What Pre/Pro do you recommend?

How important is music vs ht?

"03-20-15: Krelldog
Zd542....Music is way more important. Especially optimizing the sound for my TT. Although I do want at least 5.1 abilities for movies and concerts."

Looking at the other components in your system, I think there's a better option for you. Keep your Rotel at least for now, and get a really good 2 channel preamp with a HT pass through. Your whole system will just open up like you've never heard it before. HT preamps are notorious for falling short when it comes to 2 channel. If you go that route, its an expensive, uphill battle. For comparison, I've had some pretty high end HT processors. The best ones were a Meridian 861 and a Classe SSP-75, and they were both easily outperformed by preamps in the $2000 to $3000 price range.

"Zd542....Out of curiosity..which 2 channel pre-amps are you referring to?"

I'm not. That's a choice you have to make. Its too important to mess up.

"03-21-15: Bob_reynolds
Based on the picture of your room (fairly narrow and low ceiling), room modes will become an issue at higher frequencies than in larger rooms. So even with music you'll likely have problems. You can find room mode calculators online; there's an Excel spreadsheet at Harman's site. If I had your room, I'd consider products providing room mode correction.

In my opinion, the downside of an analog 2-channel system, even more so in your room, is not having bass management. Even the Oppo suggestion, which doesn't provide room mode correction, gets you bass management (which could help with room modes)."

Yes, but like all your other posts, you're just guessing. The thought of not getting a 2 channel preamp because it doesn't have bass management is absurd. Why don't you bring up all that you will be missing if you use a HT processor over a stereo preamp?

We've been down this road now a few times and you always say that I have something against you personally. That's not true. You just don't know what you're doing. You can't look at a spec sheet and tell how something is going to sound. To be fair, the last time we got into this I took your quote and started a thread to keep my personal opinion out of it. Out of all the people that responded, I don't think anyone sided with your point of view. Is that no clear enough for you? What is it that you think you know that no one else here knows?

"I'm curious..is high end 2 channel achievable using a high end sub with bass management through a pre-pro? I know this is subjective...but what are the opinions regarding this?
Krelldog (System | Threads | Answers | This Thread)"

It's not the sub that's the problem, its the preamp. You need to consider everything that a high quality 2 channel preamp can do for the sound that a HT processor can't. It's an almost impossible task. In my other post, I mentioned my Meridian 861 processor. That's a $20,000 HT preamp, and is considered one of the best on the market. My CJ Premiere 18 ($4,000) and my Ayre K-5 ($3500), made that thing look like a joke on music. And that was with the matching 800 $20,000 DVD player. I didn't even use that with the 2 channel setup. I used a Rotel 1072 ($700), an Arcam 33 ($2500) and 2 Wadia's that were more expensive, but no where near 20k. Not even close.

So can you use a sub in a high end 2 channel system? Yes you can. Use a preamp that doesn't have bass management. Set it up yourself and you'll get better results. And that's even if you want it. If you make the move to 2 channel correctly, the SQ will improve so much, you may not have the desire to even use a sub in the system.

" Just because one poster owns a $20,000 processor that sucks, that's no reason to give up on one's goals.
Runnin (Threads | Answers | This Thread)"

How is comparing multiple options giving up on one's goals? The silly part is, had you read my post, you would see that I used a 20k processor for comparison between products that cost less than 1/4 of my Meridian. Just to be clear, I'll try to say the same thing in simpler terms.

20k HT preamp not worth the money. 2 channel preamp will give better sound for much less. If you don't understand that, I no idea what else I can say.

Krelldog,

I know that I said in my other post that I wouldn't give you any recommendations because choosing a preamp is a personal choice. That said, it looks like you are about to jump off a cliff here and get stuck with some HT processor that may be a little better than what you have now. But I wouldn't even assume that. Rotel makes some very respectable gear, and for music it will probably sound just as good, if not better than most of the processors discussed here so far.

Here's 2 recommendations for you. The first is a Wyerd 4 Sound STP-SE. Its a fully balanced preamp that operates in both passive and active modes. Having the option to run passive is a feature that, in most cases, allows a relatively inexpensive preamp to compete sonically with active units that cost far more. It also has a HT bypass mode that allows you to put into your system without altering it in any way. You'll be under budget also, because it goes for $2000. The other unit is a Rogue RP-5. This preamp uses tubes. I don't know if you are open to that but some people will only listen to tubes. It also has a HT bypass feature. It costs more than my first recommendation, but tube products, as a general rule, usually cost more than equivalent solid state. It goes for %3500.

There are many more preamp choices out there for you as well, but I selected these 2 based on how well they will sound for the money, and how well they will integrate in your system.

Just to be clear, the main reason I'm recommending these 2 preamps, is to get better sound quality for 2 channel music. If you go with a new processor, it could sound a little better than what you have now, or maybe a little worse. But I would expect the SQ to be close to what you currently have. If you go with one of the preamps I recommended above, or something similar from another brand, the sound of your system will be completely transformed. It won't be a subtle change. Also, I'm basing my comments on real experiences. I don't get my listening experience by reading magazine articles. I do this for real.

I hope this info can help you out.

"03-26-15: Ctsooner
I know the Ayre AX 7e I'm selling has pass through and I think their pre's do also. You can always find a good one on AG. If you just go to a few of the well known manufacturer sites they will put it in their info. "

Someone must have spiked my froot loops. How I missed recommending the Ayre K-5 is beyond belief.