I just got my issue of Stereophile Guide to Home Theater and their review of Pioneers' 49tx said that it was outstanding. Maybe I should re-think the seperates route. Soundpros.com carries it for like $2,500.00. I don't think that they are authorized but they treated my friends like gold when they bought stuff off of there and they do honor the manufactures full warranty. Hell, that's a great price to use it as a pre-pro even.

It's a fine receiver, but they weren't comparing the receiver to a pre/pro. Generally speaking, dedicated pre/pro's do a better job as a pre/pro, than receivers used as a pre/pro. That's been my experience over the years. Quite a few people who bought Denon super receivers a few years back, are slowly but surely moving to separates. Often, first they buy external amps and use the Denon receiver as a pre/pro. Next, they buy a dedicated pre/pro to replace the Denon receiver (used as a pre/pro).

I've been using the 1050 as a pre/pro. It's done an excellent job, but I'm ready to move on.
Mix

or perhaps the 3804.....

But are the pre-pros better as far as features? I wonder. he 49tx has neat things like seperate 7.1 inputs, one bypass and one to work with dsp and bass management. It also has a trim level and eq. for each channel on that input. Plus a manual or automatic set up and calibration that takes into account room boundries and stuff.
Now I ask, what pre-pro under $5000.00 grand has that or anything like it.

Super-receivers have more features than budget pre/pro's that concentrate on sound quality first, and on features second. Many people bought super-receivers by Denon and other brands, a few years ago, and are now buying pre/pro's and amplifiers, preferring separates (even budget separates like Outlaw, Rotel, etc.) to getting another super-receiver.

More receivers are sold than separates, but I think most people who have owned both receivers and separates, sometime in their lives, end up preferring the sound quality of separates. Receivers have their advantages. They often take less room, have more features, are easier to assemble and cost less than separates. Many many people who end up getting separates, got a super-receiver, first.

If you want all the latest features at a good price, get a super-receiver. But if you want better sound quality than a super-receiver, and can live with less features since afterall price is an issue, I'd recommend looking into a BUDGET separates system, from brands like Outlaw or Rotel. Enjoy!

[This message has been edited by Will (edited August 12, 2002).]

I don't think there'd be much if any difference in sound quality between a "reasonably priced" pre/pro and one of the top-of-the-line receivers.

Yeah, units of equal price, I'd take the pre/pro, but the only way I can imagine a > $3000 receiver could compete with a $900 or $1250 pre/pro is if it could actually compete on sound quality too.

The professional mag reviews tend to back that up.

I had a $800 Yamaha receiver-as-a-pre/pro before my Sony pre/pro (4 yrs ago even). I didn't think there was that much difference in sound quality. And I much preferred the DSP processing in the Yamaha.

And the Yamaha didn't "hiss" either...

If the receiver is the weakest link in your system, chances are you would hear an improvement in sound quality. There are many people who once owned top-of-the-line Denon receivers mated to an amplifier, singing the praises of a "reasonably priced" Outlaw or Rotel pre/pro, after they switched.

Maybe I missed it. I haven't seen a magazine review that says a top-of-the-line receiver sounds as good as "reasonably priced" pre/pro's from Rotel or Outlaw. The top-of-the-line receivers often have more features.

[This message has been edited by Will (edited August 13, 2002).]

Keep in mind that the whole issue of which unit 'sounds better' is a holdover from the vacuum tube days of the 1950s when there *were* definite differences in the sound of units. This was because of differing topologies such as triode verses tetrode/pentodes. With solid state, and especially with everyone basicly using the same chip sets now, units all sound very similiar. Of course the advertisers would love to make you believe there are differences. Don't believe me? Try a blindfold test with someone else doing the switching.

But that takes the fun away!