$2500 amp and pre/pro

Prpixel,

The Sherbourn and Outlaw are very similar, but Sherbourn makes some further modifications (I'm not sure of the specifics). In addition, it's in a much nicer chassis that goes well with their amps.

I strongly disagree with your statement that "It's ok for movies but not a good choice for music". In fact, the Sherbourn PT-7000 with the 5/1500A amp in stereo mode gives my excellent tube monoblocks a run for their money. Indeed, I find the stereo performance on the PT-7000 to be very impressive, even edging my NAD T760 receiver (which is itself extraordinarily good at stereo sound for a HT receiver).

I have no reservations recommending the Sherbourn for music as well.

Michael

Thank you all for your responses. This is where I stand right now: It's still between the AVM-2 and the Soundstage for the processor. I'm leaning toward the AVM-2 because, while the reviews are glowing for thw Soundstage, I've run across the occasional comment about a lack of dynamics and my speakers need all the punch they can get.

I really like what I read about Aragon amps. They seem to be the poor man's Krell. The first time I heard Krell was in a shop on B&W speakers and the sound made me cringe. Later I heard them on Vienna Acoustics and it was the best I've ever heard these speakers sound. I can not afford a Krell, but I am looking for an amp that has these characteristics. The problem is the Aragon is really stretching the budget. Ender, you seem to have a good suggestion, but I listen to a lot of multichannel SACD and DVD-A--I also have the same speakers in the rear as my fronts and for this reason would really like to have equal amplification for all channels. The 8008X5 Aragon is just more money than I'm willing to spend though. Do you know anything about the 2005? It's a bit less money, just wondering what the tradeoffs are. I'm still seriously considering picking up a Sunfire Cinema Grand. I haven't heard a thing about this amp paired with my speakers, but as far as wattage and current go, I can't find anything that can beat this for near the price (~$1000). I guess If the sound isn't to my liking I could always resell...

Aragon Soundstage lacking in dynamics? That's something new for me and four others who have owned it (between us, we have owned 60+ 5.1 capable components). We all bought the Soundstage for dynamics, clarity/detail, and soundstage.

If the 8008x5 is too much money, then get the 8008x3 for ~ 1200 and the smaller/older 2004 125x2 for your rears. You can always upgrade the 2004 to an 8002, 8008st, or 8008bb in the future.

The 2005, as all new Aragon 200x series amps, is a rebadged Acurus amp, in this case, the Acurus 200x5. Not in the same league as classic Aragon amps.

Sufentanil,

So the sherbourn pre/pro and 5/1500A combo edges out your $999 NAD receiver. I would hope that it did. I'm not saying the Outlaw processor is a bad product. In fact, it's a bargain at $800. What I'm saying is that the Anthem AVM2 is in a differnt league. I've had both the Anthem and the Outlaw (borrowed from a friend) in my system and the Anthem is better. It should be at 4 times the price.

I called Sherbourn and ask them what the difference was between the outlaw and the sherbourn processor and the said that they used some different caps and other things but would not go into detail. The dealer were I purchased my Sherbourn 7/2100A let me pop the top on the Sherbourn processor. I sat the outlaw right beside it and the two of use could not find any differences. They even operate the same way.

I like my sherbourn 7/2100a a lot. I consolidated by HT rig, which consisted of a pair of Aragon Palladium 1K's, and aragon 8008BB(pre-klipsch), a sars MOS400 and a pair of NAD A1 mono's down to just the Sherbourn 7/2100A. Think of all the money I saved on powercords!

used McIntosh home theatre receiver is close to your budget..