Pre/Pro & Multichannel Amp w/ Blu Ray in mind: What do you suggest for < $2K?

[BadAssJazz]

The economy is tanking, and if the Bush admin. wants to give me $600 to help stimulate it, then I might as well oblige them. I also plan on finally unboxing the Samsung Blu Ray machine (a Christmas gift that I just never got around to opening) and seeing what all of the hype is about. I'll toss in another $1.5K, and put all of you super shoppers to the test: what is the best processor and amp combo that you can find for under $2,100?

As always, your advice and links are much appreciated.

[bobsticks]

I think at this pricepoint you're pretty well going to have to use a receiver as a switching unit. This is especially true as most of the manufacturers of true "pre/pros" either lag behind slightly in terms of technology(hdmi 1.3) or charge an arm and a leg.

I'd suggest starting your investigation with either Onkyo or Yammie receivers (the 875 and the V3800 come to mind) and either a Rotel or NAD multi-channel amp.

Kinda weird time in A/V in that a three year old Halcro or Lexicon unit will be outdone in terms of switching technology (again hdmi) compared to some of the "higher-end" product from the mass marketeers.

[GMichael]

I agree with Bob. But if you are going to add external amps to a receiver, then I'd go with the RXV-1800. It does 99% of what the 3800 does but at $400 less.
Emotiva gets great reviews on their amps. http://www.emotiva.com/
Their processors get so-so reviews and don't have the newer HD soundfields anyhow.

You can get more bang for your buck if you are willing to buy used. Rotel, Parasound, Adcom, & Outlaw are just a few of the players in your budget.

[f0rge]

like others have said, pre/pro's are lagging in terms of functionality and "new" technology (hdmi 1.3) these days. but some of these new receivers are pretty sweet.

you can get an rx-v1800 for $800-900 new and a rotel rmb-1075 for $750 used on audiogon

that would be a pretty sweet setup and well under budget.

i've also recently auditioned the denon 3808 and i loved it, but it's a lot more than the yamaha and may put an amp out of your budget. then again you may not need an amp. i'm unfamiliar with your speakers so i cant say either way.

[BadAssJazz]

then again you may not need an amp. i'm unfamiliar with your speakers so i cant say either way.

The Silverlines aren't too shabby.

I've had them for years and to this day I think that they are the perfect foundation for my system, at that pricepoint. I've driven them with everything from Jolida tube amps to Rotel solid state. It's only after I decided to downsize and reclaim some of my living space that I elected to power them with just the AVR. To that end, I've used Denon, Yamaha and Onkyo AVR's in the past. Not once have I been disappointed.

Sure, if I ever come into Bill Gates money I'll upgrade them, but until then....

[musicman1999]

Onkyo has a pre-pro with all the advanced decoding and HDMI that is supposed to go for about $1700.00. Read a good review but have yet to hear one.


bill

[Mr Peabody]

It's the Onkyo Pro 885, the Integra 9.8 is also up to date but both are in that price range. If you up your budget a bit you may be able to get a used multichannel amp and complete the package. Maybe a used Adcom or Rotel could come close.

[f0rge]

here's an onkyo 885 BNIB on audiogon for $1450:

http://cls.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/cls....roc&1209259236

looks pretty sweet, even has balanced outputs

[shokhead]

Denon 3808. Difference between the Yamaha's 663/863 are small and between the 863 and 1800 are small.