wich way to go preamp or reciever

[jorgen68]

i am thinking of upgrading my pre amp.I am currently using a budget reciever from pioneer as a pre amp to my rb-985 and i am thinking of upgrading to a used rsp 1068 or a budget reciever with pre outs and the new hd formats.i am not sure wich way to go.are you? 8)

[htsteve]

jorgen68,

The best long term and best performing option is to get a pre-amp. Since you already have an external amp, getting a dedicated pre-amp will definitely improve the performance of your system. With receivers, you rebuy things you already have. And the parts and engineering of pre-amps are almost always better.

There are two ways to get the new HD audio formats. First, the pre-amp (or receiver) can process it. This means a brand new unit as these are new formats. Your cost likely goes up. Another alternative is to get a BR player that does the decoding. It would then send the signal via either HDMI or the analog outputs. This way you can consider something like a used Rotel 1069 as a pre-amp. This would be a great match with your amp. If you go with a used 1068, I believe you would need to use the analog outs of a BR to get the HD audio formats.



Hope this helps.

[jorgen68]

thank you for your help.do you know if there is a difference in sound quality when you use the analog input for the hd multichannel set up+i have heard that the settings in the br is limited compared to the built in processor in the pre amp,is that gonna be a problem? 8)

[htsteve]

jorgen68,

What you noted is the trade off. The pre-amp tends to have the best chips ad decoding, as compared to BR players, so it will be the best sounding solution. However, this tends to involve buying a brand new pre-amp, the most expensive option.

If you get a BR that can decode and send the HD audio via analog, the quality of sound will depend on the decoding capability of the BR player. There are $400-500 BR players that decode fairly nicely. There are also $2000 BR players that use one high quality DAC for each two channels, which is very good. In terms of bang for the buck, I think BR players betweren $500-$800 are the best option in BR players that decode and have other good features and parts.

In my case, my pre-amp does not process HD audio, so I got a BR player that
decodes onboard and outputs via analog.

I believe the Rotel 1069 might handle the HD audio signal in a certain format (LCPM?). You might search some threads here to see.


Hope this helps.

[BassThatHz]

I found that the sound of my RSP-1068 was much better than the "pure direct" mode on the Yamaha RX-V2500 pre-outs.

That was a year ago and I'm still enjoying the 1068; the same can not be said for the V2500.

Females sound sexier when singing threw the 1068.
Good luck trying to quantify that statement using computers and measuring equipment :rofl:

I'm currently saving up for the RSP-1570, to add HD audio decoding to that mix; as right now I'm only getting the older DD and DTS 5.1

[jorgen68]

hello i am happy to report that i got a god price on a used 1068.and it sounds great.its more air beetween the instruments.i can play much louder without the sound getting harsh.the sound it´s wery detalied and smooth.as far as br goes it is not in my plans for now(have to get that big screen first )so hopefully the decoders has developed when im buying.so i can play the hd formats with out sacrifycing anything. 8)

[htsteve]

jorgen68,

An excellent pickup. I'm glad you are enjoying it.