# Question on Pre\Pro vs Receiver



## uhcoogsfan (Jan 18, 2008)

Recently I bought the Emotiva UPA-7 amp. I previously was just using a Marantz 7300-OSE as my receiver and which I am using as a Pre\Pro. The amp has made a tremendous difference in sound quality. It is a much cleaner and crisp sound, especially for music. I like the sound I'm getting now but I am thinking of upgrading the receiver in order to take advantage of hdmi.
My question, is there an advantage of using an actual Pre\Pro over a receiver? I'm thinking hard about the new Emotiva UMC-1 or going with an Onkyo. Thanks for any input!

My gear:
Emotiva UPA-7
Marantz 7300-OSE
PS3 - blue ray only
Oppo 980
Appletv
Directv HR20
Wii
Panasonic 720P 50" (can't remember model)


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## Otto (May 18, 2006)

Well, getting preamp only means that you are not paying for the amps in the receiver, which you will presumably not use because you are using an external amplifier. Aside from that, they're are conceptually the same. I don't have any good examples right off hand, but I would imagine that some manufacturers use the same platform for both, and just add amplifier sections when marketing it as a "receiver". 

I doubt it will make much difference sonically if you are using the preamp outputs of a receiver vs a standalone preamp to feed your power amp.


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## tenzip (May 4, 2007)

I suspect that Otto is correct. The difference between most pre/pros and receivers from the same manufacturer is the model number, price, and amp circuitry.

If you find a receiver that has the features you want at the price you want, go for it.


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## salvasol (Oct 31, 2006)

uhcoogsfan said:


> ... I'm thinking hard about the new Emotiva UMC-1 or going with an Onkyo. Thanks for any input!


I agree with Otto and Chris ...you need your pre/pro just to be able to decode the sound formats before amplification :yes:

It will be nice to have both Emotiva products ...but also, it will be nice to have an Onkyo (or any other AVR) with autocalibration feature (I'm not sure if the Emotiva does) to start the system calibration instead of doing everything manually from scratch ...:yes:


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## Eskimo (Oct 17, 2008)

If you've already got the amp, I can't see any reason to use a receiver over a pre-pro..

The UMC-1 will have the auto-eq-calibration-whateveryoucallit.. and quite a bit more..


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## nova (Apr 30, 2006)

I don't think the UMC-1 is available yet. In fact, a quick look at the Emotiva site shows that currently they have no pre/pro's only amps and speakers.


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## uhcoogsfan (Jan 18, 2008)

Thanks for the quick replies, I appreciate all the help!


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## Eskimo (Oct 17, 2008)

nova said:


> I don't think the UMC-1 is available yet. In fact, a quick look at the Emotiva site shows that currently they have no pre/pro's only amps and speakers.


It'll be available in about a month...


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