Receiver with preouts vs pre/pro

Mike, check your email - I have a unit that fits you to a T...

-RW-

Denons

Truth be told most all the higher end receivers have had pre outs for years.
With the changes in the formats; better to buy an expensive receiver and change that out w/o loosing the money that folks lose on high end processors.---(Just to stay with the new connections and codecs.)

Avguy seems to contradict his own statement (no offense), but the AV receivers drop in value as quickly (reference the ability to buy the Denon 38XX-58XX receivers at 10-15 cents on the dollar) as the pre/pros, both suffering from the same cause. The problem is that when the AV receiver needs to be replaced, you are stuck replacing it with another receiver or a pre/pro plus new amplification.

Fact is that I have not really heard any AV Receivers that have anything above entry level amplification (I have listened to the Rotels, Denons, B&K, NAD and others). I owned a B&K 507 S2 AV Receiver and very quicly realized its amplification was its week link - ended up buying a bunch of amps and ran it as a pre/pro. After keeping it for about 6 months I realized this was foolish as the value of it was dropping like crazy and I would be better off selling it and just running with a good pre/pro.

The problem with the budget (and even the non-budget ones) AV receivers is that they are aweful to listen to in 2-channel mode. However, there is still a general weekness even with the good Pre/pro listening in 2-channel mode (which by the way is my priority). I spent the money on a brand new Krell HTS 7.1 latest version with all the current software thinking this should be it, it is a good pre/pro and has a good quality 2-channel based preamp built into it. Two months later I found myself out buying a new 2-channel only pre-amp (Aesthetix Calypso) with HT bypass. Now my pre/pro only gets turned on when I watch movies. Huge improvement.

In reply to the main question, your best bet is to buy a used good pre/pro and good amplification. Replace the pre/pro every 2 years (just staying behind the curve by 1 year) and keep the amplification for 5-10 years. This shouldn't cost more than a couple hundred bucks every 2-years or so. As for HDMI, run the HDMI signal straight to the monitor vs. through your pre/pro (so you don't need one with HDMI) and just bring in the audio signal to the pre/pro.

I guess I didn't word my initial question well.

I have a good multichannel amplifier, and an older preamp/processor (Sherbourn PT-7000). In the next couple of months I plan to get a flat-panel HDTV and at least a good upconverting DVD player. My current DVD player is an entry-level 2002 Toshiba.

Of course, the Sherbourn isn't up to the task of handling HDMI inputs from the cable box and DVD player, and will not be able to handle the newer HD formats, since those require inputs via HDMI. That's why I'm just wondering what to do from that point. The newer entry to mid-level receivers have a lot of the bells and whistles from a processor standpoint, and since I already have an external amp I can completely bypass the compromises in the receiver's power amp unit. Or I can get a dedicated preamp/processor (but the prices on those start a little higher).

So my question is not receiver vs preamp/processor + external amp, but rather receiver + external amp vs preamp/processor + external amp. Is there a significant difference in sound quality at that price point ($500-ish)?

Michael