Upgrade from Onkyo PR-SC5508 - worth it?

Originally Posted by DonoMan

Many reasons, some of which include:

-They think it sounds better, but really it's placebo.
-They have a lot of money anyway.
-They like to boast by having expensive stuff.
-They feel good having an expensive setup.
-They like a particular brand, either its design style, or the people who designed it, or whatever

NOT saying all of those applies to everyone. I dunno man. It boggles my mind. Almost all of those people would have just as good a system with a $1000 AVR. Very few people here who have external amps are taking advantage of the extra power, and they do not offer a quality improvement otherwise, either. (Note: I myself do have an external amp, but that's because I build DIY speakers and use an active crossover which means my two front 3-way towers use a total of 6 channels amplification.) But hey, the money that other people spend circulates into the economy which is good for the rest of us, so they can go ahead and continue to spend a lot more than they need to for all I care.

If you are doing a comparison, sure, share the results. And while you are welcome to interpret your results how you want, as well as buy what you want, I will say that unless you do a double-blind ABX test with a bunch of people and a bunch of material, your results aren't going to mean much statistically because of low sample size and such (that would be true for me, and most people here as well). I do not know of any large-scale DB ABX test that has ever been able to show a difference that could be pinpointed accurately by humans. I read of one that someone else mentioned on this forum in another thread where there were only six people and only four people agreed, which is statistically useless information. Still, I am aware that you will (or won't) buy based on your own opinion/experience, but do try to make the test as good as possible. I'd say at least single-blind ABX with a few friends over and at least a few songs, with everything level matched, would be the lowest test that I'd recommend. If it shows a difference enough for you, then... well, do what you feel you have to do. You could try "ABXY" where Y would be the sound you prefer, so it could test both the ability to differentiate them, and also your preference in case you do find that they can be told apart.

Originally Posted by turnne1 

I auditioned both the Anthem and the Integra twin of the 5008 at a hi end stereo shop
Assuming there is no difference in the sound of the Integra and the Onkyo..I would say the Anthem is hands down a better unit than the Integra( Onkyo)
Is it worth the money?....that is largely defined if you can afford it I guess
While they are close in HT....the Anthem is head and shoulders above the Integra musically
I bought the Onkyo 5508 by the way....as the local shop wanted full MSRP for the Integra unit
The Anthem was not in my price range
Warren

Originally Posted by cmoore55 

One of my friends is an exceptional acoustical designer and has what I call golden ears. He used to be in the Audio retail business at the VERY HIGH end. Today he is at the VERY HIGH end of the home theater room design business.
He told me once that "everybody won" -- he went on to say that, over the past few years, both audio design and manufacturing have leveled the playing field in terms of how things sound and what you get for the money.
In other words the difference between $2,000 and $15,000 might be very small in terms of how they sound and even then most might not be be able to detect only a very small part of that. Add to that if your room is not that acoustically perfect you loose even less of the difference.
So save your money :-)

Originally Posted by mjaudio 

I would just hold on to your 5508 for now and wait until there is a more affordable pre-pro with Trinnov EQ. ADA has a Trinnov add on but expect to pay close to $10K for it or you could go with the ADA Reference which has integrated Trinnov at a bargain basement price of $40K I am hoping the next ADA Cinema Rhapsody features a integrated Trinnov solution
I have not heard the ADA implementation of Trinnov but picked up a Sherwood / Newcastle R-972 for the closeout price and Trinnov is the real deal. Audyssey XT32 does a better job as an EQ on the whole IMO which is clearly evident on the sub channels but the Trinnov 3D re-mapping is what sets Trinnov apart from any other EQ. I don't know how exactly it does it but the best way to describe Trinnov 3D is that the speakers disappear, even if you are just using a 5.1 channel system it sounds like your listening to 10 channels as you are just enveloped by sound. The dialog clarity is also remarkable with Trinnov engaged and when you turn off Trinnov the soundstage does collapse so it really is doing something special.
I am not crazy about how the R-972 sounds with music, even with Trinnov and using various settings but I would bet it is a LOT better with the ADA. as they use the full Trinnov magic were as the R-972 is a slimmed down version. For movies I like the R-972 with Trinnov over the 5508 but the 5508 is better with music.