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Recievers versus separates

Although I have read seemingly thousands of articles stating that high end receivers such as the B&K 202/307 and the Denon 5800 are as "good as separates," which separates are they as good as? Can can someone compare the sound of these to an Outlaw amp, a Proceed AMP5, a Bryston 9BST, a Sunfire Cinema Grand, or any other amp in the $1000-$5000 range. Does a $3000 receiver get close enough to these to make the difference incremental, and are we just paying a higher profit margin for separates such as the ones listed above.
eyeman

Showing 1 response by john_l

john_l
782 posts
 
I would go with inexpensive separates. You can have great performance from brands such as adcom, mccormack and conrad-johnson (even more so if you are willing to go to lesser known brands). The quality and longevity will be greater too.

The modern denon receivers are some of the better sounding ones out there. They still have a little 'haze' and metallic tinge to their sound. Fine for home theater. Fine if it doesn't bother you. I don't think their sound even approaches something like an adcom 750 mated to a mccormack dna amp.
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