Streaming to integrated amp

Jackyaga

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Hi all

I have a poor Sherwood amp running nice Mordant Short702i avanti bookshelves. They have been dug out of the attic.

Basically want to spend £350 and only listen to music via Spotify Premium these days.

I want to control music from wirelessly from my phone.

Am I best getting a new amp like Marantz PM6006 UK or getting a better 2nd hand analogue amp (Arcam or Cyrus) and getting a separate network DAC like Yamaha wxad10 or Chromecast Audio. I listen to indie, rock and dance music mainly, with occasional classical. As you can tell, I am a little confused.

https://www.richersounds.com/yamaha-wxad10-darkgrey.html

Really appreciate your help.
 

SteveH72

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Feb 25, 2020
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Hi all

I have a poor Sherwood amp running nice Mordant Short702i avanti bookshelves. They have been dug out of the attic.

Basically want to spend £350 and only listen to music via Spotify Premium these days.

I want to control music from wirelessly from my phone.

Am I best getting a new amp like Marantz PM6006 UK or getting a better 2nd hand analogue amp (Arcam or Cyrus) and getting a separate network DAC like Yamaha wxad10 or Chromecast Audio. I listen to indie, rock and dance music mainly, with occasional classical. As you can tell, I am a little confused.

https://www.richersounds.com/yamaha-wxad10-darkgrey.html

Really appreciate your help.
Hi there
The PM6006 is a brilliant amp but doesn’t have Bluetooth or a USB input. I would recommend looking at one of these. All you need for streaming plus plenty of power and good build quality
 

DCarmi

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I have both a pm6006 and dm41dab. Both have Chromecast audio into optical and both are excellent. The Marantz is quite a big beastie whereas the Denon is much more compact.

I also use the Denon as my radio alarm.
 

Jackyaga

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Hi there
The PM6006 is a brilliant amp but doesn’t have Bluetooth or a USB input. I would recommend looking at one of these. All you need for streaming plus plenty of power and good build quality

the UK ver
I have both a pm6006 and dm41dab. Both have Chromecast audio into optical and both are excellent. The Marantz is quite a big beastie whereas the Denon is much more compact.

I also use the Denon as my radio alarm.

Thanks so much. Seeing as I already have the speakers, which one sounds better? I don’t need a tuner or CD player. Would chromecast with Marantz be the best for sound?
 

SteveH72

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the UK ver


Thanks so much. Seeing as I already have the speakers, which one sounds better? I don’t need a tuner or CD player. Would chromecast with Marantz be the best for sound?
Hello, I was referring to the UKSE model as not having Bluetooth or a USB. The Denon is a very good micro system but, unless space is an issue, the larger Marantz will sound better.
 

Mike Hunt

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Any amp with Spotify connect built in should be better than chromecast.

I feel I may not fully understand Chromecast... but unless I'm greatly mistaken, it's all but useless?
I bought a 4K version, plugged it in, scratched my head for a day and wondered... Does it even serve a purpose? Before sending it back for a refund. It certainly doesn't seem to serve a purpose that any smart TV or Android box/stick can't do better.
 

gasolin

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I have both a pm6006 and dm41dab. Both have Chromecast audio into optical and both are excellent. The Marantz is quite a big beastie whereas the Denon is much more compact.

I also use the Denon as my radio alarm.

WHY the Denon RCDM41DAB has bluetooth built in

For a Denon RCDM41DAB i won't recommend less than 88db speaker unless it's only for back ground music in a small room
 
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gasolin

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Yes a little

Bot have around 50 watt in 8 ohm, not on paper but measured

Both don't have enough power to make 84-85db speakers play really loud, 86 db 4 ohm speakers might be okay

The nad doesn't have the same power as the normal sized nad amps MY nad D3020 got a litte varm, only 2 small long ventilation holes on each side of the amp, i don't like the firmness of the volumecontrol on the nad v1 and v2

The Marantz amp get's less hot, no matter what you use and play it never really get's hot
 

DCarmi

Well-known member
WHY the Denon RCDM41DAB has bluetooth built in

For a Denon RCDM41DAB i won't recommend less than 88db speaker unless it's only for back ground music in a small room

I bought the Chromecast Audio when it was under £20 for my old mini system in the bedroom.
Also, I often stream from my PC and Chromecast is a lot less hassle and I did not have bluetooth on my PC at the time (do now).
Finally, I can use multi-room streaming. I don't do it often but it is nice to have. I can wander down to the kitchen and still be listening to my audio.

I just prefer Chromecast but you are right, bluetooth is a decent option.
 

Vim Fuego

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I feel I may not fully understand Chromecast... but unless I'm greatly mistaken, it's all but useless?

I suspect you are missing something. Chromecast Audio and Chromecast are different products.

Chromecast Audio dongles run any "dumb" hifi into a smart multiroom system. You can cast from apps like Spotify, use Internet radio, it even support full HD audio (24/96 flac), something even the latest Sonos S2 update can't manage. It has an optical output so you can hook it upto whatever gear you want, and aren't tied I to a small range of compatible kit from a single vendor. Best bit, they are like £20 or so. So yes, you absolutely missed something.
 

iMark

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The Yamaha R-N602 is excellent for Spotify Connect. We use iPhones or an iPad to control Spotify. The integration with the MusicCast app is excellent. The great thing about Spotify Connect is that the receiver is directly connected to Spotify. Your phone of other device just acts as remote control so the battery doesn't have to power any streaming. You do need good wifi or a wired (ethernet) connection for the R-N602 to work perfectly in Spotify Connect mode.

If Spotify is the main or only source I would strongly recommend to get a box that includes Spotify Connect. The R-N602 isn't mentioned on https://spotify-everywhere.com/collections/audio-streamers?page=1& but Spotify Connect does work after a firmware upgrade (version 1.32).
 

Vim Fuego

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The great thing about Spotify Connect is that the receiver is directly connected to Spotify. Your phone of other device just acts as remote control so the battery doesn't have to power any streaming.

The technical term for this is onboarding . It's telling the receiver what to stream, rather than streaming it from your device. It's how Chromecast, Spotfy Connect, Sonos, AllPlay, AirPlay HEOS and many other devices work.

Personally, I wouldn't look for Spotify Connect, it's Spotify only. What if you tire of their low-bitrate music and want something better quality for your expensive HIFI, say Tidal? Yep, your Spotify Connect suddenly doesn't count for much.

If you had ChromeCast support, that works just as well as Spotify connect, (it appears in the same list of devices as native Spotify Connect devices - I know this is true on Android Spotify App, I don't know about Apple), but it also means that you can onboard from any other app that supports Chromecast Audio, and there are hundreds of them. Amazon HD Music, Tidal, Pandora, Youtube Music, Google Play Music, BBC Sounds, Apple Music - YEP, EVEN APPLE MUSIC!!!!

(https://store.google.com/product/chromecast_apps - scroll down to Music and Audio)

I would treat a unit that has Spotify Connect as a useful feature, but it shouldn't be your only port of call. You need to ensure you aren't locked into Spotify.
 
D

Deleted member 116933

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I suspect you are missing something. Chromecast Audio and Chromecast are different products.

Chromecast Audio dongles run any "dumb" hifi into a smart multiroom system. You can cast from apps like Spotify, use Internet radio, it even support full HD audio (24/96 flac), something even the latest Sonos S2 update can't manage. It has an optical output so you can hook it upto whatever gear you want, and aren't tied I to a small range of compatible kit from a single vendor. Best bit, they are like £20 or so. So yes, you absolutely missed something.

Don't forgot it can also act as roon endpoint
 
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Vim Fuego

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Don't forgot it can also act as roon endpoint

Indeed, those £20 Chromecast Audio dongles truly are the jack of all trades, master of all trades...

I picked up a bunch of them when they were being discontinued by Google, got 6 of them around the house, plugged into various devices, and it makes a very inexpensive, but very decent and very flexible multiroom, that I control what I want it connected to, and I am not at the mercy of any particular hardware company to provide support.

The fact you can stream 24/96 flac to them and send it out the optical port means the only stream modification or DAC it touches in the one in your amp.

Mine work flawlessly, they truly are wonderful devices.
 
D

Deleted member 116933

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Indeed, those £20 Chromecast Audio dongles truly are the jack of all trades, master of all trades...

I picked up a bunch of them when they were being discontinued by Google, got 6 of them around the house, plugged into various devices, and it makes a very inexpensive, but very decent and very flexible multiroom, that I control what I want it connected to, and I am not at the mercy of any particular hardware company to provide support.

The fact you can stream 24/96 flac to them and send it out the optical port means the only stream modification or DAC it touches in the one in your amp.

Mine work flawlessly, they truly are wonderful devices.

Couldn't agree more, they're a lot better than people give credit for
 

Vim Fuego

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But it's not what you want that matters, it's what the OP wants. iMark is spot on with his advice.

jjbomber said:
"Any amp with Spotify connect built in should be better than chromecast."
I would say that isn't the best advice to give, you don't even back up that statement with any evidence. Spotify Connect is low bit rate compressed service. So when a chromecast dongle (or better still built in Chromecast, which some units have) does Spotify onboarding along with everything else including 24/96 streaming , it's only right to warn people they buying something that's only does Spotify Connect might be an expensive dead end.
 
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Vim Fuego

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Spotify isn't anywhere near 24/96, it's 320Kbps.

That's the point. Spotify is always standard resolution, and at best standard bitrate, regardless of how you stream it.

Chromecast supports flac 24/96 streaming which other services do stream. I think the way I worded it might have been a tad confusing. It was the other services that did HD on chromecast, not Spotify.

Amazon for example stream music and between 3x and 10x the bitrate of Spotifys highest bitrate, as does Tidal, along with streaming from your own NAS.

 
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