Quote:
Originally Posted by Ruined
I dunno, I don't think I'd pay $7k for a Denon. In that price range might as well go with a Lexicon.
Also, its worth noting that Onkyo's flagship receiver coming out for $1899 this fall has most of the features of this Denon, and apparently has completely separate circuitry for amp/preamp.
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I omitted Lexicon from my choices for 2 reasons. 1.)I have carefully listened to their pre/processors (even the MC12B), and I did not like the way it sounded with Martin Logan's. The sound was a tad too bright for my taste. 2.) Even the MC12B doesn't offer all the goodies that the Denon AVP-HDA1 does. And the company doesn't even make mention of a new pre/pro that will offer HDMI 1.3a switching, Dolby TrueHD. Dolby Digital Plus, DTS HD/MA.
My first choice in pre/pro's was Classe' with their SSP-600 Delta series model. But even that one is behind the curve when compared to the Denon. But the Classe' has to be the sexiest pre/pro I've seen. Too bad it doesn't do HDMI 1.3a and decoding for all the new codecs. If it did I would be getting it. And since they just released the SSP-600 a little over a year ago, I don't see them coming out with a new model to replace this one until at least next year sometime.
Even ultra high end companies like Theta and Meridian don't offer decoding for the new codecs. Heck they don't even offer HDMI switching, let alone 1.3a. And for their selling prices of $14k-$18k they should!
Re Onkyo, I am very familiar with their flagship receiver lines. I used Onkyo exclusively for a number of years when I had Paradigm speakers. Onkyo is a match made in heaven for Paradigm's. But for electrostatic speakers like Martin Logan, it's a very bad combination. The sound is way too bright. I even tried a pre/pro from Onkyo's high end division (Integra Research RDC-7), and that didn't go with my Logan's either. So while I hold Onkyo products in high esteem, for the current system I have now it just won't do.
So for everything that the Denon will do, it's going to be hard to beat.
Seth