# HT school me please



## Sr SQ (Dec 8, 2006)

Ok guys I want to put together a HT set-up and wondered about a few questions.
I used to have (20+ years ago) a Nad amp and pre amp set-up for my home stereo and it seemed to out preform most of the receiver systems I heard. Looking around now it seems that for HT a receiver for the processing is the norm, but receivers of the past generally didn't have the power for 2 speakers let alone 5 (to me it was like using the HU in the car for power vs a external amp) did they get better or is a separate amp and pre-amp the way to go? I have a older Denon HT (5x70wpc) receiver now but find it severely lacks power when listening to music. I was looking at a newer Denon unit (7x120wpc) but I am unsure if it really makes that much more power or if its just part of the marketing ploy like the 50wpc HUs in cars? Whats you opinions? TIA


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## Babs (Jul 6, 2007)

If clean power is the concern as well as good clean processing/preamp.. Separates are still the way to go in most cases. Some good entry level separates that aren't too bad a jump from one-box A/V receivers would be Parasound, Anthem, Arcam, NAD again, Adcom, B&K.. and a bunch more. Then it gets up into the Krell, Lexicon/Levinson arena. OH ALSO... BRYSTON.. They make serious serious gear. Very well built, though not for the faint of wallet.. 20 year warranties I think.

Depending on the how big the room is, and how efficient the speakers are, it's pretty much the norm for a lot of separate multichannel amps to run anywhere from 130 - 200 watts per channel.

Of the above crowd, I'll add that Arcam makes receivers that rival most entry power level separates and sound awesome. Adcom isn't known for their pre/pro's (preamp/processor) but they make decent amps. Parasound and B&K both build great stuff.. B&K is typically very well built / solid. Anthem is also fine gear that matches very well with their sister company Paradigm (which I have).. I'll probably look hard at going with Anthem when I get the room built.. 200 per channel even with two-way studio 20's pulling up the rear and 40's upfront with a 470 center channel. The headroom and clean clean power is worth it. Will also help justify that servo-15 sub. 20x26ish foot room.

Once you go separates for A/V.. You can't go back to a receiver.. Also, nice thing is, the latest and greatest pre/pro comes out with HDMI this or that or some other improved upgrades, your power amp is still good.. just sell off the old pre/pro.

If you think about it.. separates make the best sense.. Nothing but amplifier in the amp box (big toroidial power supplies, etc), and all that noise generating processing stuff in the pre/pro box by itself.. also with it's own good power supplies and preamp components.

... AVS Forum.. Great source of pages and pages of discussion and arguments on all AV gear and room construction etc.


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## Babs (Jul 6, 2007)

I should ask.. What speakers are you or do you plan to run? Do you have a budget drawn up? These are questions to answer.. in HT, I recommend put the money in the speakers.. Can always unload and sell/buy up to better electronics, but finding the right speakers for your application is probably the most challenging. Stay out of the big-box stores.. Whole other topic, but spare yourself the wasted time of the garbage they sell at those stores. Again, AVS Forum is good info on that.. Find a reputable hi-fi dealer that can demo good speaks.

If I had it to do again.. I'd build five identical Odin kits from madisound.. Now THAT is DIY.  There's something to having all your mains and surrounds exactly the same too.. It's awesome for multichannel music as well as movies.

ooops.. you hit my topic.. I'll shut up now. Good luck.


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## Sr SQ (Dec 8, 2006)

That's kind of what I thought but really wanted to hear some other peoples opinions. I will check out the AVS forum. As for speakers I have a set of Klipsch reference 52s( front floors and center) right now but have got the itch to build a set of DIYs.
I recently built a sub using a 12" Peerless XLS and a BASH 500w amp and I am really pleased with its performance but the bass can easily over power the rest of the system as the Denon receiver just cant seem to keep up, especially in the music end? I have a opportunity to buy a close to new Denon 3805 receiver from a friend at a reasonable price but would hate to buy another under powered receiver, and really don't believe the new receiver actually has double the power of the old one?


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## Gregor (Dec 16, 2006)

Another thought is to use an AV reciever/proc that allows the addition of an outboard amp. I'm running an old Denon AVS 6 channel amp that allows the existing 6 channels to be bridged to 4 channels. Then the main speakers are driven by an outboard amp (Adcom 200 watt in my case). I'm not sure if this type of amp-reconfig option is still available from Denon or others.

Even if is not, as long as the AV reciever has pre-outs and seperate gain control, you could add addtional outboard amps for the rear and center speakers.


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## Babs (Jul 6, 2007)

Not only power, but how clean... That's really where separates rule.. by better processing and better quality if not quantity. I'd take 100x5 higher end separates over a brand name 100x5 receiver any day of the week and never look back.  

Oh nice Sub! Depending on your room size, I'd match it up with five DIY's in a heartbeat, if you have the cash and commitment in time to do it. I really dig those Seas and Scanspeak kits. If you're a decent cabinet builder.. Man! There ya go! Might save a bunch by building your own boxes. 4 Thor's and an Odin center channel.. Yeah man! Definitely justify that with separates.. 

Throw a few hints to you:
Parasound Amp
Parasound PrePro

... Ain't no Denon gonna touch that.. Except maybe that big grotesque flagship receiver, maybe.


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## Babs (Jul 6, 2007)

Great shot.. This is what makes a 5 channel amp better than a whole receiver in the same size box.


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## Xander (Mar 20, 2007)

Holy cats, that's pretty

I get into both HT and car audio, and switch off between them. But until I get a permanent place of my own, I think I'll stick with my car. I can't wait until I have the $ for a good HT system. I can't wait to build my own set of 7 matching speakers.


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## Babs (Jul 6, 2007)

Oh definitely.. Horse in front of the cart.. 
Home ownership first; Toys second.  
What would Dave Ramsey say?


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## AUr6 (Apr 10, 2007)

Babs said:


> What would Dave Ramsey say?


Live like no one else now so you can live like no on else later... or something like that... haha i haven't heard anyone talk about him in a while. 

but thanks for the HT beginners rundown!


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