Upgrade from DA1200ES to DA5200ES?

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I have an earlier post regarding connecting my DV7001 to my DA1200ES. I am experiencing problems with my subwoofer having no oomph on a multichannel connection.

Will a working audio HDMI connection pull mutichannel data across and give me an improved audio performance?

Is it better to let the amp mange the audio and the DVD player the picture?

How can I best balance this between music and home theatre?
 

Andrew Everard

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Think I've cracked your CD playback 'lack of oomph' problem after some time studying downloaded manuals for both the player and receiver. My suggestion is as follows:

Turn off the Dolby Pro-Logic on the player.

As well as your existing digital connection player to amp for movies and multichannel analogue audio for SACD, connect a stereo pair of interconnects from the SA7001's Mixed 2ch outputs - these ones here in fact



- to one of the analogue audio inputs on the Sony. The 'CD' one would seem to be logical.

Then when you want to play stereo CDs, select the CD input on the Sony, and you're getting sound converted in the Marantz played in stereo through the Sony. You can then decide whether or not to use the Dolby Pro-Logic IIx Music setting on the Sony when playing music, or just run it in pure stereo.

You can force the subwoofer to carry more of the bass by using the Sony's speaker settings menu to set the front left/right speaker size to 'SMALL', then using the SP Crossover setting adjust the crossover point as low as it will go in this setting (80Hz I think, but I don't have the unit in front of me).

I think that should do the trick...
 
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Anonymous

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Andrew, Thanks for taking the time to look at this. I've just spent 3 years building a house in Ireland and this home cinema was the last part of the dream. I have already invested in some QED3 interconnects recently for the mixed channel you describe and currently listen to music on front left and right speakers with the sub managed by AFD Auto on the amp. This means I don't get the benefit of running analog direct and I thought in theory getting a better sound.

I've of course been reading the DV7001 manual back to front and delved on the web. If understand the manual correctly it should pass an LFE signal to the amp no matter which setting I choose on the player. I therefore thought that if I selected stereo output on the player and multichannel on the amp that I should be able to get pure sound from the DV7001 plus sub signal, but the sub is dead when I do this. Don't get me wrong my music sounds great as it is but I always have this wonder at the back of my head that I could make it better.

I'm a little annoyed that the HDMI connection on the amp does not process digital audio because that was the original reason for upgrading all my kit. I did have a Marantz DV4100 and a Marantz SR4200. Nevertheless I have made a considerable improvement with what I have got. I will fiddle with the speaker sizes and crossover and see how I get on.
 

Andrew Everard

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Have a feeling that there's some downmixing going on when you run the multichannel outputs on the Marantz with stereo source material. I think it's probably down to the Pro-Logic processing in the player.

The only way to get the sub working for stereo music is I think either to use the Sony's PLIIx MS setting, or force the issue by telling the amp you're using smaller speakers than you are.

In order to get digital audio down the HDMI you'll need a pricier Sony amp - the HDMI switching on the 1200ES is a pass-through, which means the signal goes nowhere near the amp's audio circuits. You can get Linear PCM using the STR-DA3200ES and above, or one of the new Onkyo receivers from the TX-SR605 upwards, as we seem to be mentioning quite a lot at the moment...
 
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Anonymous

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Me again, I had a fiddle and no dice. However I did connect my sub lead directly to the back of the DV7001 and it's ok. So it seems that the preamp stage is killing the signal.

Is there a practical way of splitting the signal as swapping connections is not practical?

Is there another solution that will not involve spending more money?
 
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Anonymous

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Sorry I was out of step with your last reply there, no broadband out here in the sticks.

The linear PCM you mention on the DA3200es which would be a cheaper upgrade, does that pass digital data separately for each channel to give a more detailed surround sound and cure lip synching problems?

Is it worth the money compared to existing digital coax connection on DA1200ES?
 

Andrew Everard

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[quote user="adamshaw"]

The linear PCM you mention on the DA3200es which would be a cheaper upgrade, does that pass digital data separately for each channel to give a more detailed surround sound and cure lip synching problems?

Is it worth the money compared to existing digital coax connection on DA1200ES?
[/quote]

Well the Marantz will apparently pass LPCM from Dolby Digital and DTS, though not from CD or SACD. Whether it would be a worthwhile upgrade is more of a moot point - we haven't tested the Sony 3200 yet, and neither have we tried the LPCM output on the Marantz, so I'm not sure I can help on that one
 
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Anonymous

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Who's a clever boy then! Give yourself a pat on the back Andrew, top man. That did the trick. Any view on the last reply?
 

Andrew Everard

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See reply above re LPCM. What with you getting sorted as we chat and Fowler sorting out his Atacama rack in the accessories Forum in the same way, this feels like real time troubleshooting. Fun, isn't it?
 
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Anonymous

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Yes. I wish I could type and reply as quick as you but my internet connection is terminally ill. One day broadband will be available to me.

I really appreciate your time here. I think I will put a padlock on my wallet before the wife changes the locks on the doors. At least my multichannel/sub problem is sorted now. I will be listening to my Dpeche Mode SACD collection this evening. I may get better quality sound with multichannel DVD viewing. I'll try it later and see if I see any lipsynching trouble.
 

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