I have been using a Denon avr 4500h for 5.1.4 dolby atmos and 2.0 stereo music listening for the past years. The two front speakers are connected via a power amp from ANC-2100. I used the HEOS app to stream music and my frontend speakers were Klipsch rp-6000f tower speakers. I had a great soundstage, holographic, wonderful depth, and precise imaging. the base was very impactful, deep everything was very good.
Lately, I decided that I wanted to try something better, so I bought a new R2R ladder Gustard R26 DAC in order to achieve that "3d immersive soundstage" that all reviewers out there are raving about.
I read that connecting the dac through the AVR will not show its full potential, because avr's tend to convert analogue signals to digital and then pass it through their own dac again. So I bought a preamp from denafrips (Hestia).
Then I decided to buy a dedicated streamer, so I bought the Eversolo DMP A6 Master Edition. Everything sounded great, but the difference between the "old setup" via my AVR and the new set was pretty minor in all aspects. (The base sounded more controlled, but soundstage was pretty identical).
I thought to my self that my system is probably not resolving enough, so I decided to swap my front end speakers to Kef R7 Meta. The sound changed a lot and became much better, but still when comparing the two systems, with the new speakers, the difference is pretty minor. The dedicated stereo system's soundstage is wider, a smidge deeper with a bit more air and with a bit more clarity, but again, the differences are definitely not night and day. Both of the"chains" are connected to a Schiit sys passive preamp so I could switch between them easily to the same poweramp.
I know the Denon avr-4500h has a great dac section from AKM and is not considered to be an entry level receiver, so maybe that is the reason or, all the reviewer's hype trains are all crap and biased, I don't really know. The next step is going to be upgrading my poweramp, thinking of buying the NAD M23.
To sum it all up, the dedicated Eversolo dmp A6 m.a- Gustard R26- Denafrips Hestia does sound better from the Denon AVR-4500h but not by a mile. Maybe a better AMP will show the differences even more, I'll write an update after buying it.
Lately, I decided that I wanted to try something better, so I bought a new R2R ladder Gustard R26 DAC in order to achieve that "3d immersive soundstage" that all reviewers out there are raving about.
I read that connecting the dac through the AVR will not show its full potential, because avr's tend to convert analogue signals to digital and then pass it through their own dac again. So I bought a preamp from denafrips (Hestia).
Then I decided to buy a dedicated streamer, so I bought the Eversolo DMP A6 Master Edition. Everything sounded great, but the difference between the "old setup" via my AVR and the new set was pretty minor in all aspects. (The base sounded more controlled, but soundstage was pretty identical).
I thought to my self that my system is probably not resolving enough, so I decided to swap my front end speakers to Kef R7 Meta. The sound changed a lot and became much better, but still when comparing the two systems, with the new speakers, the difference is pretty minor. The dedicated stereo system's soundstage is wider, a smidge deeper with a bit more air and with a bit more clarity, but again, the differences are definitely not night and day. Both of the"chains" are connected to a Schiit sys passive preamp so I could switch between them easily to the same poweramp.
I know the Denon avr-4500h has a great dac section from AKM and is not considered to be an entry level receiver, so maybe that is the reason or, all the reviewer's hype trains are all crap and biased, I don't really know. The next step is going to be upgrading my poweramp, thinking of buying the NAD M23.
To sum it all up, the dedicated Eversolo dmp A6 m.a- Gustard R26- Denafrips Hestia does sound better from the Denon AVR-4500h but not by a mile. Maybe a better AMP will show the differences even more, I'll write an update after buying it.
