any suggestion on a 7.1 a/v receiver w/hdmi & 7.1 preamp

74bronco · Post by **74bronco** » Thu Jun 07, 2007 12:42 am

Hello all!
new to carver and new to the forum!
picked up 1 m200,2 m-1.0t's and looking for either a m-1.5t or maybe the pm1.5 and one more m1.0t.
going to put together a home theatre/soundroom in 7.1 plans are as follows:
1.5 on front speakers
200 on center speaker bridged
1.0's on sides and rear speakers
1.0 bridged on the sub
????????????
any suggestions on receivers with 2-3 hdmi inputs and 1 out 1080p version 1.2 or better preferred,also must have active 7.1 preamp outputs for the carvers of course!!.the power output of the receiver is not inportant
just want good adio on the pre outs!!and good hdmi pass through.

all the 7.1 preamp processors with hdmi are just way to exspensive i.e rotel ,mcintosh,krell etc.

looked at the h/k avr 645,pioneer vsx81 ,denon 2807 or 2307ci
anybody running something similiar?

speakers are mostly Cerwin Vega's (don't start I know there are better !lol) and home built sub with two JL Audio 13w7's.

back to another ? the pm 1.5 amp , I see them sell on ebay for less then the m-1.5's yet they have the same power and left and right gain controls with clip eliminators?? why won't this do the same as the m-1.5t?
they have the same THD rating.Do they have the same input sensitivity?

this looks to be a great place to share idea's and info,and I can't wait to get these baby's singin.
Any and all idea's welcome Harlen

Bill · Post by **Bill** » Thu Jun 07, 2007 1:08 am

Check out Marantz as well...I have heard many of their receivers, and they are pretty nice...Do any of your components have HDMI now, or are you looking at upgrading or possibly the new HD formats? I would LIKE HDMI on my next processor, but only one of my components has an out (HDDVR) so component is A-OK by me...

74bronco · Post by **74bronco** » Thu Jun 07, 2007 1:25 am

I did check out a few of them via google searches,seen somewhere that denon and marantz joined up not sure if this is true? price wise they are competitive with the others listed. as far as hdmi we have a 46" samsung lcd 1080p TV,Sony playstation three w /blue ray,and the dish hdtv.and was thinking about a sony 400 disc cd/hd dvd player with hdmi out.

I do know the older Marantz stuff was very sound and that there high end is as good as most.

Harlen

Bill · Post by **Bill** » Thu Jun 07, 2007 1:34 am

Marantz is owned by Denon now I believe, but they are still their own entity....They make some great products, and their DVD players are spectacular....(I own a DV-8300)

I have heard a couple of their mid-fi receivers and a 9600, and they all sounded excellent without separate amplification....They generally go for a little less on the used market than the Denon's do too....

Mr. M-500t · Post by **Mr. M-500t** » Thu Jun 07, 2007 7:00 am

Welcome Harlen,
Have you considered just a Prepro ?

OH,

Don't forget to sign my West Of The Rockies Thread.

http://www.carveraudio.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=2820

stereo_dog · Post by **stereo_dog** » Thu Jun 07, 2007 7:24 am

Hey 74bronco,
I have a Yamaha RX-v2600 receiver that I am using as a pre/pro w/ (3) M500's as the front, center and surround amps. I still use the Yamaha's amp for the rear surrounds @ 130 wpc (looking to score another M500 or M200 for these channels), plus I have a powered sub. The yamaha has HDMI inputs (3) and (1) out, plus optical and component inputs and outs. It also does upscaling or straight pass-through. My setup works very well, all component switching is through the receiver to one HDMI out to my HD projector. Very clean audio and video output. I did comparisons of the HD output from DishHD both through the receiver and then straight from the Dish. I saw no difference in video quality. The newest version is the RX-v2700, which has better HDMI setup and more power (not needed for you). Price new should be about $1,100.00. It looks like you have a great start, look forward to hearing how things progress.

74bronco · Post by **74bronco** » Thu Jun 07, 2007 11:53 pm

first to answer Mr500t's ? pre/pro,I assume you are referring to a preamp processor? I did look into it and the only ones I could find with
HDMI inputs and output where the BIG names,krell WAY to much money,mcintosh again too much money then some brand I can't recall that was around 2700.00$ still to much and then the only thing else I found was the new rotel which was around 1800.00.I just think there all overpriced when you can get a good receiver with preouts and hdmi starting around 500.00 and they have amps with them for less $.
next for stereo-dog's suggestion on the yamaha option.I really liked yamaha amps and receivers 20yrs ago but after that they seemed to just be way to bright on the on the highs for me,not really over driven highs just over bright ,maybe this wouldn't be so with external amps or there current offerings!
Harlen

stereo_dog · Post by **stereo_dog** » Fri Jun 08, 2007 6:06 am

You're correct on the Yamaha observation, I have two receivers that are at least 18 years old and like them alot. My RX-V sounds very similar to them, but I stay with a flat response on my bass & treble, on all of my receivers, so there there should be no additional coloration due to receiver differences. The RX-V line is a better line than the Yamaha HTR receivers that are around (the ones available on the internet & at Big Box stores). Using external amps does make a difference in the sound, my M500's are much clearer and cleaner than the receiver's amplifiers (which, by the way have good specs) In the end, it's your ears that you have to please, you should audition several makes and models before you decide.

garcianc · Post by **garcianc** » Fri Jun 08, 2007 7:21 am

My suggestion is to wait. Processors with HDMI 1.3 will be available soon and, if you want to do DolbyHD or the DTS equivalent, that's what you will need.

Don't get too hung up on HDMI. Even the expensive processors that do have it, don't fully implement the audio part of the standard (and audio is why we are here, right?).

I have to throw a rock in the direction of Sunfire here, because that's why I bought the Outlaw 990 (with DVI instead of HDMI). If you read the Sunfire TGP-5's users manual online, page 13, you will see:
"No TGP-5 on screen display or audio decoding inside the TGP-5 is available from the HDMI inputs. Always connect a separate digital audio input cable when using HDMI."

So, if all I can do is video switching, I can get that with a less expensive processor with DVI. Plus my TV already has 2 HDMI inputs. Granted, the Sunfire has sonic holography, two side-axis channels, and a few things that the Outlaw doesn't have, but I did save a lot of money.

So, to summarize: either go all out and save your money for a fully-capable HDMI processor, or abandon the illusion and get a decent processor based on what sounds good to you and save tons of money in the process.

Mr. M-500t · Post by **Mr. M-500t** » Fri Jun 08, 2007 7:39 am

You said it well garcianc ! $\:D/$
Now I don't have to. I'm still using my HK AVR 7000 for surround.
I have my HD DirecTV receiver hooked up HDMI to my TV and to tell you the truth I think the Component Video from my DVD player is just as good.

stereo_dog · Post by **stereo_dog** » Fri Jun 08, 2007 7:49 am

I have both component and HDMI connected to my projector, and you're right, not much different. Actually, Dish HD is fed through component, Dish Network feed is not compatible with the receiver, it thinks the receiver is a switching device, and will not pass HDMI signals through. Mr. M-500t is correct, wait. HDMI 1.3 should be able to fix some of the signal problems and provide better audio. Dish Network is working on my problem, I'm not holding my breath.