[canman1976]

Hi,I was hoping is someone could educate me on pre/pros specifically what they can do and cannot do compared to recievers.I know they lack a internal amp and provide better sound due to reduced interference and stuff but can I hook my cd player into it a listen to cd's through my system the same I would a reciever?Any particular brands to go with,ive heard about a 997 from outlaw and the integra are these good choices?My main useage will be for Hd tv and movies.


thanks.

 

[TPnBobcats]



Quote:
Originally Posted by canman1976 /forum/post/15488750


Hi,I was hoping is someone could educate me on pre/pros specifically what they can do and cannot do compared to recievers.I know they lack a internal amp and provide better sound due to reduced interference and stuff but can I hook my cd player into it a listen to cd's through my system the same I would a reciever?Any particular brands to go with,ive heard about a 997 from outlaw and the integra are these good choices?My main useage will be for Hd tv and movies.


thanks.

What they can or cannot do has nothing to do with them being Pre/Pros, aside from not having an amp built in.


They are almost exactly, your receiver minus an amp. So they will do what ever it is they do. Now typically they do cost more money and thus have more features and bells and whistles, but a pre-pro is not necessarily better than an AVR.


Sound quality is mostly 3 things


1) Source

2) Speakers

3) Amps


somewhere down around 47 is the inside of the pre/pro and any "noise" that might cause.


Where they really come into their own vs AVRs (audio video receivers) is when you have difficult to drive speakers. Since the amps in most AVRs are not designed to work with low impedance (typically 4 ohm or lower) speakers. Separate amps do a MUCH better job with these sorts of speakers.

 

[speciman]



Quote:
Originally Posted by canman1976 /forum/post/15488750


Hi,I was hoping is someone could educate me on pre/pros specifically what they can do and cannot do compared to recievers.I know they lack a internal amp and provide better sound due to reduced interference and stuff but can I hook my cd player into it a listen to cd's through my system the same I would a reciever?Any particular brands to go with,ive heard about a 997 from outlaw and the integra are these good choices?My main useage will be for Hd tv and movies.


thanks.

What is nice about separates is that they make your system more customizable. You can swap out amps, as well as, pre-pros. You may want an amp that has more warmth or power and there are a number of different amps based on different designs (A, B, AB, D) and components (tube or solid state). You may want two, five or seven channels. For pre-pros, you may want to update it to get more HDMI inputs or outputs, the latest codecs, multiple zones, video processor or any other feature you may want without buying an integrated amp. Some pre-pros and receivers sound better with analog music than others. Some people like the features that they have in their receiver, but want more power to fill their room. So they output from the pre-pro section of the receiver (provided that it has these outputs) to a separate amp.


I think if you're just starting out, a receiver is the way to go and there are several good brands out there. But if you're willing to spend the equivalent to get a high-end receiver, separates may be worth a look.

 

[Denophile]

check out emotiva and outlaws' websites-outlaw is supposedly coming out with a new prepro that is updated with all the new bells and whistles. all depends on your budget and listening tastes. basically the prepro switches sources, processes sound, applies bass management, room correction just like the receiver. the only difference is that the amp is external. build quality tends to be better with separates (as they are more expensive) and many would argue that one gets lower distortion, less interference from power supplies (to the amplifier) and are less subject to other interfering electronic signals as they are separate from the amp. some have "balanced" connections to enable noise free longer cable connections to amplifiers.


likewise for the separate amp. If it were me and I were starting over again instead of a mid level receiver that I started with i would probbaly go with outlaw or emotiva spearates.

 

[MichaelJHuman]

Many pre processors offer less features for more money than a receiver. One theory is that they cost more because they are not a mass market product.


Which is why some people will use a receiver paired with an amplifier for economic reasons. They want high power of an amplifier but don't want to pay the price premium of a pre processor.


Whether a pre processor offers better sound for the price premium is a point of debate. When they measure the pre outs of receivers, they often have ruler flat response with very low THD+N measurements. So that seems like an unlikely factor. Some people will argue they have better DACs or other circuitry. I personally would have to have that proved to me.