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Any Home Theater Experts here?

My home theater setup right now is a Sony DA777ES 5 channel receiver that I'm using as a processor; and it is also driving my two rear speakers. The center speaker is being driven by a Bryston monoblock and the fronts by a Gamut D200 amp. The front speakers and center are Verity Parsifals. The surrounds are Mirage Omnis. My home theater is also connected to my Sonic Frontiers Line 3 preamplifier which I can switch to bypass mode whenever I want to listen to two channel.

My question is: I can understand that for 2 channel listening with a seperate good preamp, I could hear soundstaging, detail, musicality etc, but what should I expect the improvement be if I replaced my Sony receiver with a dedicated home theater processor like the Outlaw model 990?

I would be using it mainly for watching movies since I only listen to 2 channel when listening to music. I'm using my Sonic Frontiers preamp for 2 channel, which I assume is better than the Outlaw in this application.

Experts, pls. advise on if it's worth replacing my Sony receiver/processor for a dedicated home theater processor like the Outlaw model 990. Will I enjoy movies more, or not really?
royy
chadnliz
3,736 posts
 
I would say dont bother, if you are not serious with movies as you are with music then put your money elsewhere, I truely think it is VERY easy to pull off a good movie experience on the cheap, music is a whole other story though. I replaced an Onkyo reciever with Rotel seperates and some features are nice but door slams and car crashes are pretty easy for a Sony to do just fine. I also use a Sonic Frontiers for 2 channel.
Do you really feel like you are missing anything during movies????? If you hesitate to answer at all then I would leave it alone.
Ofcourse others opinions will vary but I know more then a few guys here with really nice rigs and running recievers for home theater, and these guys could spend the money if they wanted, but movies have visuals, effects, story and charcters to wrap you up in the experience, I just think a Sony can do a well enough job if you are not critical of a movie experience.
flrnlamb
508 posts
 
Most receivers lack the dynamics, channel separation,signal to noise, and overall low level detail retreival that a good separates piece offeres. That said, for $450 range used, something like the modest Acurus Act 3 offers significantly more potent movie sound than that of the preamp section from a Sony receiver. I've not only owned the 777ES and 9es pre's from Sony, but sold the 777 receiver as well. I know of what I speak. My two cents...
cytocycle
1,043 posts
 
When I only had one rig I replaced my Sonic Frontiers with an EAD Signature with no loss in sound quality for 2 channel plus in balanced mode it used 4 DAC's which is amazing for 2 channel audio if you just have a transport. I still have the EAD signature in my video system and had to spend 4x the price beat it. Make sure the EAD signature has the rowland style faceplate or at an angle. The original 5.1 versions versus the 8000 or 8800 sounds better for 2 channel but lacks Dolby II.

I would not do the ACT 3 as technology has moved on... I would do a Denon 3806 with room correction and keep you current Preamp. The 3806 has HDMI video switching with upconverting so one less thing to cable and deal with. Plus you wouldn't have to buy another amp. There is a audio mic for setup too...
avguygeorge
2,300 posts
 
I'm with the majority,it seems. Mega buck 2ch and a rec. for HT. I also get to use the good stuff for the 'fronts' in HT mode. I guess it just depends what you want to spend and where your priorities lie,for each format.
royy OP
148 posts
 
Let me clarify. As I mentioned above, I'm not planning of using it for music, just for movies. I just want to know what I'll hear from a standalone home theater processor that I wouldn't hear when using my Sony receiver as a processor?
I'm not interested in 7.1 just 5.1. Does the newer home theater processor uses the latest chip and decodes dolby digital or DTS much better than my 5 year old receiver?
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