Time to replace my Pre/Pro need help! Need extreme Bass Managment..5K or less

[kingdaddykeith]

Well I think it’s finally time to retire the Sony TA-E9000ES and up-grade to something a little better and more flexible. My budget is around $5000 (USD) or less, and it must have all the latest goodies like Analog pass-thru (SACD/DVD-A) and much better Bass Management than the Sony. My real problem is that I have an all active system with outboard Active crossovers and Large front mains with Stereo Subs and bass shakers, so I would like to have independent control over each sub output and (here is the real problem) full output at the Sub when the front is set to Large. The Sony kills the Sub output when the front is set to large plus the bass shakers are slaved to the only sub level adjustable output.

Here are some finalists on my list, any comments or other suggestions would be appreciated.

Parasound Halo C2
Anthem AV20
Krell HTS 7.1 (used or b-stock)
Moon AV 7.1


The Halo C2 looks like it will do everything I want but it has no Level control over the dedicated Bass Shaker output, and I really like the Moon but I cant find a dealer in my area for an audition. Also if I put my Sony combo up for sell to help finance this new purchase I’m not sure I can get enough to even make a dent, do you think it’s possible to sell this Pre/Pro 5 ch amp set (TAE/TAN) for $1100.

[This Guy]

haha dude don't you have two Maelstroms in your system? What you need bass shakers for?! haha sorry, i can't answer your question.

-Joey

[kingdaddykeith]

haha dude don't you have two Maelstroms in your system? What you need bass shakers for?! haha sorry, i can't answer your question.

-Joey

Low level listening is nicely enhanced with bass shakers, and I don't feel a need to turn up the volume as much, which I'm sure my neighbors appreciate.

[Slosh]

...I went with a friend to help him audition speakers and at one store they had an Integra Research pre/pro driving Proceed amps and Revel speakers and it was stellar. Don't confuse IR with Onkyo Integra (although IR is part of Onkyo); this is much higher-end (but well within your pricerange). Don't know if the bass-management is up to your requirements (I don't think any processor is). Give it a listen if you get a chance.

Wouldn't an ICBM solve most (if not all) of your bass-management problems? Any reduction in absolute resolution would surely be more than made up for in proper bass-redirection.

[nightflier]

I agree with Slosh. The Outlaw Audio (www.outlawaudio.com) Integrated Bass Management, or ICBM-1 will do all that and more between your amp and preamp.

I recommended we add this to a friend of mine's system after an impulse-buy fiasco. It was a typical Good-Guys-sales-rep-recommended get-up with a lower-end Denon receiver (with Pre-outs, thank god) and the consumer-grade DVD player/cables/speaker accoutrements. He was underwelmed to say the least by the system, eventhough he had purchased the recommended Klipsch satelite combo they had. The problem was that the bass was not tuned properly between the rear & front speakers (they were too small) and the Denon only had a single cross-over setting, all that after a $2200 hole in his pocket-book.

After a few weeks of suffering he asked me for some advise. We first added an old high-watt receiver I had laying around (he'll be replacing that with an Outlaw 770 soon) and installed the ICBM. For a mere $250 we turned an OK commercial-grade setup to a phenominal system. The ability to set the cross-over for all 7 channels individually made a huge improvement. With a little more tweaking we got it to sound just right. Needless to say, the Klipsch sub is now finally doing some of the work it was designed to do.

P.S. The ICBM will allow you to connect dual subs as well. And Outlaw Audio tech support is very good.

[Swerd]

Have a look at the B&K Reference 50. http://www.bkcomp.com/ref50.asp It has the best bass management capabilities I have seen. The web site and their brochures don't describe these features, but you can find them in the manual.


High and low pass crossover frequencies are adjustable from 20 to 200 Hz.
The slope for the high-pass filter can be set at 6 or 12 dB/octave.
The slope for the low-pass filter can be set at 6, 12, or 24 dB/octave.
It has a built-in test-tone generator from 20 to 300 Hz so you can decide where to make several types of room equalization settings:

A variable width digital notch filter that allows you to reduce accentuated bass created in a room using multiple speakers.
The capability to use Boundary Gain Compensation for use with a THX Ultra2 Subwoofer.
Digitally variable frequency bass and treble tone controls which allow you to configure a default variable EQ setting that best suits your listening room needs.

[kingdaddykeith]

I have thought of an ICBM, but I would rather all my processing be done in the Preamp if possible, I don’t much like Post processing because I already have more cables then most and every thing I add just makes everything more complicated and adds a bit more grunge. I also have checked out the Integra but I don’t think it will do all I need, I would love to have Digital In/Out for a Digital Crossover/Processor like the Behringer DCX-2496, but I don’t know of any Pre/Pro that will handle that.

Thanks for all your replys and thoughts.
KD

[jeskibuff]

if I put my Sony combo up for sell to help finance this new purchase I’m not sure I can get enough to even make a dent, do you think it’s possible to sell this Pre/Pro 5 ch amp set (TAE/TAN) for $1100.You may be able to get close to that for JUST ONE unit. I was checking my TAP unit on Audiogon and was surprised to see it offered for almost $1K. See http://cls.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/cls.pl?preatran&1082144390 The asking price for one TAE9000ES on Audiogon is $1K.