AVR/Music player choice

[delta76]

Hi,
My current setup is AVR (Onkyo NR809) => Focal Aria 948, both for music and movies.
I ordered a Sabaj a20a 2022 which would serve as a power amp for the 948. Now I want to modify the setup so I can use the AVR for movie and a player for music. I use Tidal and spotify (with potentially some flac in the future).
What equipment should I add to my setup. I assume I would need a DAC. How do I switch between the AVR and the player with ease?

 

[Tom C]

I’m thinking the Sabaj isn’t going to add much, unless you’re trying to add two more channels of amplification.
If you want to use the Onkyo only for movies, and another solution for music, you’ll have to add a DAC and a player of some type, often a phone, tablet, PC, laptop. There are systems available where the player and DAC are integrated into one box. Each choice has trade offs, of course. The best choice will depend on which streaming service you want to use (if any), whether or not you want to be able to try a different service in the future, and whether or not you want to be able to play music you own, such as from physical CD, digital file, tape, vinyl, etc.
I use this with some success. Whether or not it works well for you will depend on what components you end up selecting. Mixing XLR and RCA, as I have done, can be clumsy and inconvenient, so you may want to try to stick with RCA only. In that case, this has worked for me, although the volume control is a little noisy when you go to turn the knob. In the event you don’t need a volume control, you might be able to save a bit by tracking down a switch box that doesn’t have it.

 

[delta76]

i just want to try another amp. Also the avr is a bit clumsy for just casual music playing, so I hope I can use the sabaj for that

 

[Zek]

player for music

What exactly do you mean by "music player" - hardware or software for playing music?

 

[delta76]

What exactly do you mean by "music player" - hardware or software for playing music?

anything that can play music, like streaming from phone via bluetooth, or a pc. Whatever simpler

 

[Zek]

One option: anything that can play music connect to AVR, AVR's line out to Sabaj.
Second option: some kind of RCA switcher to connect players and AVR to Sabaj.