Advice please

[admin_exported]

Hi Folks,

Brand new member, middle-aged technophobe, not abreast of all the latest techy hi-fi extras, in need of your expert advice & perception please;

I have an ARCAM 8R amp; DENON DCD835 cd player & a pair of MISSION 702e speakers (& £150 worth of speaker cable!! - well, it cost that in 2000), dusted and wiped down out the cupboard, a year after we completed some renovations on the house. I'm contemplating assembling them in a decent sized kitchen/family room, now wooden-floored. We have a SAMSUNG UE 5520 Smart TV on the wall in this kitchen/sitting area and we're in here most of the time.

These items were purchased as a package deal from Richer Sounds at the turn of the century & the sound is just immense. I'm loathe to get rid of them for an i-pod dock, but then again perhaps some of you would convince me that I have to?

Can it be linked some way to the TV? I do have a turntable so I can get round to transferring my 200+ vinyls on computer, but my kids wouldn't want the sight of that around too.

Any techy advice should be easily explained for the likes of me. Thanks folks.

 

[Overdose]

If you are going to convert your vinyl to your computer, you will need an audio capture device. If you want to connect your TV to the hifi, the best bet would be to use a DAC connected via the optical output on the TV.

A DAC is a 'Digital to Analogue Converter'.

 

[Sizzers]

Hi,

Assuming your TV has an optical out connection then I would buy a cheap Maplin DAC currently on offer at £30.

You’ll need an optical lead to connect the TV to the DAC (£10 for a 1m length or £13 for 3m depending on your needs, again from Maplin), then a pair of phono leads to connect the DAC to your amp. If your TV has analogue “Audio Out” connections you could just use a straight set of phono leads to connect your TV directly to the amp but you’ll get much better SQ with the DAC.

Just to note that the Maplin DAC is USB powered so if your TV also has a USB connection you simply connect the DAC to that with the supplied lead. If not – and if it’s not too much faff – you can buy a USB mains plug adaptor on the net for less than a fiver..

 

[Anonymous]

Thanks very much for taking the time to reply. Thats very helpful. Would you do anything else to this proposed set-up?

 

[Anonymous]

Thanks for the advice. Anything further I could add / replace ? What would all you experts do differently?

 

[Gusboll]

Assuming your TV has an optical out connection then I would buy a cheap Maplin DAC currently on offer at £30.

Hey Sizzers, I know these things can be difficult to qualify, but does that Maplin DAC make a real improvement?

Currently listening to: Foo Fighters - There is Nothing Left to Lose

 

[Sizzers]

Hey Sizzers, I know these things can be difficult to qualify, but does that Maplin DAC make a real improvement?

For me most definitely.

Prior to my then Marantz M-CR603 I’d always hooked my TV up via analogue “Audio Out” directly to my amp, but when I bought the 603 I also bought an optical lead and simply used that instead (I never compared it with the analogue connection).

After it’s forced sale I bought an Arcam Alpha 8R and hooked my TV up as I had before via analogue and thought this doesn’t sound too good compared to my Marantz, so thought I’d try a cheap DAC instead. I was going to buy the Lindy DAC, but being a Friday I couldn’t be bothered to wait for it to arrive on whatever day the following week so I popped down to my local Maplin to have a punt on their DAC instead (it was the same price at the time, £40).

I’m not interested in AV kit but I do like my movies/concerts played through my hi-fi and yes, this was a definite improvement over the DAC in the Panny. It gave better detail and better separation as things didn’t sound quite as muddled as they sometimes could before, so for the money I was a very happy chappy.

There are people who spend some serious money on DAC’s purely for their TV but that’s not for me, I’m afraid. For 40 quid – 30 at the mo – I can’t fault it for the use I bought it..

 

[Gusboll]

Nice one, thanks for that. Might well have a punt!

Currently listening to: Emerson, Lake and Palmer - Trilogy