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RE: Most Musical AV Preamp?

Posted by muser on August 1, 2011 at 10:44:58:
Bill

I'm a two channel, tube guy with a two channel video system. I started looking for a way to simplify video switching in my system. As it exists now, sometimes I need to use three remotes to switch both the video and audio. That's a pain. I started looking at a solid state preamp to do the video switching with the touch of only one remote. I was thinking solid state because with a young child in the house, our system is occasionally left on for a day or two at a time, and burning five NOS Mullards for days bugs me. I also wanted a preamp that had HDMI to work with my new HD TV. So, following is some of what I have found, not much of it is my opinion, but I thought I'd point you to some stuff.

There was an interesting and very extended thread at hometheatershack.com on the sound quality of av preamps, around 50 pages, though I don't remember the length of the thread nor its title as I write. I took a quick look today, but had trouble finding it again. The reviewer, I believe, works in an audio mixing environment and listened to literally dozens of preamps in his system looking for the best sounding surround sound preamp. His comments let me believe that his interests might be similar to mine, though I can't say for sure; he's certainly closer to my thinking than most of the other surround sound afficianados.

As a caveat, much of the posting on hometheatershack.com relates to features rather than sound. Many posters read specifications and parts of preamps and treat them as though they perform identically in different preamps; e.g. X preamp has audyssey and Y preamp does too, so they implement audyssey identically. Personally specs, features and components rarely are any indicator of sound quality.

Reading the original poster's comments is far more instructive than most of the replies to his thread, but it's worth reading through since the peanut gallery ask questions about his experience with various brands and in the process you can read his take on various surround brands. I don't know if I'd agree with the original poster's conclusions, but he thought the most "musical" and believable surround sound preamp was an older, discontinued Proceed AV2. He distinctly disavows the original Proceed AV. Personally, I'm not a fan of Proceed, but system synergy brings its own surprises, so I am withholding judgment. The impact of his thread, I think, is seen on audiogon because you'll see Proceed AV preamps languishing whereas AV2 preamps last a few days at most. And, his comments are all organized around sound quality rather than feature lists.

A friend and fellow reviewer at positive-feedback.com, Francisco Duran, had his entry level Marantz integrated modded by upgradecompany.com and it sounded terrific, not for the money, but simply terrific. Great pace (not something I usually care about), excellent rendering of timbre, detail and sounstaging, all in a solid state preamp. I've had a tube preamp (three different ones) for about 18 years and figured I'd always have to have a tube preamp to have a satisfying sound.

The modded Marantz, however, made me wonder whether tubes are a requirement for sound satisfaction. To experiment, I bought an Onkyo 885(b) on audiogon. Haven't received it yet, but am hopeful that it will sound pretty good based on some of the comments I've read. The newer Onkyo 5507, 5508 and a soon to come 5509 (?) are said to be better than the 885(b) or 886 (all are successor designs), though I'm not sure what "better" means to those writers. I bought the older 885(b) for $500 figuring the pain of a resale would be the lowest, if that became necessary. If I like the 885(b), I may buy a 5508 and have that modded, by the upgradecompany.com.

FWIW, Upgradecompany.com said they thought the equivalent Integra pre/processors (DTC 9.9 or DCH 80.1) are softer sounding at the frequency extremes and not as recommended.

Marantz makes a pre processor that is also highly regarded as sounding very good (musical), by other people. Some say it's more "musical" than the Onkyo, but they're twice the price on audiogon, so I didn't take the leap on that. I think the upgradecompany thinks the Onkyo is superior to the Marantz.

So, I'd hunt down that thread and use that writer's experiences to inform your own quest. That's my $0.02.

Good luck, if you're looking.

Larry