Help - Newbie To HiFi

[Scuba Collie]

Hi All, first post here and would be grateful for some advise.

Ive been using a Denon AVR3802 Amp with Kef Eggs satellite speakers in a 7:1 surround speaker set up for the last 15 years.

Ive owned all since new, however I found that i was no longer using them for movies and music listening sounded terrible with them no matter what the settings.

I therefore picked up a pair of Mission 733 floorstanders a couple of weeks back in near perfect condition (been stored in an attic for past 20 years when daughter left home!) on Ebay for £51.00. I sold the Kef Eggs.

I hooked the Mission 733's up to the AVR3802 and they sounded great. I was still using the Kef Sub. The music sounded rich and warm.

However i then read that Stereo 2 channel amps produce better sound than AV amps?

I then visited Sevenoaks Sound & Vision and this young lad auditioned a £350.00 (my max budget) NAD C326BEE amplifier and some seriously big and expensive floorstanders.

I seriously said that personally i felt that my Denon AV amp and my missions sounded better......and he said that to get the similar quality amp as my Denon these days i would be looking at some serious money.

I therefore thought about picking up an older Stereo amp and managed to pick up a Marantz PM50 from ebay for £67.00.

The Denon AV Amp is 110 watts x 7 channels whereas the Marantz is 70 watts per channel.

I set the Marantz up tonight and have the following problems.

1. I cant connect the Kef Sub due to the inputs on the sub being rca connector types and not having a preout on the Marantz amp?

2. I cant connect my VM Tivo box to the amo due to only having digital outputs.

3. I cant use Chromecast with the Marantz.

However i have managed to play a CD tonight using a 1st generation Panasonic Blue Ray player ive owned since new and even though i have no sub running, the sound sounds nice. I wouldn't say its as warm and rich as the Denon but i heard birds whistling in the background of music tonight that i haven't heard before. The music was also 'clean sounding' and able to listen to it comfortably at low level with no boom boom boom that i normally get with the sub and my wife shouting to turn it down!

So my questions are.

1. Im unable to equally compare the sound from each amp. Which one do you think would provide the best sound for music?

2. Depending on the above answer, should i keep the Marantz and sell the Denon even though i cant use my sub? Do i need a sub? Should i instead try and get some different floorstanders to avoid missing out on low frequency music?

3. Is there a way of connecting my chromecast and VM Tivo box?

 

[NSA_watch_my_toilet]

The responses to your question are simple but are questions too :
1) Are you now satisfied with the new result you have ?

Because if it's yes, then you have you response. You don't "need" a sub to enjoy music. Subs are there for helping giving back the bass on sets that don't have enough of them. If your speaker has enough of them, the use of a sub is no more. Just make sure before you sell everything that you explored the different placing options. Because your missions could sound very good at different places of your room, and very bad in others. Same goes for your kefs and the sub.

And there could be speakers that explore better the low end, and/or are more precise ; but it's, actually pretty rare. The "trending" is going to floorstanders that are cutting around 50hz (around the same than a classical tablet monitor) and watch out to the builders indication, that are, sometime misleading (B&W 803 d3, announced by b&w at 19hz in the low frequencies, 70hz mesured in the lab).

#TheLHCisbored#Ihelpnobody

 

[mightyquin]

Agree, you shouldn't need a sub. You are probably just used to it from your AV setup but just 'listen' to the music through the speakers you have and I reckon you'll get used to, and prefer it.

It's kind of the same reason higher end hifi doesn't have tone controls or a loudness button. They just distort the sound.

I think all you need is a DAC in order to convert your digital devices to analogue audio to play through your amp.

 

[paulkebab]

It's kind of the same reason higher end hifi doesn't have tone controls or a loudness button. They just distort the sound.

The £44k D'Agostini has tone controls amongst other high end amps.

 

[NSA_watch_my_toilet]

It's kind of the same reason higher end hifi doesn't have tone controls or a loudness button. They just distort the sound.

It's not really the same reason no. It's more a philsophical approach of hifi paired with an engeneering difficulties (and expenses) to make good sound controls. You have excellent components around there with sound control options (Accuphase, Luxman, McIntosh, or, when going outside of hifi SSL and Neve).

#4thmissedtheLHC

 

[Scuba Collie]

Thanks for your replies guys.

Yes im very happy with the sound, however im not entirely sure if its better or worse than the AV Amp with the Missions, although as said above i heard birds whistling from the music last night!

Also it sounds great with the new amp (the old Marantz) without a subwoofer whereas with my old amp ( the Denon AV i needed to use the sub otherwise it didnt sound right.

I just dont want to not have a sub running with the Marantz if im risking losing sound quality......

Also the Source Direct switch on the Marantz sounds terrible??

 

[Scuba Collie]

Ive answered my own question. Hooked the Denon AVR3802 up again last night after listening to the Marantz for a couple of days and the Denon sounds flat in comparison!

Its now on Gumtree with the Sub!