Dear audiophiles: I am a total "newcomer" in the Home Theatre domain considering buying my first set of separates (pre/pro and power amp) for 7.1 setup and do need a little help. My budget for pre/pro and power amp is only about $3000, unfortunately enough... Many contributors highly recommended Outlaw 950 pre/pro model over many others. Quite frankly, I have my doubts in this regard: as far as I understand, this device is not able to decode new formats like HDCD, Dolby Headphone, DTS 96/24, Dolby Pro Logic IIx, and it is not possible to upgrade the software this model comes with (?!). I was very impressed with the sound quality of Anthem AVM-20 / PVA-7 combo with KEF Q7 speakers, but the price is too high for me... A friend of mine (not a seasoned specialist himself, I am afraid) recommended to consider the following units from Adcom GTP-860II preamp/7607 poweramp, Sherwood Newcastle P965 preamp/A965 poweramp or NAD T163 preamp/ T973 poweramp. I think Rotel offers something as well. Outlaw has some power amplifiers too: 770, 7100. Far too many choices... Consequently I am totally and completely lost and do need your help badly indeed!
Respectfully, John
P.S. Is it advisable to mix components from different manufacturers: Sherwood Newcastle P965 preamp and Outlaw 770 poweramp, for example?
P.-p.S. What are the most important specs to look for? Are the following parameters important? THD <0.1% at rated power IMD <0.1% at rated power Frequency response: 5 Hz-100 kHz Output impedance: <0.4 ohm Damping factor: >100 Input impedance: >10 k ohms Slew rate: 50 Volts/microsecond
I was looking before too at the Anthem (w/ JM lab 816 sp) but the Anthem would cost me $6000.00+ incl. its amp. alone minus speakers. another is the Integra (can't remember the model, w/ a 9 something) plus Anthem amp but still around $5000.00 so I ended up w/ B&K ref50 ver 1.04 (msrp $3000) & B&K 200watts 7 ch 7270 (msrp $2700.00) both for $3200.00+tax all brand new at an authorize dealer.
the Sherwood Newcastle P965 is the outlaw in sheeps clothing.
their are a few that use that same chassis including one from fosgate.
me personally i have been in the market for awhile now on prepros.
and i am pretty much in your same budget about $1500 prepro.
and i'm looking at the rotel RSP-1068 and i think this is the one for me.
and yes you can use different company amps with no problem.
i am using rotel and parasound they work just fine.
so get the prepro you want that has the features for you at your price range.
then any of the qualiy amp companys will work. parasound/b&k/adcom/rotel or even the outlaws.
Anonymous
Posted on
The Sherwood Newcastle P965 is *not* the same as the Outlaw--you're thinking of the Sherbourn PT-7000. The Sherwood Newcastle, among other things, supports Dolby Pro Logic IIx, which the Outlaw does not.
I've auditioned these too before back in FL. w/ Thiel speakers (they're only sold at specialty audio store) and there good too but more money and I was going to get the Yam Z9 but even if my salesrep gives me 20% (w/c there not gonna do anyway) B&K is still cheaper by a couple of hundreds
Guys, check out the last few days of posts on "Teaching an old dog new tricks" under the "DVD-A..." portion of this forum. If you're on a budget, the discussion is about an amp that might suit your needs.
I would also recommend the Rotel 1068 pre/processor. It's very good indeed. You have a wide choice of power amps to choose from, including Rotel again of course. The RMB1075 is a good amp. I find it a bit slow and lacking in resolution, but it is very good value for money since you get an awful lot for the price.
This combination comes in at a bit below your budget, which brings me to the extra bit you need to bear in mind. Don't forget to factor in a significant sum for interconnects! Decent interconnects will put you back £90 ($140) a pair - you need two pairs and a single extra run, plus a long one for the subwoofer.
Considering this lovely amp you're looking to buy, I hope you have a decent source to feed a good signal into it. If it doesn't come out of the source, it won't get through the system to your ears. And no, all DVD transports do not sound the same - even if they're not doing any processing.