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$4000 BUGDET - YOU ONLY HAVE 2 CHOICES - YOUR FEEDBACK MUCH APPRECIATED

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Family room 4.2 system click to view, (Klipsch La Scala AL5's, 2 acoustic energy 12" subs, 2 back ceiling speakers)

Profile 1: Music listening 2.2 & profile 2: Movies 4.2

Selection process: cheapest preamps with XLR outputs

Option 1: Anthem AVM70 preamp (I have really nice amps to power the speakers) ($4000)

Or

Option 2: Yamaha RX-A6A using it's preamp function coupled with a Denafrips Pontus 2 DAC ($4000 combined)

Which would you go for? As I see it..

Option 1 has superior room correction including the ability to setup 2 independent LFE channels.

Option 2 has superior DAC (so i've heard?)
 

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ZolaIII

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Neither, just buy a Denon for what's worth it (and if its worth for you in the first place). If you can find it search for X3600H if not X3700H is still available with a price hike to 1600$ if they really satisfy your needs, you have reviews hire.
By any means don't buy unmeasured one!
 
OP
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Neither, just buy a Denon for what's worth it (and if its worth for you in the first place). If you can find it search for X3600H if not X3700H is still available with a price hike to 1600$ if they really satisfy your needs, you have reviews hire.
By any means don't buy unmeasured one!
Appreciate the feedback, the reason for the 2 options was that I initially narrowed down the search to units that had XLR outputs. I've never heard the difference, but the feedback I've gotten is that it is a bit superior?
 

Thomas savage

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Hookers and blow , maybe ladyboys depends gotta look good and no Adams apple.

These days with inflation that's ya budge blown, hopefully all good .

Just don't fall in love , like you blew ya wad so don't go making out you live like this all the time .

The voice of experience.
 

Killingbeans

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Nahh, R2R is a buzzword hyped nonsense fad that's been spreading in the hobby. They are to audiophiles what gluten intolerance is to soccer moms, IMO.

Do they work? Yes. Do they do anything special? Nope.

Luddites have been pushing them on the scene as something "magical" and more "analog", but they enforce it through anecdotes and have little to zero interest in reality.

Don't worry about the superiority of one DAC or another. They are not anything remotely resembling a bottleneck.

Here's some perspective ;): https://www.audiosciencereview.com/...-choose-the-8th-generation-digital-copy.6827/
 

waynel

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Family room 4.2 system click to view, (la Scala's, 2 subs, 2 back ceiling speakers)

Profile 1: Music listening 2.2 & profile 2: Movies 4.2

Option 1: Anthem AVM70 (i have amps to power the speakers) ($4000)

Or

Option 2: Yamaha RX-A6A coupled with Denafrips Pontus 2 ($4000 combined)

Which would you go for? Option 1 has superior room correction including the ability to setup 2 independent LFE channels. Option 2 has superior DAC.
Option 1 or just get a denon 3700, That Denafrips DAC is a complete waste of money and you can get better performance for $200. The DAC in the Anthem or Denon will be fine.
 

Matthias McCready

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Disclaimer, I'm not well versed in this hobby just yet, but isn't it a far superior Dac?
It might be well worth talking diminishing returns:

Speakers: Your speaker makes the biggest difference this is a physically moving transducer, it is quite hard to make this operate efficiently with low-distortion and in a linear manner. Hence why there are so many different speaker designs and price points. This is where art meets science.

Room: The space you are in makes a HUGE difference. While a great room won't make a poor speaker sound amazing, a poor room can be extremely detrimental to the performance of a great speaker.

Room correction/DSP: This will make large audible improvements, it can not fully make up for a poor room, or poor deployment within a room. A small glass and tiled bathroom, is going to sound like a small glass and tiled bathroom! In the same vein if your speakers are aimed the wrong way, DSP is not going to change how they interact with the physical space around them

Amplifier: There are differences here, but they are far more subtle. It is known how to make an amplifier that is efficient and linear; certainly some perform better at these than other. It is quite true that some amplifiers will sound distinctly different, however this often has a lot to do with added distortion or harmonics or EQ. Personally I am simply interested in linear; I leave the distortion to the creation side of music and any desired EQ curves to the DSP/Room Correction.

DAC: Once you have a decent DAC, any difference it would make is almost inconsequential compared to the speakers, the room they are in, and how they are processed. Having a DAC be the main focus in a system is a little like having the bathroom faucets be a primary criteria for purchasing a house. Sure you want a house with working faucets, so there is a minimum, however it does not take an incredible amount of resources to have a functioning one; as within anything you can certainly buy fancy ones that catch the eye, or have intriguing features, but these do not change the basic function of the device.

----

So in order of importance, and perhaps how money can be best allocated is:

Speakers -> Room Treatment -> DSP/Room Correction -> Amplifier -> DAC

----

Now where do you actually want to spend $4,000?
 
OP
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It might be well worth talking diminishing returns:

Speakers: Your speaker makes the biggest difference this is a physically moving transducer, it is quite hard to make this operate efficiently with low-distortion and in a linear manner. Hence why there are so many different speaker designs and price points. This is where art meets science.

Room: The space you are in makes a HUGE difference. While a great room won't make a poor speaker sound amazing, a poor room can be extremely detrimental to the performance of a great speaker.

Room correction/DSP: This will make large audible improvements, it can not fully make up for a poor room, or poor deployment within a room. A small glass and tiled bathroom, is going to sound like a small glass and tiled bathroom! In the same vein if your speakers are aimed the wrong way, DSP is not going to change how they interact with the physical space around them

Amplifier: There are differences here, but they are far more subtle. It is known how to make an amplifier that is efficient and linear; certainly some perform better at these than other. It is quite true that some amplifiers will sound distinctly different, however this often has a lot to do with added distortion or harmonics or EQ. Personally I am simply interested in linear; I leave the distortion to the creation side of music and any desired EQ curves to the DSP/Room Correction.

DAC: Once you have a decent DAC, any difference it would make is almost inconsequential compared to the speakers, the room they are in, and how they are processed. Having a DAC be the main focus in a system is a little like having the bathroom faucets be a primary criteria for purchasing a house. Sure you want a house with working faucets, so there is a minimum, however it does not take an incredible amount of resources to have a functioning one; as within anything you can certainly buy fancy ones that catch the eye, or have intriguing features, but these do not change the basic function of the device.

----

So in order of importance, and perhaps how money can be best allocated is:

Speakers -> Room Treatment -> DSP/Room Correction -> Amplifier -> DAC

----

Now where do you actually want to spend $4,000?
 
OP
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Thanks for your input. Per the picture, were dealing with a pretty big room (not perfect for critical listening)

I am powering Klipsch La Scala AL5's with a McIntosh MA352, just need some processing for Movie night and a DAC that can do justice to the digital streams. Narrowed down the search 2 the cheapest units that had XLR outputs. Based on all the feedback, seems like Room Correction (option 1) FAR OUT WEIGHS a perhaps "better DAC". Sounds like the Anthem DAC will get the job done...
 

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Dj7675

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Option 1 of the two options… but the premise of XLR being better is certainly true for long cable runs or if you have other issues. Otherwise, single ended aren’t necessarily any audibly worse.
2 other optons…
Denon X3700 with iphone/iPad app or the newer PC App.
Dirac unit with DLBC which will be better for seat to seat variation and also blending subs/mains
 
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