AVR + Amp or Separates? Is there a difference?

[shanmune]

I think these posts will help you better figuring out yourself.
http://www.avsforum.com/t/1266725/marantz-av7005/270#post_19270456

http://www.avsforum.com/t/1266725/marantz-av7005/8040#post_21988420

They are also talking about how Mcintosh MX121 is AV7005 clone in the second link. Here is another link showing MX121 innards. Google Image Result for http://i.imgur.com/a15rJ.jpg
Too many conspiracy theories.

Hi manoj,

Now I need to explictly say Thanks to you. The links you posted were great.
But let me run some of my conclusions after going through the posts - Some people claim that there could see the difference with higher cost, but few others disagree. In context to this thread, the combination of pre-pro+amp might work better than receiver+amp for some, but the rest think both the combinations will perform the same. In those threads, there were lots of claims, mixed opinion, brand fanatics, brand bashers, etc., but none of them presented any scientific evidence to prove their claims. To me, the lesson is - you look for a good balance between money and specs. There is no any concrete or absolute answer to make any claim. I personally would prefer a receiver+power amp combination rather than going for seperates (considering the money I have in hand)

 

[GeorgeO]

You got it right-what works for you works best!!

 

[manoj.p]

You got it right-what works for you works best!!

+1.

There will be only claims from both sides because its not easy to compare both solutions scientifically. Best way is to get an audition for both and make up mind. Can't go wrong with any options.

I have the similar idea. I have my Sherwood AVR + Adcom 7500 5 channel amp. I am using Adcom for front 3 channels through pre-out. Sherwood provides amplification for 4 surrounds.

 

[spirovious]

Today I could test AVRs in similar ways.I have Yamaha 667 & always felt that some details are missed when connected directly to Tannoy speakers.I could get Marantz SR6006(borrowed).Also checked it directly.Sound improved probably due to better power output.Still I felt a bit sharp vocals.So I connected Yamaha preout to multich input of Marantzs & things were upto my liking.Sound was much fuller & vocals were near perfect. Soundstage was far better & this pre-power sounded huge.

 

[shanmune]

Today I could test AVRs in similar ways.I have Yamaha 667 & always felt that some details are missed when connected directly to Tannoy speakers.I could get Marantz SR6006(borrowed).Also checked it directly.Sound improved probably due to better power output.Still I felt a bit sharp vocals.So I connected Yamaha preout to multich input of Marantzs & things were upto my liking.Sound was much fuller & vocals were near perfect. Soundstage was far better & this pre-power sounded huge.

So it proves again how the processing unit and the amp unit perform well when they are not in seperate cabins. A very good experimentation indeed ...

 

[nSinghal]

So it proves again how the processing unit and the amp unit perform well when they are not in seperate cabins.

Does it? Spiro's post sounded like the opposite to me. ie, better performance when processing and amplification were done in separate cabins.

(Sorry if I didnt get it correctly. Audio noob here. Just looking to expand my knowledge and understanding of pre/pro and amps here)

 

[Santy]

Spiro's post signifies that either the processor of Yamaha is better than Marantz or the power amp section of the latter is better or both are true (synergy). It doesn't prove anything strongly about seperates since they are not.

 

[spirovious]

Spiro's post signifies that either the processor of Yamaha is better than Marantz or the power amp section of the latter is better or both are true (synergy). It doesn't prove anything strongly about seperates since they are not.

Yes,using them as separate gave me better performance.Now things may give different results with different speakers.But there was very much improvement when Yamaha decoding got better power.I also ran both AVR in Pure direct mode to improve it further.

 

[shanmune]

Does it? Spiro's post sounded like the opposite to me. ie, better performance when processing and amplification were done in separate cabins.

(Sorry if I didnt get it correctly. Audio noob here. Just looking to expand my knowledge and understanding of pre/pro and amps here)

Ooops !!! Sorry for the typo error ... What I meant was - Seperating the processing unit from the amp section adds some more punch.

 

[GeorgeO]

Shanmune

I second Manoj-unless you audition you will be evaluatinging without real knowledge.

 

[shanmune]

Shanmune

I second Manoj-unless you audition you will be evaluatinging without real knowledge.

Yes, I agree with you that audition is the best way. My comment was in general where many people witnessed a significant improvement in the sound quality (particularly when driving big speakers) when the processing unit and the amp section were seperated. It could be either using the seperates or the AV receiver+power_amp combination. Other wise I agree that we may not be able to give a clear judgement on the SQ of AV receiver+power_amp -Versus- seperates.
Also I made the comment as I was surprised/thrilled when spirovious witnessed an improvement in the SQ when he connected 2 AVRs back-to-back. The first AVR acting as a processor alone and the second AVR acting as an amp alone. There we can see both the processing unit and the amp unit virtually being seperated. I am not saying that this could be the only reason for the SQ improvement in the experiment done by spirovious, but there could be some other reasons as well as santy pointed about the synergy.

Probably spirovius can throw some more comments on how things worked at higher sound levels. He pointed out that the soundstage sounded huge. I understand this audio topic is very fuzzy, but I just made my inference on the experiment.

 

[spirovious]

Probably spirovius can throw some more comments on how things worked at higher sound levels. He pointed out that the soundstage sounded huge. I understand this audio topic is very fuzzy, but I just made my inference on the experiment.

I can say it again as I also tried the same with Rotel 2 ch power amp.Here I connected only one ch to Yamaha center preout & I can confirm that sound coming from center ch was bigger & better than direct connection to Yamaha.
I felt more warmth with Rotel power amp only in center output.

 

[spirovious]

Some good combos-
Preamp/Processor Reviews | Home Theater

 

[navin advani]

Some good combos-
Preamp/Processor Reviews | Home Theater

Lets see...the Marantz 8xxx combo costs about $5000, the Cary around $ 8,000, the Parasound combo about $10,000, Bryston about $ 15,000, the Classe about 16,500 and these are street prices. Sure one can get the Marantz 7xxx combo or Integra 40.2-70.1 for about $2,500 about $500-600 more than the Onkyo 3010, Yamaha 2020/3020, Integra 70.4 etc. but outside the Marantz and Integra there are few options at the same price range.