Currently listening to music through a sony s370 and denon 2310 but want to improve the sound. Thinking about adding in an Audiolab8200 with the correspoding amp to go through the denon. Later on maybe adding something like an Olive 03hd for streaming but can't help wondering if this will render the CD player obselete. Will i be better of just running a NAS with the CD player and amp or running the Olive with an amp. Or or option two is to rip cds to xbox and run as NAS drive with the Xbox connected via optical and control with kinect etc. If I went for the audiolab would that work well with my setup speakers being B&W 684's. Any advice would be apprec
Musical Dilema??
- Thread starter Soopafly49
- Start date
Not a silly question, that's what the forum is for!
You can separate your Hi-Fi and HT quit easily but it does mean more boxes but only one set of speakers. Looks like your after more boxes anyway so that's a non issue.
You have your front speakers powered by a dedicated stereo amp.
All standard music sources plug into the stereo amp.
You plug the front pre-outs of the AV amp into a spare line input of the stereo amp.
The AV amp does not power the front speakers at all, this is done by the stereo amp for music and movies.
When playing music sources the stereo amp does all the work, generally better than an AV amp.
When watching movies switch the stereo amp to the correct input and adjust the volume until it matches the other channels (centre, rear). Try to find a memorable volume level so you don't have to faff every time. REMEMBER to turn the volume back before switching to another source!
Basically connections go: Sources, stereo amp, front speakers.
The AV amp is like a source in this set up.
If you are not sure get the shop that you demo your kit at to show you.
You can separate your Hi-Fi and HT quit easily but it does mean more boxes but only one set of speakers. Looks like your after more boxes anyway so that's a non issue.
You have your front speakers powered by a dedicated stereo amp.
All standard music sources plug into the stereo amp.
You plug the front pre-outs of the AV amp into a spare line input of the stereo amp.
The AV amp does not power the front speakers at all, this is done by the stereo amp for music and movies.
When playing music sources the stereo amp does all the work, generally better than an AV amp.
When watching movies switch the stereo amp to the correct input and adjust the volume until it matches the other channels (centre, rear). Try to find a memorable volume level so you don't have to faff every time. REMEMBER to turn the volume back before switching to another source!
Basically connections go: Sources, stereo amp, front speakers.
The AV amp is like a source in this set up.
If you are not sure get the shop that you demo your kit at to show you.
Thanks for the advice although it seems like a lot of faffing even with a meomorable volume level as you say. is there no other way around this?
Soopafly49 said:
If you get a 2 channel amp with HT Bi-pass (eg. MF M3i/M6i), you only have one volume knob to contend with, as the pre-amp stage of the Stereo amp is bi-passed for HT (ie. Acts as a power amp controlled by the AV amp).
For good 2 channel, all I can tell you is what I would do:
NAS + Linn Sneaky + Stereo Amp -> AV Amp
I would also look at 2 channel amps from MF, Electrocompaniet and Moon....listening to a variety of amps is key to finding the right one.
Your CDP would be made redundant.
Once its set up its easy.
For example on the stereo amp when playing:
CD switch to input 1
Vinyl switch to input 2
Movies switch to input 3 and put volume to 12 O'clock
Turn volume down when movie finishes.
The rewards a good stereo amp can give over the average AV amp is worth the initial set up.
Ramble:
I remember about 10 years ago deciding how to split my budget.
£2500.00 on a very high end AV amp that I would have to save up for or £800.00 AV amp and the rest (1700.00) on a stereo amp later.
The speaker choices were affected as some that sounded good in one configuration sounded amazing in the other and vice versa.
In the end I went with the cheaper AV amp and gradually built up the stereo side over the following years. I listen to music more than watch movies. An £800.00 AV amp was adequate for AV but the £2500.00 AV just could not match £1700.00 of stereo amp for music, it was completely outclassed.
But for someone who watches more movies than listens to music the more expensive AV amp would be a no brain-er. So an alternative to many boxes and faffing would be to get a good AV amp that is good with music. You don't need to spend £2500.00 to do that! There must be some reasonably priced AV amps that others can suggest that are good with stereo.
Or just do what CnoEvil suggested making it really simple!
For example on the stereo amp when playing:
CD switch to input 1
Vinyl switch to input 2
Movies switch to input 3 and put volume to 12 O'clock
Turn volume down when movie finishes.
The rewards a good stereo amp can give over the average AV amp is worth the initial set up.
Ramble:
I remember about 10 years ago deciding how to split my budget.
£2500.00 on a very high end AV amp that I would have to save up for or £800.00 AV amp and the rest (1700.00) on a stereo amp later.
The speaker choices were affected as some that sounded good in one configuration sounded amazing in the other and vice versa.
In the end I went with the cheaper AV amp and gradually built up the stereo side over the following years. I listen to music more than watch movies. An £800.00 AV amp was adequate for AV but the £2500.00 AV just could not match £1700.00 of stereo amp for music, it was completely outclassed.
But for someone who watches more movies than listens to music the more expensive AV amp would be a no brain-er. So an alternative to many boxes and faffing would be to get a good AV amp that is good with music. You don't need to spend £2500.00 to do that! There must be some reasonably priced AV amps that others can suggest that are good with stereo.
Or just do what CnoEvil suggested making it really simple!
Overdose said:
Listed here (post No. 5):
http://www.whathifi.com/forum/home-cinema/sacrificied-71-for-bi-amping-front-speakers
and here: http://www.whathifi.com/forum/hi-fi/audiolab-or-roskan
Depend on you but,
I replied to you in (Sacrified 7.1 to 5.1 ... post) and I think than your best bet now could be to upgrade your CD player.
many choices to you and I'm gonna let more qualified peoples find you suggestions.
But look at:
Good dedicated CD players or DAC/CD
Good Universal players
You must gain a lot in your sound qualities by this step in your case. S370 is a good generic BD player in is range price but is not in the range to let you touch/closer the music nirvana!
I replied to you in (Sacrified 7.1 to 5.1 ... post) and I think than your best bet now could be to upgrade your CD player.
many choices to you and I'm gonna let more qualified peoples find you suggestions.
But look at:
Good dedicated CD players or DAC/CD
Good Universal players
You must gain a lot in your sound qualities by this step in your case. S370 is a good generic BD player in is range price but is not in the range to let you touch/closer the music nirvana!
kit is as mentioned in the link. And to be honest dont have a budget if i want something that much i'll save up and by it. Just like the rest of my HT.Overdose said:
hi soopafly49
whatever you do don't buy an olive 3hd i had two within ten days both riddled with faults, one took 7 hours to eject a cd and with the other i spent three days loading over 150 cds on to it then it crashed and formatted itself. the us based tech support is useless.got a refund in the end now have all my music on a 4tb nas drive along with my films.
whatever you do don't buy an olive 3hd i had two within ten days both riddled with faults, one took 7 hours to eject a cd and with the other i spent three days loading over 150 cds on to it then it crashed and formatted itself. the us based tech support is useless.got a refund in the end now have all my music on a 4tb nas drive along with my films.
celsius said:
Thanks. I was looking at this a while ago but have read similar things to what your saying on another thread so will steer clear for now.
Would this work if i used a seperate preamp and power amp then bi pass the preamp when needed?CnoEvil said:
Soopafly49 said:
Soupafly, can you explain in a little more detail where you are heading with this.
It is my understanding, that pre-outs of the AV amp [/b]need to go into the pre-amp section of the stereo amp (whether the pre-amp is built-in or separate). Either way, this requires the pre-amp to have an HT-By-pass, if it is to be solely controlled by the volume knob of the AV amp.
The simplest solution is an integrated amp with HT By-Pass.
For Stereo. The Source + Left & Right speakers are plugged into it, so it works as normal, with the AV amp switched off.
For AV. The HT By-Pass input is selected, and it now acts simply as a power amp (providing L & R channels), controlled by the volume knob of the AV amp.
This is a fine compromise and works well, as many on here will testify. The only thing to be aware of, is the difference in tone between the two amps when used for AV.
It appears that the Audiolab8200 cdq has some sort of ht bypass capabiility. Has anyone got one of these and is using this function on it or just know any information about it?CnoEvil said:
Soopafly49 said:
I think it looks like you're correct.
It has a full preamp functionality with HT Bypass according to this review:
http://www.hometheaterhifi.com/cd-players/1301-audiolab-8200cdq-dac-for-audiophiles.html
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