new processor decision....help me decide


Looking to get a new processor for my hometheater... hometheater 90% to music 10%.

i am going to get the new oppo 103 for source.
i figure i will let the oppo decode all, i will run an hdmi directly to the projector for video and i haven't decided on the connection to the processor...either the other hdmi or rca... but i do want the room correction to be used....

choices are:

1. ingrera dhc-80.3. $2600. 9.2. audyssey multieq. xt32.

2. emotiva xmc-1. $1500. 7.2. TACT dynamic room correction

3. marantz av 7701. $1700. 7.2. audyssey multieq xt

4. anthem d2 w/ arc. $2000. 7.1. arc

since i will be using the procceor on the oppo i will only need these processors to be used as their room correction and sound abilities.

my amp is an anthem p5.... and so far I'm not that big of a fan of 7.1 so i dunno if that makes a difference to me.

tell me what you think.
Bill
baranowski

Showing 2 responses by mateored

I can't see any reason why it would be desirable to decode - re-encode - decode. Makes no sense. If you want to use room correction and bass management, the processor needs to work with a digital signal. Therefore, you are best off feeding it a digital signal (i.e., don't have the Oppo convert to analog). If you do that, the processor will need to convert analog back to digital so that it can run the room correction, and then convert it back to analog again. For that reason, if you need room correction, put as much money as possible into the source. I have an extremely difficult room, and for me the Anthem ARC works really well. But I've never tried any other room correction systems in my room. Kal is right that the Emotiva piece isn't out yet. It looks strong for the money, but I wouldn't buy an Emotiva processor until I saw that they have solved all of their bugs.

For that price, I'd give serious consideration also to the NAD T 175-HD. You can get a factory re-furb from Spearit Sound for that budget. I believe the NAD has Audyssey MultEQ XT (not sure how that compares to the Integra's system) and an upgradeable architecture to help prevent it from becoming obsolete.
@Nick_sr - that was a typo. I meant put as much money as possible into the processor. Thanks for catching that.