Please help me choose preamp for family room

Last night I read about the Marantz 8801, 7701, Yamaha CX A5000, Intergra803/ Onkyo PR-SC5509 SSP

The main problem I am having is that I only have 5 speakers and the world is spinning to add many more channels but my room can't handle it. So I find myself also looking at units made in 2011/2012 which I might be missing some tech that I actually could use.
 
Bill - you configure those SSP's like the 8801 to use as many or as little speakers as you have. The onscreen menu on the 8801 for example allows you to go from 2 to 11 speakers.


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Mike said:
Bill - you configure those SSP's like the 8801 to use as many or as little speakers as you have. The onscreen menu on the 8801 for example allows you to go from 2 to 11 speakers.


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I agree with Mike, those setup menus are pretty straight forward on speaker setup

ps: depending on your budget, there is the Denon AVP-A1HDCI(A) , Anthem D2v 3D, not to mention Krell makes a nice processor for some $$$
 
Sorry guys if I misled you to what my issue was. I did not doubt that I could downgrade from 11 channels to 5. My issue was since I was fixed at 5, I wondered if I needed an 11 channel capable unit. (why pay for unusable if you know what I mean)
 
Bill

You will in the end just have to buy based on what you are comfortable spending on a secondary system taking into account how much you are really going to use it. All of the units mentioned get good reviews, so it will come down to your preference and budget.
 
Bill13 said:
The main problem I am having is that I only have 5 speakers and the world is spinning to add many more channels but my room can't handle it. So I find myself also looking at units made in 2011/2012 which I might be missing some tech that I actually could use.
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That is the issue I had, but if you buy new then you are stuck with extra channels. Of course, you don't have to use them if you don't need them, but you do have to pay for them.
 
BlueFox said:
That is the issue I had, but if you buy new then you are stuck with extra channels. Of course, you don't have to use them if you don't need them, but you do have to pay for them.
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So Bud what did you settle for? I have three entertainment systems. 1) Kitchen/family room with typical tv sitting in entertainment unit. 2) theatre room which current has a 7 year old Arcam 350 which needs to be upgraded because only 1 hdmi connection and 3) a room housing my 2 channel system.

I figure a marantz 8801 would be a good replacement for the Arcam in the main theater room. The kitchen/family room is a place where I watch the news and spend an hour or two after work. I sometimes listen music there but not often. I would say it would be 90% TV/ 10% music. The TV would be 90% regular cable and satellite and 10% movies. I usually like to watch movies upstairs in the theater room. So I am looking for a SSP for the kitchen with the understanding I will not be listening to much music there or watching many movies. But I want the TV to be great.

I think I am just ranting so I get my story straight when the IT guy my wife hired comes this week. He favors the Samsung LED smart TV and the Yamaha Adventage line. I think he is probably a dealer for the latter.
 
BlueFox said:
I have the Onkyo SC5509 I referenced earlier. It replaced a Sony DA7100ES AVR I was using as a pre.
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You certainly did say that. I am not placing faces with preamps well today. I did read about it. Interesting situation where the Manufacturer is discontinuing and heavily discounting what remains in stock. I will look more into it. I know the earlier model had the HDMI issue but the newer models seems free from that.


Forgetting about stuff you can do with 7,9, 11 speakers can it do everything else you would normally expect these days?
 
Bill13 said:
Forgetting about stuff you can do with 7,9, 11 speakers can it do everything else you would normally expect these days?
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From my perspective, yes. The main thing for me is it sounds good. I noticed it sounded better than the AVR as soon as I turned it on. It has whatever the current crop of bells and whistles was a few years ago. I have the Oppo decode the audio, and send LPCM to the pre over HDMI. I forgot why that is preferred over having the pre do the decoding. Neither do I use the Audessy for setting up speakers. I use the test tones and an SPL meter to set the same volume level for each speaker at my seat. When I play music I sometime use the various surround options, but mostly use Pure Direct. The on screen menu is very intuitive and easy to figure out and use. I guess I have had it around two years now with no issues.

The only thing that might have been a problem was I never got my SACD player to play SACDs over HDMI. I did have a Sony XA-5400ES player in the system, and it has an HDMI port for multiple channels. It only supplies two channel analog outputs, and you are supposed to use the HDMI port for surround sound. Anyway, I never got it to work, but didn't really invest much time in it. I sold the SACD player, and added the Bryston file player.
 
BlueFox said:
From my perspective, yes. The main thing for me is it sounds good. I noticed it sounded better than the AVR as soon as I turned it on. It has whatever the current crop of bells and whistles was a few years ago. I have the Oppo decode the audio, and send LPCM to the pre over HDMI. I forgot why that is preferred over having the pre do the decoding. Neither do I use the Audessy for setting up speakers. I use the test tones and an SPL meter to set the same volume level for each speaker at my seat. When I play music I sometime use the various surround options, but mostly use Pure Direct. The on screen menu is very intuitive and easy to figure out and use. I guess I have had it around two years now with no issues.

The only thing that might have been a problem was I never got my SACD player to play SACDs over HDMI. I did have a Sony XA-5400ES player in the system, and it has an HDMI port for multiple channels. It only supplies two channel analog outputs, and you are supposed to use the HDMI port for surround sound. Anyway, I never got it to work, but didn't really invest much time in it. I sold the SACD player, and added the Bryston file player.
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Does running the audio through the preamp and the video through the oppo cause any lip sync issues. Are there any issues with bass management doing it that way?
 
I run the Blueray audio and video over the HDMI between the Oppo and Onkyo with no issues at all. I believe having the Oppo decode the audio eliminates the lip sync issue that can occur when the pre decodes the audio. I could run the video directly from the Oppo to the TV, but the TV only has one HDMI port, and I also need to use an Xbox. So, the video passes through the a Onkyo instead so I can select the input.
 
BlueFox said:
I run the Blueray audio and video over the HDMI between the Oppo and Onkyo with no issues at all. I believe having the Oppo decode the audio eliminates the lip sync issue that can occur when the pre decodes the audio. I could run the video directly from the Oppo to the TV, but the TV only has one HDMI port, and I also need to use an Xbox. So, the video passes through the a Onkyo instead so I can select the input.
Click to expand...

Good setup

Thanks

Bill
 
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