[The Furious One]

I'm looking for something that has the newest audio formats, Dolby True HD, DTS-MA, etc....The only thing the receiver itself will be powering is the surrounds. I'll be adding external amps for the front mains and center.


I've been reading up on this a little bit, and from what I've read, some receivers work well in this kind of setup, and others do not perform well using the pre outs.


So far, I've looked into these:

Onkyo 707

Yamaha 665

Marantz 5003

H&K 247


If any of you are using any of these as a half pre/pro, or have other suggestions, I'm all eyes!


Thanks,

Brent

 

[SoundMike]



Quote:
Originally Posted by The Furious One /forum/post/18208542


I'm looking for something that has the newest audio formats, Dolby True HD, DTS-MA, etc....The only thing the receiver itself will be powering is the surrounds. I'll be adding external amps for the front mains and center.


I've been reading up on this a little bit, and from what I've read, some receivers work well in this kind of setup, and others do not perform well using the pre outs.


So far, I've looked into these:

Onkyo 707

Yamaha 665

Marantz 5003

H&K 247


If any of you are using any of these as a half pre/pro, or have other suggestions, I'm all eyes!


Thanks,

Brent

You could also go for the Denon. I have a 4308 which only amplifies the surrounds since my Stereo System is inserted into the HT.


But there are cheaper models from Denon which have good preouts for your aplications.


My suggestions is tho check the website for the models.


All the best,


Michael

 

[The Furious One]

Thanks Michael! I momentarily forgot about Denon! Doh!

 

[jdsmoothie]

The lowest level 2009 Denon AVR w/pre-outs = 2809/989

The lowest level 2010 Denon AVR w/pre-outs = 3310/990

 

[Noubourne]

I just added a used Onkyo 875 to use for pre/pro and amp for surrounds. Meets your specs. You can find them on eBay pretty regularly.


I really wanted an Audyssey receiver though because I got really good results with it in the Denon 788 I had before this. Have you thought about that at all?

 

[Brian McKay]

Doing exactly what you want with an Onkyo 876 and very happy with the results. Very flexible reciever and I use the built in amps to drive the surrounds and a set of speakers in Zone2. Add in the Reon and Audessy processing, dual HDMI outs and it does a great job. It even has a decent phono input if you still listen to vinyl.


You can find the 876 for a very reasonable price these days.

 

[rdgrimes]

Yamaha V665 here with a 5-ch amp, the Yammie runs back surrounds only. Love it. It's a fairly simple no-nonsense Pre-Pro at a fantastic price. (got mine for $350 shipped). If you want more poop for a couple surround channels, the V765 is the ticket, but the V665 handles 2 channels very nicely.

 

[BMaugans]

I use a Marantz 5003 as a pre/pro in my system, although I do drive the surround backs with the receiver. It makes a terrific preamp and sounds better than the Sherwood P965 pre/pro it replaced. Only real complaint I have is only 3 HDMI inputs, but I can live with that.


At that price point, it's more a question of features and aesthetics (the main reason I avoided the HK is because I think they're ugly as sin.). They should all have similar sound quality. I looked at the models you did when I was searching a few months ago and settled on the 5003, but they all have their strong points and weaknesses.

 

[BartMan01]

I just got a Denon 3310ci (their cheapest new model with pre-outs) and have it hooked up to my 5 monoblock Marantz amps for my 51. system. If I go to 7.1 I will use the internal amps to drive the rear speakers. I really like this unit and would include it in your list to consider.

 

[pioneercrazed]

Over the past year or so I've had three receivers in the low price range.


First was the HK 247, long story short I would recommend you avoid it at all cost. It simply doesn't work very well with a lot of issues that will never be fixed. If you're curious just look at the official thread.


Second I got a Denon 790, this model does not have pre-outs or else I would have never gotten rid of it. Loved the Audyssey MultEQ and really enjoyed the DynamicEQ feature, made the listening experience great without listening at reference level. I really wish Denon would have a more affordable option with preouts.


My newest is the Yamaha V665, it had a lot to live up to coming in after the Denon but has really surprised me in a good way. It's simple and it works, unlike the HK! 4 HDMI's, 7.1 preouts and good enough auto calibration.


Basically if you're looking for the cheapest option with preouts I'd recommend the Yamaha either 665 or 765 for beefier power. If you want to spend a little more I'd go with the Onkyo 707 since it has Audyssey and I'm a big fan of that. The only thing that I'd worry about with the Onk is the heat but if you have adequate ventilation and are using amps I don't think that will be an issue. Also as far as heat neither of the three that I had got very hot at all.

 

[The Furious One]

Thanks guys! Good stuff here! I've got it narrowed down to either the Onkyo 707 or the Yamaha 665. If I were to go any higher price wise, I'd probably be better off getting the Emo UMC-1 pre/pro, which still isn't completely out of the question yet. I've not looked to see if they have ironed all the bugs out yet.


What kind of amps are you guys using with your 665's? I like the 707, but if I can shave a few bucks by getting the yammy, I'll have more of a budget to get my other surrounds.

 

[M Code]



Quote:
Originally Posted by pioneercrazed /forum/post/18211679


Over the past year or so I've had three receivers in the low price range.


First was the HK 247, long story short I would recommend you avoid it at all cost. It simply doesn't work very well with a lot of issues that will never be fixed. If you're curious just look at the official thread.

The AVR247 is HDMI 1.1, it can handle multi-channel PCM via HDMI but does not have the capability of decoding Dolby Digital +, True Audio or DTS Master Audio within the AVR.


My recommendation would be the HK AVR3600, it will decode all of the latest HD codecs including Dolby Digital +, True Audio or DTS Master Audio. It has 7.1 pre-outs and the very significant dynamic range post-processing mode of Dolby Volume.


Also the 3600's firmware is far more robust and stable.


Just my $0.01..