AVR vs surround sound processor

[adrian carreon]

Hello guys just a silly question from me, I'm kind of curious about the avr & surround sound processor.

Ok let say my setup has AVR & amps if I want to change my AVR to surround sound processor is there any changes on the sound quality? Does it worth of replacing it?

Thanks for your help on this.

Cheers!!!

:T :T

[ICEMAN70]

I wouldn't replace anything at the moment until new formats come out. Wait till next year to do any upgrading.

What speakers do you have right now? maybe upgrade your speakers first and then think about your pre/pro.

As for the pre/pro Vs. Receiver go, most people will pick the seperates. As for sound quality goes you have to go audition and let your ears do the listening. For me i couldn't tell too much difference between my rsx1057 and the RSP 1068 paired with RMB 1075.

You have to ask your self if you need HDMI or are you going to buy an HD DVD player or New HD TV that supports 1080P. If these are all YES than wait to get new formats coming out.


Cheers,

[adrian carreon]

Thanks Iceman70 on your response on this. Well, I'm not planning to upgrade my system just want to know what's the difference between the two besides the pre/pro which doesnt have a tuner. Other than that is there anything pro and cons on this two?

Well, thanks again for your reply iceman.!!!

cheers!

[aud19]

pre/pro's do not include any amps. That's good as it seperates your processing section from your amplification so they don't end up transferring noise, also they don't have to share a power supply and being that they don't have amps you're not paying to upgrade something your not using like you would with a receiver/amp combo

[Z Head]

i was using a yamaha rxv1600 before i switched to the rsp960ax and now the rsp976. The change in sound quality was very significant from the yamaha to the rotel pre/pro. Music sounds oustanding now. I will never buy a receiver again.

[adrian carreon]

z head,
so you mean is that there's a difference on pre/pro sounds compare to avr...much better sounding on pre/pro.
Well at least I have an idea on the pre/pro compare to avr.

aud19,
I agree with you on your info on the pre/pro & avr.


Thanks guys for this! I really appreciate it.


Rotel Rules!!!

:T ;x( :T ;x(

[shadow]

i was using a yamaha rxv1600 before i switched to the rsp960ax and now the rsp976. The change in sound quality was very significant from the yamaha to the rotel pre/pro. Music sounds oustanding now. I will never buy a receiver again.

Never would have had this experience with a Rotel receiver. Sounds as good as a separate pre/pro with a real high current amp to boot. And to top it all off, the Rotel 1057 costs $400 LESS than the comparable pre/pro.

[soundhound]

Yamaha - Rotel, 2 different sounding animals from the get go. Root thru some older posts and you will see many experienced a "better" sound just by brand change, regardless of component(s) purchased.

[Elvis]

To those that hear no difference in the 1068 and 1056/7,get some good speakers,there is a difference.

[shadow]

A full Martin Logan surround setup is more than good enough to hear a difference if it is there. :roll: If you want to spend extra money and justify it, thats up to you.

[Elvis]

I've had the 1056 and 1068 for a while,the difference in 2ch audio is quite noticable.If you don't want to spend the extra money and can justify it,thats up to you.

[ICEMAN70]

To those that hear no difference in the 1068 and 1056/7,get some good speakers,there is a difference.

What?? PARADIGM Studio 60 v3's are not good enough???? Must be my ears than, old age

I swear, i had my system up to 80 an Volume last night listening to some old YELLO from the early 80's. Let me tell you with my Paradigm Studios and my room setup there was NO way to tell the difference between the 1057 and the 1068. I just couln't believe how clear the sound was from my RSX-1057.

Sorry guy's but this is just my opinion. Like i said before, most people who have the RSP 1068 will disagree with me.

[Z Head]

z head,
so you mean is that there's a difference on pre/pro sounds compare to avr...much better sounding on pre/pro.
Well at least I have an idea on the pre/pro compare to avr.

aud19,
I agree with you on your info on the pre/pro & avr.


Thanks guys for this! I really appreciate it.


Rotel Rules!!!

:T ;x( :T ;x(

yes, the preamp section of the rotel pre/pro is much better than that of the yamaha receiver. I compared the two using a 990BX amp. Very noticable difference to my ears.

[Dmantis]

What?? PARADIGM Studio 60 v3's are not good enough???? Must be my ears than, old age

I swear, i had my system up to 80 an Volume last night listening to some old YELLO from the early 80's. Let me tell you with my Paradigm Studios and my room setup there was NO way to tell the difference between the 1057 and the 1068. I just couln't believe how clear the sound was from my RSX-1057.

Sorry guy's but this is just my opinion. Like i said before, most people who have the RSP 1068 will disagree with me.

Thats the beauty of our hobby. But you can hear a difference when the speakers demand more then what they receiver can do. I was going to get the RSX1067 when I was shopping and ended up with the rsp1068 and rmb1095 due to the clearer sound when running 2 channel. I own Dynaudio speakers which are 4ohm and only 86db so the extra power make a audio difference. I would have liked to buy a receiver since it would take up less room and cost less, not to mention I wouldn't have to buy all the interconnects to go between them. The RSX1067 was awesome but I was looking for the best 2 channel performance and if the seperates where the way to go, then thats what I was going to do.

If your happy with your receiver, thats cool man. Nothing wrong with that. Some people just demand more. My last receiver was a B&K avr307 and I thought it sounded almost as good as B&K seperates. Very close like Rotels are.

Dan

[soundhound]

Bravo Dan.
There is no right, or wrong answer to the question. You could put 5 people in front of a 5k set up, and the same 5 people in front of a 50k set up, and you will get 10 different perceptions of what is heard. Some will love em, some will not. That is the beauty of this addiction........
Bob

[adrian carreon]

Dmantis:
Thats the beauty of our hobby. But you can hear a difference when the speakers demand more then what they receiver can do. I was going to get the RSX1067 when I was shopping and ended up with the rsp1068 and rmb1095 due to the clearer sound when running 2 channel. I own Dynaudio speakers which are 4ohm and only 86db so the extra power make a audio difference. I would have liked to buy a receiver since it would take up less room and cost less, not to mention I wouldn't have to buy all the interconnects to go between them. The RSX1067 was awesome but I was looking for the best 2 channel performance and if the seperates where the way to go, then thats what I was going to do.

So you mean that the seperates is still the best way to go instead of AVR+amps?

Z Man:
yes, the preamp section of the rotel pre/pro is much better than that of the yamaha receiver. I compared the two using a 990BX amp. Very noticable difference to my ears.

The reason why I ask this is because maybe, just maybe I need to change my AVR (Marantz SR8500) to seperates pre/pro if its worth to replace it. For me right now is I'm happy with my setup but not sure if I losing something from my RMB-1075 which is my main unit is the SR8500.


Anyway, I still need to do more research on this.

Thanks again guys!

Rotel Rules!!!

:T ;x( :T ;x(

[soundhound]

If 2 channel is more important, then yes, seperates is better. For a number of reasons.
With descent speaks, and ample power driving them (big factor for sound quality), you would be able to put many different preamps, or pre outs of recievers into you're combo and hear each company's gear different sound.

[gd]

There is no right, or wrong answer to the question.

Best response yet.

adrian -- if I was you, and relatively new to the hobby, I'd take the time to get familiar with your Marantz / Rotel combination -- that is a seriously good system you've got there already.

Substituting the Rotel pre-pro should yield some kind of improvement in sound quality (detail, depth, soundstage), but it may not be as dramatic for you as it is for others... or at least not worth the $$$ difference to you.

The only way to know for sure is to compare them side-by-side at home (not always convenient or cost-efficient)... otherwise, I recommend spending time with the Marantz, and getting some insight as to what a very good receiver sounds like... then you'll have a solid basis for comparison when you audition a pre-pro... if you have the finances, buy both, audition together, and sell the lesser unit at a small loss... if not, you'll have to rely on your memory when you audition at a retailer.

Listen to music when you audition (movies are lossy / compressed audio sources), preferably music with which you are familiar... if music is not important to you, that changes everything -- I would personally recommend a receiver in that case.

Our opinions for these particular differences (AVR vs prepro, 1056 vs 1068 ) obviously vary, as shown above... so rather than rely on us at this point, I'd say that you've got a very good start, and it's up to you to listen for differences now... you're basically asking about a $6-700 upgrade, and there's a chance you might not get that much for the money... in fact, you'd probably hear a greater difference if you spent the $6-700 on a dedicated CD player (Rotel, Cambridge Audio).

Long story short:

Would the Rotel prepro "sound better" than the Marantz AVR (used as pre?) - yes.

Would the difference be dramatic (or worth $700)? - arguable... very arguable.

Happy hunting.

[adrian carreon]

GD,

Thanks for your help on this and good information also.


Well, I'm not totally replacing my avr yet 'coz I'm already happy with my setup but just want to know the difference between the avr & pre/pro. It seems you answered my question and get the whole point with it.


Yes, I'm still learning and newbie on this line of a/v life...hehehe


Thanks again guys!!!


:T ;x( :T ;x(