go with the wife.
Shane

I didn't read the whole thread but I thought if you want to hear higher quality sound you may want to upgrade your speakers. The RTi10s are not bad but they are no match to any of the LSI speakers if you want to stay with Polk. You can spend a lot more on electronics but given what you have now you will gain much more by upgrading the speakers.

 

[Jeff R.]

Shane

If you end up going with Onkyo, I would suggest buying from www.clubonkyo.com. Just join the site for free. If you have any Onkyo Equipment you get a $10 credit for registering it and another $10 for writing a review on it. I recently bought my refurbed TX-SR805 from them at a steal ($389). Shipping was free and there was no tax. Not to mention if you are concerned about the quaility you can put an extened warranty on the unit for cheap. I bought an additional 2 years for like 50 bucks. I figured at the super cheap price I was getting the refurb for and not having any shipping or tax charge. I was basically an added 2 years of no worries for free.

Good Luck.

 

[snatchss454]

I didn't read the whole thread but I thought if you want to hear higher quality sound you may want to upgrade your speakers. The RTi10s are not bad but they are no match to any of the LSI speakers if you want to stay with Polk. You can spend a lot more on electronics but given what you have now you will gain much more by upgrading the speakers.

I would have to redo all the speakers since the RTi's and LSi's dont match each other, and that would cost a hell of a lot.

 

[snatchss454]

Shane

If you end up going with Onkyo, I would suggest buying from www.clubonkyo.com.

and I'm off.... After reading some of the reviews of the Marantz it doesnt have everything I want. Thanks for the link, Jeff
Shane

 

[bigred7078]

It does run hot left at 6ohm setting. I changed it to 4 ohm setting and the temperature dropped considerably.

i wouldn't use the 4ohm setting. Its essentially a power inhibitor. but thats just IMO

 

[bigred7078]

Besides Andrew, Adam and me.......

Thats why he said "most"...lol

Besides three people upset with a company is irrelevent, its bound to happen. Obviously there are more than three people who have been upset with Emotiva in its time, but thats not his point.

 

[Davemcc]

If you don't mind used, there's always the Integra 9.8 at that price point.
http://www.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/cls.pl?homeproc&1240593976&/Integra-9.8

 

[snatchss454]

i wouldn't use the 4ohm setting. Its essentially a power inhibitor. but thats just IMO

BigRed,
I see you have a Marantz 6003, I was curious if you are happy with the reciever? Would you choose 7002 over an Onkyo 806 or 876?
Shane