Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Advice from Axiom Owners Separates vs. Receivers

Age old question. I'm curious about separates. Not so much about the difference between them and receivers, but the question is...If I went to separates, do I still need my receiver or do the separates replace it? What all do I need? A tuner, amp, preamp, etc??? I get a little confused when I go to the Rotel website

Actually you can use seperates along with your reciever. For example, I am using a two channel amp connected to the pre-outs on my reciever to drive the front main speakers...this is taking the load off of the reciever to drive these two speakers.

Think of it as using the amp(s) as the power and the reciever as the brains, or the processor of the system. Quite a lot of folks do this.

Thanks for the input. So the 2 channel amp controls the volume on the mains and the receiver controls the volume on all the other speakers. Is that right?

Charles, here's a good article by Alan descibing seperates.

Seperates.

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So the 2 channel amp controls the volume on the mains and the receiver controls the volume on all the other speakers. Is that right?

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No, actually the reciever is the 'brain' that controls volume, the amp is nothing more than an outside source for providing power to the speakers via the reciever. The reciever is just providing the data to transform this power into the sounds emiting from the speakers...if that makes any sense.

I agree with Rick, however I believe that having a proper "separates" system comprised of a power amplifier, like my RB-1080 and a processor/preamp/prepro, like my RC-1070, works better than using a receiver, and a power amp at its preouts. Besides, processor/power amp combo is generally cheaper than receiver/power amp combo. Having the latter makes sense for somebody who already has a receiver and upgrades through adding a power amp for the fronts. Alternatively you can try selling the receiver first (like I did with the Rotel RX-1052 receiver) and then get power amp/preamp combo, but you have to check the prices for all the options.

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however I believe that having a proper "separates" system comprised of a power amplifier, like my RB-1080 and a processor/preamp/prepro, like my RC-1070, works better than using a receiver, and a power amp at its preouts.

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I certainly agree as well, mine just sorta *happened* this way but in the near future the reciever will be replaced by another amp and a matching processor from Rotel. Not only that, I like to have all things match and a reciever/amp combo looks somewhat 'out of place' to me.

I use 3 Outlaw M200 amps for my mains and center. My Denon drives the surrounds. Quite happy with the setup.

I've used seperates for most my life, and they are the way to go. My new room required little space, and little budget so I've been trying to find a receiver that suits my needs...so far, not so good. The power/sound combination just isn't the same on a receiver. Of course the flip side is that seperates were much easier to come by years ago at decent prices with newer seperates being mostly $$$.

It's all fine to say keep your power amps, and just upgrade the preamp in the future, but at least in my case, there just wasn't a lot of preamps available that were decently priced if I wanted to go that route. Most preamps tend to cost more then receivers these days which begs the question why not just get a receiver.

I know that separates sound much better than receivers in 2 channel stereo. I say this from my own experience with Rotel gear, and from what I have read.

However, I was wondering if somebody can say that the same holds true for HT. Anybody, switching from an HT receiver to multi channel power amp/pre amp?