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Seeking AV preamp for Emotiva XPR-5

Dudes:

I'm crestfallen. I bought the Onkyo TX-NR515 only to discover through this forum that I can't connect it to my Emotiva XPR-5 power amp because it doesn't have any pre-outs.

I've spent thousands and I still haven't heard the system! When I tell my wife this is absolutely essential equipment and much more important than the car or the bills - she doesn't understand :) so I have to get this right.

Can anyone recommend a preamp or receiver with preouts that will connect to my power amp? I'm sure I'll be happy with anything that has at least 3 HDMI inputs and can read MP3s from flash memory or a USB hard drive.

My speakers are all 4 ohm Magnaplanars:

MG 1.6 Front
MG CC2 Center
MG MC1 Rear

Her understanding is at a very low ebb right now so my budget is down to about $600.

Thanks - rev

revnice
5 responses Add your response
yakbob
476 posts
 
Lucky for you the mistake was with your least expensive piece of equipment (the Onkyo).

Can we factor in any of the "to be sold" TX-NR515 money in your budget? I'm guessing it would net about $150 used.

The need for 3 HDMI and USB inputs will likely limit you to the big box store type units.

If you're willing to forgo USB, lots of owners are unloading their Emotiva UMC-1s in anticipation of the XMC-1. They're going for about $350 used. This, and your Onkyo sale would leave you with enough leftover to take the wife out for a nice dinner...or fixing that car...or paying those bills.

I'd also recommend the Emotiva MMC-1 if you can find one. Has HDMI pass through only, but certainly a reliable unit and an excellent value.
revnice OP
14 posts
 
I think I've answered my own question:

Onkyo TX-NR717 or higher model has the necessary pre-outs. So does my Rotel 1065 but that model doesn't support anything digital.

Thanks - rev
rlwainwright
1,904 posts
 
Emotiva is having a "secret" sale on their UMC-1 preprocessor: $399 incl. shipping. Comes with 5 year warranty AND a 40% discount card for any future processor purchases from Emo. Get one while you can, this is a *smokin'* deal!

-RW-
soix
9,564 posts
 
A very technically astute friend of mine bought the Emotiva prepro about a year ago. He said setup was very user unfriendly, and he's already had a problem and had to send the unit back for a repair and would not purchase one again. Sounds to me like they didn't get this one right and might be better to look for something else. I'd look for a used Anthem or something like that since I think your amp is good enough to deserve better than the preamp section of a mid-fi receiver. FWIW and best of luck.
revnice OP
14 posts
 
Yakbob:
I bought the NR515 at less than a lot of places are selling it for so I'm going to try for the $300 I paid. It's absolutely brand new, never had a current through it.

RW:
The UMC-1 looks fine but when I talked to the sales dude at Emotiva and he said they had nothing compatible. I've asked him why but not had a response yet. Maybe he just wanted to plug the upcoming new one, but it's out of my range.
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