Are separates falling behind receivers?

[Juan Cortez]

This has been debated for a long time, and was wondering what do you think on this topic. As time goes by we see more new products, more fancy and more complex. As the newer flagship receivers come out, they can really give some separates a good run for their money. Its not more so the power section but more of the preamp section. As newer receivers come out, they come fully loaded with inputs/outputs ie: Yamaha RX-Z9. Only thing that is not common is XLR's, which are found on some receivers, but mostly separate preamps. Also the upgrade ability is really coming along with receivers as well. Alot of them are software upgrade able, and some even hardware. The newer Onkyo flagship is all modular sections, as new stuff comes out you can just remove the section and replace it. All in all receivers really seem to be taking a big leap infront of separates. If you had 6k to spend which route would you go?


Jay

[gostan]

I would not even consider a receiver if I were spending 6K. Separates still sound better and are easier to upgrade and make changes. My preference would be to invest in a great pre-pro and have the ability to play around with changing amplifiers, etc. I think that it is in the lower or mid-priced receivers where you get more bang for the buck when compared to the prices of separates.

[ThomasW]

If you had 6k to spend which route would you go?

Separates of course............. :T

Receivers are great if you need a compact system. Separates however allow much more flexibility in customizing to one's specific needs and wants.

And with separates if you lose say the right rear amp channel, you don't give up your entire system to the repair shop, as is the situation with a receiver.

[Danbry39]

I too am hooked on separates. While new receivers often come with the latest features, I've honestly not found one that can do the job of producing sonics the way I like as well as separates. Perhaps their preamp/processor sections are very good. A dedicated, outboard amplifier is hard to beat though, even if the top-of-the-line receivers reportedly do a better job of shielding different sections of the receiver from each other.

I'm not saying that a top drawer receiver can't do the job, just that I haven't heard the one that does as of yet.

I do feel that the distance between the two is narrowing. That said, I'm still probably going to remain treading the separates path. One reason is the flexibility at time of purchase. I may like the preamp/processor section of one brand and the amplifier of another company. Or, what if the receiver comes with 100 watts/channel and I want 200 watts/channel.

Finally, amps can last a lot longer and the technology remains more stable (digital amps excepted), whereas the new technology in preamps reminds me of computers...always something new on the horizon. When the next, latest/greatest processing stepstone occurs, I'll simply need to replace that section of my setup, rather than the whole thing.

[Juan Cortez]

Thanks for replies. So far on the three forums I have posted this (including this one) two of them were in favour of separates. There was only one where pretty much 95% of the posters were in favour of the receivers. I too think that separates are the better option since you can mix and match brands, also like ThomasW said, if something happens you can keep most of the system, while the other is out for repairs. My local dealer too favours separates when you start spending around 3-4k + CDN on receivers. Any other opinions?

Also if you had an unlimited budget what would you get in separates and what brands?

I my self Bryston amps with Lexcion preamps

Jay

[aarsoe]

Now thats a tough question. No limit budget - what to choose...

Well no that you've asked, here are a couple of things I would considder..

Mark Levinson, Lexicon MC12 balanced, Proceed AVP2 (Would be a used one, since production have ended - but it is so sweet.. :lol: ), Krell HTS or what about MCintosh..

Unfortunatly, the only that is realistic for me - even if it is a strecht, would be the Krell..

[Andrew Pratt]

No matter how much you pay the amp sections in receivers just can not sound as good as a seperate amp...there's just way to much noise inside a receiver.

Really what sells receivers is feature lists compared to pre amps that frequently don't have the latest gimick but when its all said and done most people never use half those features anyway. IMO you're always best off spending as much as you can on the power amp and then buy a pre amp that has what you need. You'll own the power amp for eon's if its a quality unit where as the pre amp will be replaced much more often if you want to keep pace.

There's also something to be said for buying used power amps to maximize your dollar...used amps are typically a great buy as they last forever and tend not to really change over the years. So if you purhcase a used power amp and a new feature rich pre amp you're likely looking at a very wise and future proof purchase that you can grow with vs a receiver that has a limited life span and likely little upgrade potential.

[David Meek]

if you had an unlimited budget what would you get in separates

Easy, a Halcro DM10 pre/pro (with phono stage) and DM68 monoblocks. Let's see the pre/pro is $15,990 and each amp is $35,000, so a two-channel rig would be $86,000! Let's not even look at a 5.1 or heaven forbid, a 7.1.
:E :E :E

[Danbry39]

David,

How in the heck did you find out what I got my kids this last Christmas???

I needed 48 of the amps for each room to drive the speakers I bought for their personal home theaters. There were logistical problems as the speakers weigh 5,100 pounds and stand over 13 feet tall, but man do they sound great.

Additionally, laying one of the speakers on its side to use as a center channel was problematic on their 27" TV's, but $600,000 speakers can be such a pain.

Sorry for going off topic.



On topic again: I've heard great things about companies such as Meridian, but would personally be loath to spend so much for whatever gain sonically or flexibility wise that I would achieve. I'd personally audition things such as Rotel, Parasound Halo, Lexicon, Anthem, the new Integra Research, etc. and decide on criteria as mentioned above.