Any modified Citation 7.0 users out there?

[dsmith]

If so, please post your comments. I am currently evaluating this mod and would appreciate any input. Thanks.

dsmith

[Ricky]

I believe Eric Awtry used to have the Citation 7.0 with MSB 5.1 inputs along with the MSB 5.1 dd/dts decoder (which allows you to use outboard dacs for each channel). Hopefully, Eric will chime in soon.

[awtryau89]

Hello,
I did own this piece. I truly loved the 7.0 and wish it was more updated. It was one of the finer sounding preamps I ever owned and it happened to do HT as well. Anyway in my effort to keep it I sent it to MSB and had it updated. I also tried MSBs dacs in a HT combo. They were outstanding but just too much inflexibility. If you are set on keeping the 7.0 I definitely recommend the MSB update. You can add a 5.1 decoder like a Rotel or Chiro and it is pretty much seemless. As soon as the input senses a signal it bypasses the 7.0 but still gives you volume control. Make sure the 5.1 decoder you use has decent bass management as you will use it for this. I like the Chiro because it is DD and DTS and has 80hz THX crossovers. I am not sure about the Rotel but I think it does as well. Also remote power is also a plus because you will have to manually turn on and off the power if you ran it as I did. I ran my DSS into it and when watching TV it always presented a signal so the bypass was always engaged unless I turned the unit off. Finally if you run 6 Axis as I did with dual drive dipoles remember you will only have 1 half of the speaker active because it is a 5.1 input and not 7.1. Later when I went away from the dual drives it worked a bit better because I ran one pair of speakers in the rear in a 5.1 setup. I lost the full effects of 6-Axis but the 5.1 was easier and better.




Eric Awtry
War Eagle

[dsmith]

Eric, thanks much. I am starting to think that nothing else is going to satisfy my music listening like the 7.0. It is really a fabulous two-channel preamp, the music is just so lush and real, but with all the detail you can get out of your speakers and amp. But I miss its surround capabilities as I just use it in two channel now. I would probably stick with my H/K AVR520 as the digital processor - it has all the formats I need, plus its own 7 channel inputs as well. Since I only use my sub with movies I would just run it straight out of the H/K as I do now.

Eric, I do have some questions. How do you select the 6 channel input? Is it passed through without any processing at all (I would assume so)?
Most importantly, did it present any operational quirks, or add any hum, clicks, pops, or other noise? And, did you think it would affect the overall reliability of the unit?

Thanks again for your comments.

dsmith