2. amps-preamps
  3. 128692-95257

Help please upgrading my old Pre/Pro..

IBackground:

I've been running my current system for almost 20 years and it consists of the following: It is a 5.0 system as I am not running a sub for either music/HT and I'm pretty happy with the Stratus Golds job on the bass as they go down to about 36HZ.

PSB Stratus Golds - Front Main
PSB Status C6 - Center
Niles Audio In-Walls - Rear Surround

Acurus ACT-3 Pre/Pro
Panasonic BMP-BDT 300 Blu-ray player
Aragon 8008x3 - L, R, C
Aragon 8008x2 - Rear Surrounds

Luxman 10 band Equalizer (+- 10db equalization)

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While I am very happy with this setup and it does sound great for both HT and 2 channel stereo I am looking to upgrade my PRE/PRO (Acurus). MY ACT-3 was bought in 1997 and has 24 bit Crystal DACS. It does Dolby Digital and DTS but does not have the newer decoding formats. I am also looking for a unit that will provide bass/treble adjustments as I like to boost both and is the reason I am running the Luxman in line for the Front Mains (Stratus Golds). I'd like to remove the Luxman if possible if I gain the tone controls and/or 10 band EQ in the PRE/PRO.

So my wants in a new PRE/PRO come down to this:

1) hopefully a bit better sonic quality than the Acurus ACT-3
2) new surround sound decoding that HOPEFULLY a new pre/pro can down convert to my 5.0 system? Will this sound better or just about the same as my old pre/pro processing and at that point not worthwhile to upgrade?
3) be able to adjust tone/EQ to boost the bass and treble like I prefer
4) not an absolute want but gaining wifi streaming to play music off my desktop PC and Spotify would be nice (without purchasing separate unit like SONOS connect etc. to do the streaming)

Someone mentioned to check out the new Marantz AV7703 or possibly bump up to the AV8802a but I didn't think that Marantz sound quality was on the same level with say Acurus/Aragon but I may be mistaken as I haven't listened to any of the Marantz pieces?

That said, can the "sound gurus" on this fine board provide some opinions/options on my pre/pro upgrade wishes?

venom
venom OP
11 posts
 
Right good point and thanks. Will open new thread for the sub.. Thanks again for your input/advice!  :)
Post removed 
venom OP
11 posts
 
Hey Thanks Bob and wow that HSU offers a lot for a little. 

What do you think of the JL F110V2 and SVS SV13 Ultra? I know they are much more $ but they also get a lot of great reviews
auxinput
2,920 posts
 

Concerning subwoofers, I may be splitting hairs here but I have heard the HSU 15" subs before.  In comparison to my own subs (which are all hand made by myself), the HSU cabinets will resonate/vibrate/rattle with the strong bass signals.  This may be an unfair comparison -- my subs are about 175lbs each, massive internal bracing, use 12" woofers and the vent is tuned to 24Hz.  Cabinet walls are two layers of different thickness MDF with a Dynamat separation layer between them.  They truly play flat down to 20Hz and are insane.  I've done measurements with REW!

The HSU subwoofer cabinets are not constructed as well as the JL Audio and SVS subs.  They are larger cabinets and don't have the internal bracing required for this much energy.  What happens is that the walls of the cabinet will resonate/vibrate with the woofer and you will hear "rattling" as part of the subwoofer tones.  I have heard this.

The JL Audio and SVS subs are much heavier with smaller drivers.  I know the JL Audio cabinets are well braced and the cabinet itself is smaller so it is much more resistant to cabinet wall resonance.  JL Audio and SVS are definitely much more expensive, so in the end I guess you get what you pay for.

That being said, I would probably agree that HSU is definitely a good value sub.  The HSU 15" might play a little bit lower (into the 20hz area) than the JL/SVS because it's a larger driver and cabinet.  However, I would say the most effective bass is going to be in the 40-80 Hz area anyways.

sbrownnw
693 posts
 
Maybe now is the time to try a 2.0 or 2.1 channel analog preamp using a separate HDMI switch box for video switching and using the 2.0 or 2.1 analog audio outputs from your AV sources to the preamp. That's what I do and I think it sounds much better than the 5.1 systems I've had in the past. 
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