A Waste of Amplification?

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[size=3 face="Times New Roman"]I have a half decent HiFi system but I am about to buy a HD TV at last, a 37 inch one as I have no room for anything larger. I am not committed yet and may wait for your forthcoming tests in the next issue hoping that you will praise the Samsung LE37C650.[/size=3 face]

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[size=3 face="Times New Roman"]First question is, I know that there is long standing advice that a tv should not be located next to a Hifi speaker as it will affect the screen. Does this advice still apply to LCD tv’s? The 90cm wide Samsung will put the TV 10cm from the edge of one of my main speakers’ cabinet.[/size=3 face]

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[size=3 face="Times New Roman"]More importantly though, is my next question which addresses what I perceive as a long standing problem with your otherwise excellent magazine. Your advice columns freely offer guidance on home cinema and Hifi. Unless I have missed something (I am a magazine subscriber for many years), I am puzzled that you don’t seem to offer advice for people whom I would consider to be the majority, ie those who only want one system to serve both needs. Surely we are not expected to have two separate systems?[/size=3 face]

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[size=3 face="Times New Roman"]To my problem then. To go with a new tv, I am about o purchase an AV receiver and believe the Denon AVR-1910 will fulfil my needs admirably. My existing receiver is old and faulty and does not have modern input connections. During the time I have owned it however, I have directed the main front channels from the old Marantz to my Musical Fidelity amplifier rendering that part of the power section redundant. I expect to do the same with the Denon which all seems a bit of a waste of amplification. [/size=3 face]

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[size=3 face="Times New Roman"]My main question then (at last) is why is there not a range of AV processors that 5.1 processing but just have 3 amps on board or more directly, do any exist? I have memories that perhaps Arcam used to do one. [/size=3 face]

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[size=3 face="Times New Roman"]I am fairly resigned to buying the Denon AVR-1910 as it well priced for the level of interest that I have in audio visual sound. I Just wanted to check first.[/size=3 face]

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[size=3 face="Times New Roman"]Finally I expect I should purchase a Blue ray player which I think should be a Sony BDP-S370 unless you think the BDP-S760 is particularly worth the extra given the rest of the system that I have.[/size=3 face]

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[size=3 face="Times New Roman"]Keep up the good work![/size=3 face]

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[size=3 face="Times New Roman"]Existing Equipment:[/size=3 face]

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[size=3 face="Times New Roman"]CD Player Musical Fidelity A308CR[/size=3 face]

[size=3 face="Times New Roman"]Preamp: Musical Fidelity A308CR[/size=3 face]

[size=3 face="Times New Roman"]Power Amp: Musical Fidelity A308CR[/size=3 face]

[size=3 face="Times New Roman"]Interconnects Red Dawn [/size=3 face]

[size=3 face="Times New Roman"]Speakers: Living Voice Auditorium[/size=3 face]

[size=3 face="Times New Roman"]Speaker cable Nordost Solar Wind[/size=3 face]

[size=3 face="Times New Roman"]Sub: REL Stadium III[/size=3 face]

[size=3 face="Times New Roman"]Centre Speaker: Celestion F350[/size=3 face]

[size=3 face="Times New Roman"]Rear Speakers: Celestion F10[/size=3 face]

[size=3 face="Times New Roman"]AV Speaker cables: Mordaunt Short Maestro Silver[/size=3 face]

[size=3 face="Times New Roman"]AV Receiver: Marantz SR5200[/size=3 face]

 

[007L2Thrill]

Well I can answer one of your questions, will your speakers or magnets affect LCD's, no they will not, well not mine anyway, I just tried putting a neodymium magnet which is off a old super tweeter up close to my PC screen which is 24 inch LG and it was fine.

 

[Anonymous]

Only CRT screens shouldn't be placed near unshielded speakers, anything else will be fine. With regard to your choice of Blu-Ray players I would also consider the Pioneer BDP-320 at around £180. See the review here, note it was reviewed at £400

 

[Frank Harvey]

Welcome to the forum manally

manally:More importantly though, is my next question which addresses what I perceive as a long standing problem with your otherwise excellent magazine. Your advice columns freely offer guidance on home cinema and Hifi. Unless I have missed something (I am a magazine subscriber for many years), I am puzzled that you don't seem to offer advice for people whom I would consider to be the majority, ie those who only want one system to serve both needs. Surely we are not expected to have two separate systems?Unfortunately, one system can't get the same level of performance out of music and movies as two dedicated systems can. Over the years manufacturers like Arcam have made the most of 2 channel performance from an AV amp, but it comes at a price.

My main question then (at last) is why is there not a range of AV processors that 5.1 processing but just have 3 amps on board or more directly, do any exist? I have memories that perhaps Arcam used to do one. Yamaha used to be the kings of the 'add on' processor market. These were around in the early/mid 90's, and they were all people needed to add to a hi-fi system to maintain their 2 channel performance. I think they died out in the end because market for them was miniscule in comparison to the AV receiver/amplifier market on a global scale, as they were only popular in a few countries, the UK being one of them. For a manufacturer, it's far easier to produce a range of AV receivers with pre-outs than to produce a dedicaed range of add on, amplified processors, even if they seem to be a very similar thing.

The good thing about "wasting" 2 channels of amplification is that each channel of an AV amp takes the power from one source - the more channels, the more the power is limited. Many specs of AV amps give a higher output into 2 channels than 5 or 7. If you're not using 2 channels, you'll get more power into the other three channels than if you were using 5.

 

[Anonymous]

Many thanks for all your replies.

Frank,

So I should go ahead, buy the Denon AVR-1910 and wire it as I suggested, ie not using the front two channels? If you say yes, I will be more than happy!

Any comments on a TV and Blue-Ray player?

Thanks

 

[Frank Harvey]

David

Well if you've only got, or you're oly only spending £300 quid, it'll be as good as you're going to get unless you want to buy used.

Can't really comment on TV's at the moment as we're still waiting for our new Pansonics, and we're in the process of setting up a Sony account.

As far as Bluray players are concerned, we mainly use Pioneer in store, but for those who prefer their players to respond quickly, the Sony's seem to be the best.

 

[FunkyMonkey]

I don't think this has been mentioned but many home cinema amps/receivers allow you to bi-amp. I have foudn this gives a better sound when lsitening to music.

My receiver is a 7.1, so I use teh extra 2 channels (that I don't need) to bi-amp for improved stereo listening.

 

[The_Lhc]

Hey you guys! You all seem to be missing something here, the Denon AVR-1910 doesn't have multi-channel analogue pre-outs, so he CAN'T use it to pass the front left and right channels to his stereo amplifier.

 

[Frank Harvey]

Well done lhc, we were all testing to see if you were awake

You are correct in pointing out that the 1910 doesn't have any pre-outs - one or two amps at this price point at least have pre-outs for the front left and right, but not the Denon. The AVR2310 has a full set of pre-outs. Alternatively, if cost is a factor, the Yamaha RXV1065 also has a full set of pre-outs which is only a little more than the AVR1910 at the moment...