I would like to buy an XPA-2 amp which will cost abt 700 bucks, that leaves me 800-1000 bucks to buy a receiver which will give me all the latest codecs.
Any suggestions??
Emotiva amplifiers, while having a nice wow factor don't provide the best bang for buck. I've seen much more QC from them than most electronics manufacturers. They use very dated amplifier configurations that weigh a ton and won't stack up to a good pro amp for much less.
The Behringer EP2500 is a great example of such an amplifier that would mop the floor with an Emotiva amplifier while costing half as much as the XPA-2. The Behringer does have a fan but replacing it with a silent fan is simple and inexpensive. Yamaha pro amps are very well reputed as well, and don't have fans (they use convection cooling and they run very cool).
For a pre I might suggest Marantz's SR-5003, certainly there are plenty of other options at this point the Marantz just has appeal to me. It has the HD audio processing you need and surely some other frilley extras without going over the top. It has a shallow cabinet so mounting it will be easy. It will provide ample power to your B&Ws until your amplifiers (which ever you may choose) arrive.
greggp2,
Concerning discernable differences between DACs, I haven't heard any in a long time. Using a pair of Sony MDR-7506 reference headphones on many CD players, ranging from my 1986 Magnavox CDB 650 to a Pioneer Elite platter style cd player I was unable to discern any audible differences using the same program material. While my test was no level matched I heard no "harshness" from the old CD player, and no extra "warmth" or "tighter low end" from the Pioneer. Is their a measurable difference between the two players?, sure there is. The real question is can people, with good ears, hear these very subtle differences?, maybe, maybe not. I sure can't tell. The only CD players I have heard that sounded difference where ones of an obviously inferior design, such as boomboxes, portable cd players, Sony PS1 (the supposed cheap $5000 cd player, it sounds different all right, it sounds like crap, HA!), and the CD player integrated in my Teac CR-H220 (transport motors cause interference in the output stage creating slight noise I can only hear on headphones).
So DACs, unless the integration is so sloppy or it is defective in some manor it's difficult to discern differences. It's not hard to put a good preamp together for electronics manufacturers, nor DACs, or amplifiers. Naturally there are other factors that could cause one receiver to sound different from another, but those are likely to be user configurated differences. Auto EQs from different receivers will render different results making one AVR sound different from another. It's always best to use an SPL meter and get the receiver dialed in yourself. Don't rely on the receiver's gadgets if you want the best possible result. Auto EQs just allow the user to make a quick set-up that requires little effort to install and configure and will please most listeners other than the shotty EQing of subwoofers in most instances.
