Fair Preamp comparisons..

OK,

I own a 755 amp, and am currently running a denon 2800 AVR. The denon only has 3 preouts, and needs to be updated. In order to do some true comparison shopping, what are some of the comparable preamps out there. I want to do home theater, so..... what else should I check out.

As I said, I own the 755 and love it, so please dont flame me....just wanted to get some info so that I can do some true comparison shopping.

The Outlaw 950, of course.

Rotel 1068. Adcom has a couple. The B&K Ref 50 might be cheap enough for you now. (What's your price limit?) Integra has a nice one. Sherwood Newcastle has a new one coming. Some others too. Personally, you might want to wait for more of them that have DPL IIx, *if* you are interested in 7.1.

I have a theory too. The 1066 came out soon before the 950. (Or maybe soon after, but the hiss thing got in the way.) Since the 1068 just came out, I bet we'll be hearing something from Outlaw in the next 2 - 4 months.

My pre/pro chart is a little out of date these days -- the Rotel 1066 has been replaced by the 1068 (as Kevin mentions), Sherwood's got a new offering (the P-965), Adcom now has the GTP-880, and the receivers could probably use some updating. For the price, the 950's still tough to beat, although you might be able to find a deal on a Rotel 1066 now that the 1068 is out. Any of them would make an excellent upgrade from your 2800.

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gonk -- 950 Review | LFM-1 Review | Pre/Pro Comparison Chart | Saloon Links

so im looking at that new sherwood pre/pro and they say it has a 24-Bit CS-49400 Crystal Processor but that model on cirrus site is 32bit... i guess ill email them. err, their website is crap and doesn't have a way to contact them except by long distance phone call. what a suspect company to put out such a poor website.

[This message has been edited by curegeorg (edited April 22, 2004).]

Not only that, but there's no handy forum there to ask questions of ( ) and I didn't see that they'd posted a manual for the P-965 yet.

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gonk -- 950 Review | LFM-1 Review | Pre/Pro Comparison Chart | Saloon Links

There's a Sherwood rep (Stereojeff) who's actively monitoring the Amps and Processors forum over at AVS.

This thread:
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=160581&perpage=20&pagenumber=23
in particular has lots of questions, answers, opinions and listening impressions of the new P-965

You should ask your questions over there for a quick answer.

And, I don't think it's fair to call the company suspect due to the quality of their website or their lack of a company-sponsored forum.

Sure, if they're an internet only outfit you'd have a valid point, but Sherwood is relying much more on their dealers and custom installers to get product information out there.

I agree that they could make their website more of a company priority, but in no way do I think it makes them "suspect" simply because they haven't posted their latest owner's manual yet.

I agree, which is why my comment about a forum was followed by a smiley. This forum is a convenient resource for people interested in Outlaw (similar to the presence maintained by some manufacturers at forums like AVS and HTF, although perhaps easier to locate) that certainly plays a role in many people's buying decision, but it's hardly an essential part of business. As for Sherwood's site, it's better than some I've seen (although the absence of a list of retailers would be a bit of a hassle if I were interested in their product). Curegeorg's choice of the word "suspect" was a bit harsh, especially regarding a 50-year-old company like Sherwood.

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gonk -- 950 Review | LFM-1 Review | Pre/Pro Comparison Chart | Saloon Links

Agreed!

I also love having a direct "ear" to a company. In fact nowadays I find myself really only looking at companies that have forums (either on their sites, like Outlaw or on a general audio manufacturer's site like AudioCircles or HarmonicDiscord).

Great way to research products and find out about upcoming developments.

its nice to be able to contact someone at a company by email. its nice to be able to view in depth information about their products on their website. its nice for them to entice me to buy their product instead of make me question why they dont have much support for it. www.anthemav.com has all youd want to know about the avm20... just my thoughts, why have a website AT ALL if it sucks.

Thanks for the info guys, I am doing a little background research. I am looking to spend less than 1500.00 So...

Like I said, I love my outlaw amp, just wanted to check out the other options.

It looks like it might be worth waiting for a few months to see what outlaw has to offer in the near future.

NAD also just came out with a unit for about $1500 (list). Lots of good choices at or below $1500 that I personally think, with good external amplification, easily surpass most AVRs.

well i am getting the denon avr3805 to be used as a pre/pro so i will let you know how it is whenever i finally get it. price for me is under 1k with the mic, so I can't beat that right now.

I remember years ago when Sherwoods were utter crap and I think the name is tarnished in my head. Still, hi-fi dealers are recommending the Newcastle pre over the Outlaw 950. I don't know if I want to spend the extra money or if it's even worth it. The "Newcastle" logo is even real cheesy and it's still "Made in Korea."

No big surprise. Very few of the dealers/salespeople I've talked with over the last couple of years will even admit to having heard of Outlaw Audio! They apparently are not big supporters of Internet only sales companies.