kennyt

I just want a standard so everyone is on the same page.

It SEEMS like it will be decoding the bitstream in the receiver, but only a few pre/pro's allow this to date, so does that make all the other ones that handle MC PCM obsolete? In some ways yes, in some no. I have had many long talks with Jerry Del Colliano about just this issue as we both no longer have our beloved Meridian 861v4's and we really want to replace them, but with what?

I have gone through many pre/pro's in my day, and have several truly great ones lined up to review in the not too distant future, but I don't know when the high end market will catch up with the rapid changes going on in the business right now. I feel it is a good time to sit back and see what comes down the pike. Andrew Robinson bought the Integra DTC 9.8 so he could have all the new codecs and is loving it, I personally bought the Denon AVP-A1HDCi without ever hearing it, and will be putting it through it's paces here very shortly in a feature review.

Is it time to buy something reasonably affordable (insert your amount here) and live with it until all the craziness settles out?

Will it ever fully settle out like the olden days of DD and DTS, or really old days of two channel only? Doubtful, but we'll have to wait and see!

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deacongreg

Hopefully, things will settle this time around. I mean, its really time kenny that it should. But, to be honest, since we do not see anything coming soon, maybe what you say kenny is right, get what is available now. Hard to believe, that only the Integra (kudos to them) and the new Denon, are available for prime time. It just boggles the mind. Its not even about, give the people what they want, how about, what we all need!!

Captain Stereo

Again guys, let's not all get flavor.of.the.week.commodity.product.not hing.special because it does one thing another FAAARRRR superior product does not. Using the aforementioned Meridian 861 as an example. Does anyone REALLY think the Denon or Integra will sound better than the Meridian, even with the 861 doing standard DD/DTS and the new.kids.on.the.block doing TrueHD and DTS Master Audio? Of course, the answer is no. And if one answered yes, then go to a shop selling either the Denon or Integra & the Meridian (or Classe, Anthem, etc.) and find out for yourself. It'd almost be like saying the Oppo DVD players sound better than a Linn Sondek CD12 because the Linn can ONLY play red book CD.

kennyt

Having lived with the Meridian 861v4 for a long time, and having compared MCPCM in DTS MA and DD/DTS, it just might, I will be home soon and do just the test you propose, and the Denon review with be forthcoming.

I wold love to say yes, the Meridian is AN AMAZING pre/pro, but the new uncompressed audio codecs have the potential to sound better from lessor gear than DD/DTS from the best.

I'll let you know what I find out!

__________________
Ken Taraszka, MD
Associate Editor
http://avrev.com/
http://hometheaterreview.com/
http://www.avrevforum.com/

Z Man

I'd say that the Oppo analogy is a bit unfair, as the Denon is of a much higher quality category. If anything, I would say it's more in the class with the Anthem D2, Krell-S1000, etc. And just because it has the "Denon" moniker, does not make it a lesser product. Sure when most people think Denon, they think receiver, as Denon has built up a reputation for building receivers. Now that they jumped back into making high quality separates, people are in the mindset of the preamp being just a glorified receiver with the performance of a receiver.

And as to comparing the Denon to other pre/pro's like the Theta CBIII, Lexicon MC12B, Krell-S1000, Halcro SSP-100, etc, there are many who have ended up selling their high end controllers and getting the Denon AVP. To them the sound quality from the Denon is of equal and in some cases even better in sound quality than the high end controllers they had. One person I have talked to is actually replacing his Meridian 861 V4 and going with a Denon AVP. He has his Denon on order and is just waiting for it to arrive. I am really looking forward to his impressions of it, and how he thinks it sounds compared to the 861.

Also many have tried to do A/B comparisons with the Denon against other high dollar pre/pro's at AV shops. But in most instances the dealers just don't want to go through the hassle of setting them up to do such an comparison.


Another person I just received an e-mail from yesterday has owned one high end controller (Lexicon MC12B) and an ultra high end controller (Mark Levinson No 40). He now owns and is very happy and most impressed with the Denon AVP-A1HDCI in his setup. While it may not be a surprise that he said the Denon AVP didn't match the sound quality of the ML No 40 (very few actually do), it did in his opinion however, far surpass not only the feature set of the MC12B, but the sound quality as well. Now that says quite a lot about the Denon AVP.



Seth

Z Man

Kenny I'm really looking forward to your thoughts of the Denon AVP, not only on its own but how is stacks up against the Meridian 861 you had. I know I have been enjoying the heck out of my Denon AVP, and each time I use it it brings a smile to my face.