# AVR for HT with Ext. amp for mains



## rockdrummer (Aug 29, 2012)

Hello all. I'm new here and excited to learn. I have spent a while going from Martin Logan Owners forum (never did become an owner though), to GR Research at Audiocircle, which I love, to also here!

I have a denon AVR1804. I'm happy with my HT experience. This is a 6.1 receiver with the rear center splittable into two. I have 7.1 speakers set up right now. I am more into two channel critical listening. Here is what I'm planning. To upgrade my AVR to get pre-outs. I will be building some GR research speakers and a tube amp kit for my two channel set up to be the mains in my HT as well.

What should I get? I am looking at the NAD T748, Marantz SR 5007, Marantz NR1603 and I'm open to an Onkyo with Preouts.

I know the preamp abilities of any receiver won't be as good as complete seperates, but I need to keep costs below around $900 for this portion of my upgrade. I have never owned any of these brands, but I hear Marantz sounds similar to Denon. Anyway, I basically assume I won't hear a huge difference among them.

BTW, those speakers I plan to build will have servo subs in them, and I won't use the sub out from the receiver. I am only critical of my music listening and the mains will be sufficient in the low frequency department.

Thanks, and I'm looking forward to spending more time here.

Hope i didn't forget anything.onder:
ben

I did forget to mention I went through the first ten pages of Home Theater Receivers/Processors/Amps and found info, but not everything I was looking for.


----------



## Jungle Jack (Jul 28, 2009)

Ben.
Welcome to HTS. I used to spend a decent amount of time at MLOC, but while I own a 5.2 ML setup the forum there never floated my boat. So to speak.

In addition to the AVR's listed, I would also consider the Onkyo TX-NR818. The 818 is notable as it offers Audyssey MultEQ XT32 and also offers fantastic Video Processing with HQV Vida and Marvell Qdeo. The NAD would be fine and indeed Denon and Marantz are quite similar these days as they share ownership.
Cheers,
JJ


----------



## wgmontgomery (Jun 9, 2011)

Welcome to HTS!!! 

JJ stole my thunder a bit as I was going to point-out the Marantz-Denon connection, too. 

Using an AVR with preouts is a very popular way of having "separates" as it is quite cost effective. It's been a while since I've done any "critical" music listening with Onkyo AVRs, but they get rave reviews around here. Both Marantz and Denon AVRs sound _very_ good as preamps, but I _believe_ that Onkyo offers better room correction $ for $. 

Since you stated that you're fairly demanding of 2-channel, I _might_ lean toward Marantz or Denon if it were me. That is, however, a pretty big "might," and-as I stated- I have NOT heard the new Onkyos in a _critical_ music listening session. The room correction that Onkyo offers for the money is hard to beat and very important to HT. 

Either way that you go, I agree that the AVR with preouts is a sound (sorry, I could not resist the obvious pun) investment. It offers a lot of bang-for-the-buck with the ability to add the tube amp that you mentioned.


----------



## rockdrummer (Aug 29, 2012)

Thanks for the replies. Without that unlimited budget everyone wants, I'm glad people are happy, relative to money spent, with results from this receiver-as-a-preamp setup. 

Not easy to choose becasue I find myself one minute thinking one way, and then completely different the next minute. Also, seems likely that I would struggle hearing a difference at this pricepoint anyway. But since I really want to build a tube amp kit, that's where I'm headed.

Ben


----------



## tonyvdb (Sep 5, 2007)

As mentioned above the Onkyo 818 offers stellar performance for a very good price. Hard to beat in that price range.


----------



## hjones4841 (Jan 21, 2009)

I agree with the others as far as brands, but I own Denon and am partial to it. Just make sure you purchase from an authorized dealer. It is rare for AVRs to fail these days, but you need that warranty protection just in case. Some third party warranties may be OK, but a factory warranty is hard to beat.


----------

