Receiver with preouts vs pre/pro

Avguy seems to contradict his own statement (no offense), but the AV receivers drop in value as quickly (reference the ability to buy the Denon 38XX-58XX receivers at 10-15 cents on the dollar) as the pre/pros, both suffering from the same cause. The problem is that when the AV receiver needs to be replaced, you are stuck replacing it with another receiver or a pre/pro plus new amplification.

Fact is that I have not really heard any AV Receivers that have anything above entry level amplification (I have listened to the Rotels, Denons, B&K, NAD and others). I owned a B&K 507 S2 AV Receiver and very quicly realized its amplification was its week link - ended up buying a bunch of amps and ran it as a pre/pro. After keeping it for about 6 months I realized this was foolish as the value of it was dropping like crazy and I would be better off selling it and just running with a good pre/pro.

The problem with the budget (and even the non-budget ones) AV receivers is that they are aweful to listen to in 2-channel mode. However, there is still a general weekness even with the good Pre/pro listening in 2-channel mode (which by the way is my priority). I spent the money on a brand new Krell HTS 7.1 latest version with all the current software thinking this should be it, it is a good pre/pro and has a good quality 2-channel based preamp built into it. Two months later I found myself out buying a new 2-channel only pre-amp (Aesthetix Calypso) with HT bypass. Now my pre/pro only gets turned on when I watch movies. Huge improvement.

In reply to the main question, your best bet is to buy a used good pre/pro and good amplification. Replace the pre/pro every 2 years (just staying behind the curve by 1 year) and keep the amplification for 5-10 years. This shouldn't cost more than a couple hundred bucks every 2-years or so. As for HDMI, run the HDMI signal straight to the monitor vs. through your pre/pro (so you don't need one with HDMI) and just bring in the audio signal to the pre/pro.

Michael, Pre/Pro definately in regards to your reiterated statemen/question. If you think about the cost of a receiver (pre/pro + amplifier combined, which is what the AVR is) vs. a pre/pro for the same price, the pre/pro is putting all of the cost/money into one thing, not trying to do everything at the same budget.

Personally, I think there are great deals on used pre/pros. Secondly, I am totally confused by the HD Audio only being able to be conveyed by the HDMI cable as everything I have read about the HDMI cable clearly states it is not capable of carrying both an HD video signal and even a full resolution audio signal (much less an HD one?).

But, I am a strong believer that the video signal, via HDMI or any other method should not go through the pre/pro or AVR - what good can they be doing the signal? Most current TVs have 2 HDMI inputs anyway for two sources.

I would take the HDMI direct and the audio into the pre/pro via a digital cable. If you have a very, very high end DVD player with spectacular DACs, then it may be better using those DACs and onboard processing and taking the analog 5.1 or 7.1 signal to the AVR or Pre/pro.

If I were you, I wouldn't change what you have. I seriously question that spending $500 is going to give you any improvement in sound quality! I can also tell you from experience that the Totem Arro speakers on an AVR (from Denon 38XX and B&K 507 S2, of which I have owned both)versus a dedicate amp makes a huge difference.