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Re: best sounding 7.1 pre/pro for under $5000 ?

Posted by williak (A) on April 25, 2003 at 11:52:14

In Reply to: best sounding 7.1 pre/pro for under $5000 ? posted by audioNeil on April 24, 2003 at 19:09:49:

Don't waste your money. HT and hirez audio are rapidly converging on two standards that will directly and significantly affect pre/pros.

On the HT front, HDMI (next-gen DVI/DHCP) is around the corner. Component video down-rezzing is widely believed to be in the cards in the near future for HD sources via cable, DBS and HD-DVD. Paying big bucks for component switching now will leave you in the lurch when DVI (HDMI) switching becomes the rule.

On the hirez audio front, crappy player-based bass management and time alignment systems are on the way out. As these systems have been perfected within the pre/pros themselves, it only remains to get the hirez signal into the processor digitally. An industry standard interface to do this was adopted late last year and is appearing in products right now. To date, the only processor that can handle IEEE 1394 hirez is the Pioneer 49TXi receiver and it does so imperfectly. That said, you should expect high-end pre/pros and flagship receivers to adopt the hirez digital interface within the next year.

Upcoming HT and hirez audio innovations both mitigate against spending big dollars on today's flawed implementations. To the extent any particular manufacturer commits to an upgrade path that deals with these issues, you may be inclined to purchase now and upgrade later. Good luck.

Austin

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