Good pre-amp with HT/UG that fits in a Linnenvironment.

[aleann]

no idea rowlandhills, if it does then it is a more reasonable alternative than the KK at least A KK in my rig would just be.. wrong

SteveC, yea the new pre from Marantz in the 7500 series, it doesnt sound good in either 2ch via analogs or as a HT-preamp in my opinion, I didnt like it one bit. But, as with everything else, thats my opinion, you might think otherwise so go ahead and give it a listen at least if you are interested in the product. I prefer the integra for HT at least, thats definately for sure. I'll see how the integra performs on Monday with my ADS.

DS-I is an option, its a tad weird to connect to ADS to a Majik DS-I though innit? Double DS's How's the pre's quality in the DS-I in comparison to for example a SC with Dynamik?

Regards

Alex

[rowlandhills]

(2011-04-01 12:18)aleann Wrote:  no idea rowlandhills, if it does then it is a more reasonable alternative than the KK at least A KK in my rig would just be.. wrong

I just checked, and according to the information sheet:

Quote:• Unity gain Yes - individual inputs configurable via Konfig

so that looks pretty good!

However, a brand new AK is going to cost you £4200 list price, and for that you could pick up a second hand KK! Your ADS/D feeding into a KK really wouldn't be "wrong" IMHO, but it's your money

[SteveC]

OK Alex, since you have said 75** twice now, I take it you were referring to the Marantz SR-7500 receiver rather than the Marantz AV7005 preamp. The latter is a newer candidate instead of the older AV8003 preamp that was quite well thought of, at least for the money.

[aleann]

Ah, my bad completely SteveC. It was the 7005, not the 7500. So sorry :S

They are from the same series and I mixed the zeroes and fives up. I havent heard the 7500 much at all (just a brief session when I was in a hurry, it didnt catch my attention though), its the _7005_ I heard in my own system and my SC spanked it hard on 2ch performance, a friend of mine bought one and he wasnt happy after he heard a direct comparison with the SC in stereo right before I sold my SC. 7005 is audyssey pro compatible and I expect it need to be fully calibrated to reach anywhere near its potential in HT-mode. Got some friends in the custom installbusiness and they are all saying the Marantz is "allright" but the Integra is quite a bit better in the HT-department even in higher end systems (100k£ or so, above that ADA seems to be the next jump but those cost 3-4 times the Integra). I myself havent had a chanse to directly compare those two in same room though but the Integra takes it to a pretty silly level if you ask me, its an awesome machine for HT. You need to hear it properly calibrated with a pro-kit by an experienced installer and a good speakersetup to understand what it actually can do, (Linn's pre's sadly has nothing at this level, nomatter how much I love Linn they just cant cope with this, out of the box sure but calibrated, noway.) Once I did that there was no doubt, its the machine for me at least. The good part, it isnt even expensive. A properly setup Marantz can probably sound good too but here I prefer to rely on the thoughts of people who work with these products in highend HT-systems.

But, as I said before, listen and make your own mind up, thats the proper way to do it for 2ch since thats the most critical listening. Thats why I am chasing around for a pre with HT bypass/passthrough or Unity Gain, I kindof expect to cry when I hear the Integra trash my lovely ADS

I heard the 8003 some time ago btw, the 7005 sounds.. different. If you are into Marantz I'd do a comparison between those two aswell. One might suit better than the other.

The Integra has another drawback btw, aswell as the 7005, they are both fugly!

Regards

Alex

[SteveC]

Thanks for clearing that up, Alex, I don't think M have a very smart naming scheme. I'm a bit disappointed as I thought the AV7005 might do instead of a Kinos. Not sure where I can get an Integra. i had thought of an Anthem too.

[aleann]

Anthem might be a good choice for HT too, havent heard them though. Kinos have very good analog inputs, hmm, I wonder if Kinos have unity gain? That could be an interesting solution actually, the 2ch performance from Kinos is really really solid.

[Paul_Riordan]

(2011-03-31 21:00)aleann Wrote:  Hello. First thread ever here on this forum, read it for a long time though

If I want to incorporate a solid good preamp with a HomeTheater Bypass or Unitygain enabled inputs into my system. I have ordered an Integra DHC 80.2 that will handle all HDMIswitching and soundprocessing for movies etc but I think it will lack in the analog inputs and I think my Akurate DS will cry if I connect it via the Integra.

Where do I look?

I've found out that KK have it but its too costly since it cost more than my source and my speakers altogether (and even more than that too).

The Majik DSi isnt an alternative really since I have an ADS i want to use, selling the ADS and buying a DSi feels like a quite big step down in the source.

I thought the Majik-I would have UG but, it doesnt, not a proper one that wont risk the speakers. Volume 80 and switching over to the input with the ADS playing a playlist.. Poof goes the speaker if Im unlucky and its just a really poor solution from Linn so thats not an alternative either.

So..

What other brands are there out there that could be interesting and good enough in a Linn-rig? I had a Unidisk SC with Dynamik and that sounded pretty much allright in my ears, I just want a simple pre with the same or better sound as the SC but it need to have HT or UG. It also need to have a remote.

Any ideas on this subjekt? I live in northern Sweden and the stores uphere are somewhat limited so I would really appreciate some input and ideas in this matter.

Budget, 1-2k£ or so new, or used, doesnt really matter aslong as it's quality.

Regards

Alex

Alex

I have been running a mixed stereo and surround system for some time. I previously used a Krell 280p pre-amp, you should be able to find these used well within your budget. I now have a Mark Levinson ML380s which I bought used (again within your budget), I changed to the Mark Levinson as I wanted two sets of balanced inputs. Hope this helps...

Thanks

Paul

[aleann]

Thank you Paul, this is exactly the type of help I wanted, appreciate it.

Regards

Alex

[SteveC]

Would you mind saying a few words on how you like the D2V, Paul?