2. home-theater
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Good used surround processors??

I just split up my system--taking the high-end two channel section and moving it to my new living room, and taking what's left (with which i used a tape looped fosgate pro logic processor) and re-assemblling a mid-fi home theater in my new family room. As two channel listening isn't critical (at all) to the theater system, I don't want to spend the farm on a processor, but I do want to make the jump to digital surround.

As I'm sure digital surround sound processors are changing (and hopefully improving) more than probably any other component, I need a 101 guide on the pre-requisites to look for in a used processor, and features that don't really matter. Also, if I am looking for, say, a two year old mid-fi surround processor, what are some worthy candidates? In other words, should I avoid the Rotel, and look for a B&K or Parasound processor? I throw these arbitrarily as examples, but hopefully you get the idea.

Thanks in advance.


Ho
bismarck1f4ad

Showing 2 responses by kthomas

kthomas
911 posts
 
I'd stay very basic on the features you look for - good Dolby Digital decoding, DTS support if it matters to you, Dolby Pro Logic. I wouldn't worry about anything more than 5.1 channels as, once you do, you start creeping back into features that draw you closer to a current processor, and therefore more $$$. Map out what you're going to connect to it and be sure you have the right connections (inputs) to support it. I'd make sure that there is switchable S-Video support, as you don't have to go back very far to find this NOT on a processor, but S-Video is a dramatic improvement over composite. I'd also check out the bass management functionality, as many pre/pros don't have very flexible options. I would not worry about THX certification, though that's a big marketing item.

To be honest, if this is pure HT and you're really going for mid-level, I'd look for a slightly later model, but used, Denon receiver - you'll get performance that is definitely at least mid-fi, decent looks, more features, excellent build quality and a less complicated set-up (and therfore cheaper). If you really want to go the separates route, for $1000 (give or take) you should be able to pick up an Accurus ACT-3, a B&K 4090, or a Lexicon DC-1 (probably a bit more). -Kirk

kthomas
911 posts
 
Kitchener - you can definitely utilize amps that you already have. As the dealer told you, the pre/pro will allow you to calibrate the sound level by channel (you'll need an SPL meter), so power differences can be compensated for.

Dolby Digital and DTS are both multi-channel digital encoding techniques. DD is encapsulated in AC-3, which allows for many different encoding techniques. The two are used interchangably which, for most conversations, doesn't matter much, but isn't technically accurate. DTS is an alternative encoding which, therefore, requires a different decoder. It's higher-bandwidth and, therefore, assumed to be superior and may well be. There is no doubt that DD is universally accepted by DVD manufacturers. DTS soundtracks are often included now, but not on every DVD by a long shot. Most pre/pros include DTS decoding now, though it used to be a premium feature and if you buy a used one you may not get it. The most straight-forward approach would be just to be sure that the pre/pro you buy does DD 5.1 (again, there are new versions of DD that you can pursue, but at some expense), that the DVD player you get outputs a digital signal (so that the pre/pro is the box doing the decoding), and get a 5.1 channel setup going and sit back and enjoy. A few years from now, you may want to pursue one of the myriad of new multi-channel HT encoding schemes, but after some of the dust has settled. -Kirk

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