20 Years ago I set up a home theater (5.1) and used the Outlaw 950 as a pre-amp and the Outlaw 770 (200 watts by 7) as the amp. 11 years ago I went to 7.2 but could not find a reasonably priced pre-amp so I used a receiver (Marantz 5005) as a pre-amp. I recently saw the need to update my receiver (mostly over hdmi issues and to get up to date technology) to either a true pre-amp or receiver to be used as a pre-amp.
After reading reviews and researching through this forum I have run into the same issue of pre-amps costing 2 or 3 times as much as a receiver. I decided on the Denon x3700h (I also looked at the Marantz) because of its pre-amp mode as well as other attributes. I just had two experiences at two different authorized Denon dealers where the salesmen tried to talk me out of the Denon and get a "true" pre-amp. In one case the recommendation was for an Emotiva at double the price of the Denon and the second case (yesterday) an Anthem pre-amp at triple the price of the Denon.
When I asked about the difference I was told of the "superior" sound and "superior" components. Neither location was able to demonstrate the superior sound as they had no set up to demonstrate the difference. . In effect I was to accept the salesmen's say so. There is an obvious conflict of interest as I am sure there is a bigger profit in something that costs 2 or 3 times as much but is it really worth the extra money?
JohnF
After reading reviews and researching through this forum I have run into the same issue of pre-amps costing 2 or 3 times as much as a receiver. I decided on the Denon x3700h (I also looked at the Marantz) because of its pre-amp mode as well as other attributes. I just had two experiences at two different authorized Denon dealers where the salesmen tried to talk me out of the Denon and get a "true" pre-amp. In one case the recommendation was for an Emotiva at double the price of the Denon and the second case (yesterday) an Anthem pre-amp at triple the price of the Denon.
When I asked about the difference I was told of the "superior" sound and "superior" components. Neither location was able to demonstrate the superior sound as they had no set up to demonstrate the difference. . In effect I was to accept the salesmen's say so. There is an obvious conflict of interest as I am sure there is a bigger profit in something that costs 2 or 3 times as much but is it really worth the extra money?
JohnF