I'm looking to upgrade my Marantz Av-550 pre-amp due to some shortcomings that I can no longer deal with. My question is has any one used a H/K AVR 23x or 33x receiver as a pre-amp? How does it process? Sound (Movies, Music)?
Why would you get a receiver with good high current power and only use it as a pre-amp? You can get better sound processing and control out of a designated pre-amp. The HK would do fine, but there's better options.
Sounds funny doesn't it... My budget is what is limiting my selection. I would love to get a dedicated unit however I'm trying to squeeze in a sonic upgrade with my video upgrade <--- money going here.
I was able to audition my older NAD pre-amp with my current system and their was a noticable difference. In all honesty I would love to get an EAD unit or even an outlaw however, this project will not allow that. So that left me with getting hopefully a better sounding unit with more features. I'm choosing H/K because of reputation. I've never heard any of their units however I've heard the Denon's and Yamaha's and generally like the sound however with my setup I'm not so sure they would work well. That is why I posted.
You mentioned better options I would happily receive any advice you have, my budget, up to 400.00 USD
Thanks, I've upped my budget and will look at the Outlaw 950. How is the 2-channel stereo? My current pre-amp gives a very thin presentation because everything going into the unit is converted to Digital and then back to Analog. (DAC's are outdated)