Building HT, 2 channel audio guy needs help

Wow – thanks for all the responses and I must admit to being very happy to read that opinions about the best set-up are just as varied now as they were when I was in my prime audiophile days – spending virtually every waking moment researching and listening in a never-ending attempt to find the ultimate system.

That said, correct me if I have missed something, but opinions here seem to fall into three basic camps:
1) Keep the PV5, add a home theater processor (pre/pro, receiver or equal) to service video-driven needs. This lets me retain my current audio system in its entirety while allowing me to use the room, my speakers and my power amp as the foundation for a decent theater system.

2) Upgrade to a newer CJ preamp (remote and HT bypass required) and add an inexpensive HT receiver for video. Frankly had not given this much thought and as I have (obviously) been out of the market for some time, have not kept up with the more recent CJ preamp options. Though I do know the preamps that immediately succeeded the PV5 were said to be sub-par. Is there a consensus choice of a recent model for me to pick up (as a demo or used) were I to go this route? I would think that staying within my overall budget would mean a preamp upgrade to be $2k-$2.5k (net of the resale value of my unmodified PV5) with the remaining $500-$1,000 to spend on a decent used HT receiver or pre/pro.

3) Ditch the PV5 and go entirely to the pre/pro option (e.g. Marantz 8801 or similar). This stays within the budget, but requires the leap to pure SS, which entails overcoming the emotional resistance to giving up tubes entirely. Is my hearing still good enough to know the difference? Who knows, but there is no denying my brain believing I still can colors my point of view.

For the record, while I know there are better examples of great tube preamps, I have always enjoyed the sound of the PV5-2200 combination. Tube preamp and SS amp (but “tube sounding” according to many) just seem perfect to me. While I do have a CD player in my system, my default preference is analog. As for the comments about my use of a sub in an audio-only system, my personal belief is that the low- to mid-base of the Maggies is lacking. I love their product and still pine for the Tympani 1Ds I owned in my younger years. Even then, I used a sub - owing to a prior attachment to a pair of Klipsch Cornwalls that forever shaped my sense of what a good low-end sounded like.

Again, I appreciate the suggestions and opinions and apologize if this discussion is taking more space than the situation warrants. I may just have to get back into my old shopping mode again and audition a few different set ups.

Jim

Any of you have any experience with the Met-1? Could be perfect for me - don't need anything more than 5.1 HT. Would I still need a HT processor? If so, how would I go about wiring this up in my system?

I have no experience with the Met-1 but, from what I know, it is a multichannel analog preamp, similar to the Audio Research MP1 that I have. They cannot do bass management, processing or decoding. You will need to have sources that can do all that before D/A conversion and analog output to the Met-1.

No direct experience with the MET-1. I looked at it when it came out, but it had some limitations that made me pass. I went with a hybrid solution with a high quality tube preamp and SS AVR.

It only has analog inputs, which means it does not do things like bass management and room correction. Any of that needs to be down in the source. A Blu-Ray player like the Oppo 103 or 105 can do bass management (crossovers) and set speaker distances but it does not have the equalizers to adjust the frequency spectrum for room acoustics. This is a standard feature of most SS AVRs.

In addition, if you want to do 5.1 for your cable signal, most cable boxes only output 2 channel analog, so you lose the 5.1 for movies and TV shows. You also then rely on the DACs in the cable box, which are usually not very good.

If you do any streaming of video, like Hulu, Netflix, Amazon Prime, from a smart TV, you would also be limited to 2 channel audio, using the DACs in the TV.

Depending on your fetish for cables, it does take 6 cables to hook up the Blu-Ray player. For some, that would cost as much as the digital setup :)

It also does not have any video processing, which means you need to hook each video source to the TV directly and change TV inputs as needed. That is easy with a programmable remote, but can be an issue for some using standard remotes.

If you are looking at Conrad Johnson pre-amps, you might check out Spearit Sound. They are a dealer and have used and demo equipment available.

I keep coming back to the fact that you really like the sound of your current pre and amp, so it seems a shame to let that go. There is an option between 1 and 2 you stated above, which would be to keep your pre and add an AVR for processing/center and surround amplification. In option 1 as far as I can tell you'd have no amp to power the center channel, which would be ameliorated by adding an AVR to your current setup (and you may be able to sell the Threshold to bring down the net overall cost further if you want). It would also probably be somewhat cheaper than option 2, and by the way you do not need a HT bypass to make this work (although it is a nice convenience if that's a concern).

Not that you shouldn't explore other options, but it sure would be a bummer to take a step backwards sonically in your 2-channel system you seem to like so much now. So many of our kind flail around incessantly to achieve that level of satisfaction. Again, best of luck.