You have to understand one important thing. I do consulting in sound and vision. I am in this business for 14 years. I tested a lot in my life. In think in highend audio. This means the properties which are important to be there for highlevel sound. Depth is a key propertie for highend audio. Cambridge and Marantz both are 2- dimensional products. Even the most expenisve stuff the sell. I tested it many times. Onkyo is the only brand I know which can make a deep and wide stage in the price class they are. The Onkyo PR-SC5509 with Audessey Pro is stunning. Without Audessey it is useless and sounds like shit. I use it with a Pass labs X250.5. I play over 4 metres behind the speakers. I metre beside the speakers. And many speakers sounds like Q-sound. So even the instruments play in front of you. You have to use everything well balanced. Wenn you use speakers which are not good in depth, you cannot use this propertie. 3 dimensional sound is always superior to 2-dimensional sound. Because the exitement and emotions are on a much higher level wenn you listen to music or even movies.
Are there really any high end pre/processors at a
I am playing with HT and have been into 2 channel for many years. I finally find a 5 channel amp that I can stand listening to but I am back to what has stopped me from setting up 5 channel; the crappy sounding processors.
I have tried several older processor (Lexicon MC12, Cary Cinema 11, Parasound P2 ECT) via analogue out to my Cambridge 751 and although interesting certainly not close to a really good preamp. I did try a newer Onkyo and I will leave the model number out because it was the worst sounding but I did get to try direct HDMI connection with that unit.
To clarify I do use very high end signal cables when going analogue so it is not the cabling. My HDMI cables are also very high end so again not the problem. I am using about $40K worth of very good speakers so let's eliminate them. For me it comes back to the processor. I really do not want to spend huge money on a processor because next week it will be worth nothing with technology so one thought was the Marantz 7005 but I am real open to any suggestions.
I have tried several older processor (Lexicon MC12, Cary Cinema 11, Parasound P2 ECT) via analogue out to my Cambridge 751 and although interesting certainly not close to a really good preamp. I did try a newer Onkyo and I will leave the model number out because it was the worst sounding but I did get to try direct HDMI connection with that unit.
To clarify I do use very high end signal cables when going analogue so it is not the cabling. My HDMI cables are also very high end so again not the problem. I am using about $40K worth of very good speakers so let's eliminate them. For me it comes back to the processor. I really do not want to spend huge money on a processor because next week it will be worth nothing with technology so one thought was the Marantz 7005 but I am real open to any suggestions.