After reading the other threads sugguested it does seem like room acoustics can be a big part. Where my speakers (and I) live in is quite a small rectangular living room.
I have used my Oppo linked directly to the emotiva amp, skipping the Onkyo all together - the sound stays true and the same. It never really affected the sound in any setup one bit, with or without it, its presence must have too little effect for my ears to pick out. When I listen to music, its always connected via the XLR analog input (straight off the XLR from Oppo), and without any processing or sound modification, go straight into the emotiva XLR end. I do not feel I can live without an all in one multimedia AV reciever as its quite easy for me to hook everything in.
As whether the Oppo may be the weakest link to a point I should replace it I'm not so sure, however I do feel the emotiva amp can be improved. The Marantz 8005 seems interesting, it seems like it would be in the same league as the Oppo 105 and in the same price range also. I have tried a dedicated DAC NAD M51 in my setup replacing the Oppo, and with it linking directly to the Emotiva amp, and unfortunately it does not sound as good. Although I really wanted it to be - seems like a waste as it is quite expensive for a DAC and I could not sell it where I live. With that I feel it would be quite a gamble for me to replace my Oppo with the Marantz especially when they are in the same range and capabilities.
I really enjoyed the music with my ProAc d18 and the setup for the past 2 years. While the emotiva xpa-2 is a budget amp it was great for me to start off with. I am now hunting for a quality hi-fi amp as an upgrade and hopefully balance out the brightness. The sugguestions for both SS and tube amps are of great help - with all those new names I'm doing alot of research and reading alot of reviews.
Thanks all for the great stuff, I think it would take me awhile to digest all the info and all the new stuff haha.
Cheers
I have used my Oppo linked directly to the emotiva amp, skipping the Onkyo all together - the sound stays true and the same. It never really affected the sound in any setup one bit, with or without it, its presence must have too little effect for my ears to pick out. When I listen to music, its always connected via the XLR analog input (straight off the XLR from Oppo), and without any processing or sound modification, go straight into the emotiva XLR end. I do not feel I can live without an all in one multimedia AV reciever as its quite easy for me to hook everything in.
As whether the Oppo may be the weakest link to a point I should replace it I'm not so sure, however I do feel the emotiva amp can be improved. The Marantz 8005 seems interesting, it seems like it would be in the same league as the Oppo 105 and in the same price range also. I have tried a dedicated DAC NAD M51 in my setup replacing the Oppo, and with it linking directly to the Emotiva amp, and unfortunately it does not sound as good. Although I really wanted it to be - seems like a waste as it is quite expensive for a DAC and I could not sell it where I live. With that I feel it would be quite a gamble for me to replace my Oppo with the Marantz especially when they are in the same range and capabilities.
I really enjoyed the music with my ProAc d18 and the setup for the past 2 years. While the emotiva xpa-2 is a budget amp it was great for me to start off with. I am now hunting for a quality hi-fi amp as an upgrade and hopefully balance out the brightness. The sugguestions for both SS and tube amps are of great help - with all those new names I'm doing alot of research and reading alot of reviews.
Thanks all for the great stuff, I think it would take me awhile to digest all the info and all the new stuff haha.
Cheers
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