-=> Quoting John Allen to Andres Valloud <=-
 JA>        I am glad your happy with with your JVC. But there is a
 JA> big difference  in sound between combined receivers like yours
 JA> and separate units with an amp  and a pre-amp and a tuner, etc.
 JA> Your JVC is what is called a consumer grade stereo. While some
        While I would agree a JVC receiver is anything but "high-end,"
I don't think one should lump all receivers or integrated amps into
consumer-grade oblivion.  There is *no* reason why a low to medium
powered receiver can't sound every bit as good (or even better) than a
"seperates" system.  The only real reason to keep the pre-amp separate
from the amplifier is with very large power amplifiers the amount of
heat being dissipated can shorten the life of the pre-amp.  The bit
about RF interference of the amp to the pre-amp is bologna.  Only a
really poorly designed receiver or integrated amp would have such
problems.
        There may be some benefit to having sepearte power supplies,
but pre-amps require very little power to begin with (passive models
don't require *any* power).  The other benefit to keeping them
separate is if you would like to have a bigger amp down the road.  You
wouldn't have to replace the pre-amp.  But even here, most decent
receivers/integrated amps allow you access to the pre-amp outputs
before the amplifier for future addition of larger separate power
amps.
        Now whether one can find a reciever they're happy with and
that meets their needs with their particular speakers in terms of
enough power is another issue, but receivers get a bad rap in high-end
audio I'm afraid.  I went with separates because I wanted a large 350
watt amp, which can get pretty warm.
 
 JA> people are completely satisfied with these, some are not  and
 JA> desire a better sound. The end result is a never ending pursuit
 JA> of  exact reproduction of a live performance. Take a ride to a
        I don't think "everyone" gets stuck in that "never ending
pursuit," either.  (Thank goodness ;-)  I'm quite happy with my ribbon
drivers.  I'm considering a different subwoofer, but once I reach the
resolution I desire and get surround sound and an LP player and what
not (and also room treatments), I plan to largely quit with the
hardware and concentrate on high quality software.
 JA> "high end" stereo  shop....not Best Buy or Curcuit City or Sears,
 JA> and bring a couple of your best  CDs. Demo a couple units and
 JA> hear the difference for yourself. 
        Unfortunately, too many "hi-fi" dealers have very *poor*
setups and even high quality equipment can sound awful when poorly
implemented.  Not all high end dealers are created equal,
unfortunately.  In fact, without knowing what to recognize, a person
could get the impression that high-end audio is no different from what
you can buy at Best-Buy or Circuit City...it just costs more.  This is
a real shame.  Unfortunately, it happens all too often.  It might be
best for a person to read up on high end audio for awhile *before*
auditioning, so that a person can recognize a good setup from a really
bad one and not draw conclusions based on poorly run dealerships.
 JA> the average  audiophile is after. The more watts your amp is
 JA> capable of delivering, the  better control it can maintain over
 JA> your speakers. The watts per channel also  has little to do with
        This isn't really true either.  I could as easily say, the
more watts your amp is capable of delivering, the more likely you are
to blow up your drivers. :)  (which isn't "normally" true to a point),
but as long as you are aren't using power beyond a certain point,
power alone isn't going to provide better control.  Some amplfiers are
better than others at delivering power into complex impedances and
providing large dampening factors, however, but this isn't all about
power.
 JA> more than happy to answer your questions. But a FAQ isn't a good  
 JA> place to begin. 
        Heh, funny thing, but I've been trying to get some of the
really knowledgable people on rec.audio.high.end to come up with a FAQ
for typical misconceptions, especially about digital audio.  So,
actually, a "good" FAQ could be the perfect place to "begin."  That
way a lot of bandwidth can be conserved (I don't see this as much of a
problem on here, but on RAHE, dozens of messages a day might be on
things discussed just 2 weeks before.)  Unfortunately, many seem to
think it would be too controversial given all the conflicting opinions
on some gear, although some things are clearly facts and could be
useful.
 * AmyBW v2.14 *
... "Wahoo!" -Uncle Albert
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