Diminishing Returns In A Hi-End Preamp/Processor?

Marty comments, "If you switch to the "analog direct" option, it's a much harder call, particularly if you're using analog sources. At some auditions, I felt like the difference in A/B was pretty material, at others, much less so."

I've wonder what if any is the contribution of the pre/pro to sound quality when its in bypass mode with analog input. My Oppo BDP-95 sends analog as unbalanced 7.1 or balanced stereo to a Cary Cinema 11a. The Oppo does speaker management and codec processing; the Cary passes that input to the amps.

db

If you're going to use the DACs and processing of the pre/pro, my experience is there is a difference in sound quality. If you're using the DACs and processing of the source, i.e. bypassed analog input, I'm skeptical. Most high-end pre/pros offer differential balanced output to the amps that may not be available with low-end pre/pros, and that can be important if you value short speaker leads that require long runs from pre/pro to amps.

Then there's room correction, but I think the Integra 80.2 offers SOTA room correction.

In my case, I used analog to get around a bug in the pre/pro that prevents bass management with PCM from SACDs -- the speakers I now use don't need to be augmented by subs even for low pedal notes from a pipe organ. But balanced stereo from an Oppo BDP-95 is something to behold, so I'm likely to stick with analog.

db

Marty,

Is Audessey XT-32 active in the Analog Direct mode with the Integra or Onkyo processors? The Cary Cinema 11a does volume control and converts unbalanced inputs to differentially balanced outputs, but mostly turns off other processing in bypass mode.

Using analog input eliminated the pops, clicks, and delayed starts I experienced with HDMI when playing discs, but that may be just a problem with the Cary implementation of HDMI.

When I auditioned an Integra 80.1, I relistened to the same discs on my system with the Proceed PAV/PDSD within 10 minutes and concluded the sense of "air" and transparency was missing with the Integra, so i bought the Cary. In retrospect, there were so many differences in the auditioned system and my system, my judgement was hopelessly confounded.