Combined 2ch system and home theater

[Berwhale]

Frankly you don't want volume controls or other stuff messing with the signal in a cheap switcher.

Indeed, maybe I should just screw a pair of these to the back of my speakers...

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Knife-sw...264459098704?_trksid=p2385738.m4383.l4275.c10

 

[carlob]

Harbeth's Alan Shaw advice: https://www.harbeth.co.uk/usergroup...a-20-audio-switch-over-comparator-©-alan.882/

 

[murl]

To the OP, my solution was to use an AV pre/pro, a quality amp and speakers front left and right with powered speakers for center, surrounds and subs. So I've pretty good stuff for stereo, and good surround. I do just switch to stereo mode via the Marantz pre/pro. The Marantz is the bottle neck on performance, but if you want it to be usable by someone else it is among the more convenient solutions.

I'd also suggest buying one 3 or so years old where you can get a great discount of 50 to 70% vs original pricing. You lose out on the very latest version or two of advanced surround formats, but the availability of those in media lags their introduction by that much anyway.

If you were to do this, you could have a quality line level selector which switches line inputs. One uses what comes from the pre/pro for front left and right for movies, and the other uses line level from another source like a good DAC. That way your pre/pro isn't a bottle neck for stereo. Much simpler than speaker switching.

This way the only part you might periodically change out is the pre/pro, speakers, amps etc aren't something you need to change very often.

So you just use an analog in on the Pre/pro with a good DAC and use direct/pure mode on the marantz vs an amp selector?

 

[murl]

Frankly you don't want volume controls or other stuff messing with the signal in a cheap switcher.

I agree, volume control is unnecessary.

 

[Juhazi]

My suggestion and how I do it is:

Buy a modern mid-price (600€) AVR that has at least pre-outs for main speakers and sub(s) Then connect your favourite active speakers or amplifier to pre-outs and all other speakers directly to AVR. AVRs don't have state-of the art dacs for stereo, but most are decent. AVR gives possibility to set levels and delays to match 5.1-2 use. Remember, that the center speaker shoud be similar or at least have similar crossover to main speakers to get maximal coherency!

For headphones listening get a separate dac/amp, if you are not happy with the AVR's HP out.

And maybe you can build another puristic stereo set in another room? Or a puristic HT room?

 

[Blumlein 88]

So you just use an analog in on the Pre/pro with a good DAC and use direct/pure mode on the marantz vs an amp selector?

I've get it set up where I can do this. Quite often I simply use the DAC in the pre/pro. I will sometimes connect a better DAC straight to the amp for the front speakers bypassing everything else. Which you could make a simple change to do with a balanced XLR switchbox or RCA if that is what you are using.

If you do the latter then your choices are everything through pre/pro or stereo direct from quality DAC to left and right front power amps (with none of it going thru the pre/pro). That is what I'm suggesting for you.

I've not used this one, but it is what I have in mind.
https://www.markertek.com/product/a...xlr-a-b-switcher-stereo-input-signal-switcher

One input is from the front left and right pre/pro outputs. The other input is from your outboard quality DAC. You easily switch between them for the front stereo channels. You probably can find less expensive ones, especially if you are using RCA.

 

[JoachimStrobel]

I would go for 5 identical loudspeakers. That may become 6 as a single centre and the TV or Screen are fighting for space and playing the Centre horizontally defeats the purpose of having identical ones. Than look for an all analog 5channel preamp with multiple inputs. Now you can combine what you like. A fancy 2ch DAC feeding into the preamp, and a 5 channel feed from a AVpreamp. That will not do Atmos and other fancy 5+ stuff and that is the limit. Alternatively, you could simply have a kind of selector in front of the amps without volume control - but the internet is full of stories how this one impossible event happened where somebody accidentally drove the amps 100% because of one single little problem and the speakers were damaged. ( I avoided the .1 issue. This is the LFE channel- Low frequency Events. There are no LFE events in music, except a cannon ball in one symphony and a 16 Hz organ pipe that needs a special church to be build for it. But good for video where your senses are caught by the events so you could make a budget wise decision there...)

 

[LTig]

Are there any preamp processors that have better feature sets and quality?

The Classé Sigma SSP has probably the best measured THD under those AV processors tested here, see my measurements. It might fit your requirements.

The feature set is probably not on par with a Marantz AV8805 but you can control and setup everything without the need of an external TV screen. There is no automatic room control but with a microphone and REW you can determine the required filter settings for the 9 band full parametric EQ (per channel), as I did. Before I had a Marantz AV7701 and the Audissey setup was easy but the results very inconsistent between runs - and no way to go back to a good setting.

 

[Kal Rubinson]

I've get it set up where I can do this. Quite often I simply use the DAC in the pre/pro. I will sometimes connect a better DAC straight to the amp for the front speakers bypassing everything else. Which you could make a simple change to do with a balanced XLR switchbox or RCA if that is what you are using.
............................................................................................................
I've not used this one, but it is what I have in mind.
https://www.markertek.com/product/a...xlr-a-b-switcher-stereo-input-signal-switcher

One input is from the front left and right pre/pro outputs. The other input is from your outboard quality DAC. You easily switch between them for the front stereo channels. You probably can find less expensive ones, especially if you are using RCA.

How about this for under $60: https://www.amazon.com/Nobsound-Aud...coding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=NARBN5R0300C76YGXWPA

 

[LTig]

How about this for under $60: https://www.amazon.com/Nobsound-Aud...coding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=NARBN5R0300C76YGXWPA

I would invest 5 $ more for better looks and handling:

Nobsound Mini 3 Ways Stereo XLR switcher

 

[Kal Rubinson]

I would invest 5 $ more for better looks and handling:

Nobsound Mini 3 Ways Stereo XLR switcher

Me, too. I am working on building my own multichannel switcher but if that fails to proceed, the alternative is 3-4 of those.

 

[BeepPeep_61]

Hi, I have been using this switcher for several months to send the XLR analog outputs of the Dac Sonica OPPO or the Accuphase DP65V CD compared to the front outputs of the Marantz AV8805, directly to my MC601 final in the 2 Ch listening configuration.
I bodied the Nobsound so as to hide the front sockets by extending the commutator shaft with an extension.
All this because the audio quality actually improves significantly compared to passing signals in the AV8805 !!

 

[capitanharlock]

Unfortunately all those solutions are too complicated or uncomfortable if you would like to play stereo and multichannel music from a nas or a music server, and having an active room correction in place for both.
The only way is using the best Avr you can buy.
Maybe the upcoming ArcamAv40 will do.

 

[Berwhale]

My wife and children are at the in-laws today, so amplifier switch mk.1 got built...

Cost of the parts was around £20.

The box will be used to switch between the Onkyo AVR on the left and the Onix 2 channel amp on the bottom right. The Onix will be fed by the SMSL Sanskrit connected to the Nvidia Shield above the satellite box (USB) and a hidden ChromeCast Audio (TosLink). The Sanskrit was the cheapest DAC I could find that measures relatively well and has digital volume via IR remote (the Onix has a manual volume). The Sanskrit also happens to be the perfect form factor...

 

[Kal Rubinson]

I picked up one of these for dirt-cheap off the internet. Consists of two switches, each of which is an 8 channel balanced 2in/1out switch. In series, it is 3in/1out. Cables arrive next week.
https://www.electrostandards.com/309256-9256-2-channel-db25-a-b-switch-623.html

 

[Sal1950]

Unfortunately all those solutions are too complicated or uncomfortable if you would like to play stereo and multichannel music from a nas or a music server, and having an active room correction in place for both.
The only way is using the best Avr you can buy.
Maybe the upcoming ArcamAv40 will do.

Yep, lot of new options coming around the bend.
I used to keep a couple cables easily accessible to switch from using my Marantz 7703 pre/pro to having my Emotiva DC-1 DAC driving the front L & R speakers amp for a pure stereo path, the Emo has a remote with level control and could switch between 1 analog or 3 digital sources.
But in the end I found having the Audyssey room correction, dual subwoofer integration, available 2 to 5 or 9 ch upsampling, and other functions the 7703 offers much more valuable than any supposed SQ improvement from running a path without it.
I've been doing some form of multichannel for 45 years now and kept completely separate systems for most of the first 35. With todays gear I don't really worry anymore over any extremely subtle SQ loss that the measurements show might be possible. I believe if you get a good pre/pro and quality separate amplification you'll be in good shape SQ wise.
There's also the $ question, how much do you want to spend. Some of the guys here are suggesting $20-30K + configurations.

 

[murl]

Looks like there are multiple options. I find the LCD4s hard to beat SQ wise without spending a ton of money on speakers. I was listening to some Sabrina's today and don't get me wrong they are nice but I couldn't help but thinking I would be just as happy listening to the LCD4s. Just difficult to share music with them.

 

[murl]

BTW I know the whole headphone vs 2ch speaker set up is a totally different argument just commenting on my personal preference and bang for the buck.

 

[murl]

I had the opportunity to listen to some interesting speakers this weekend. Heard the Wilson Audio sabrinas and Sasha DAWs as well as the revel salon 2s. The salon 2s were on close out for 8800, not a terrible price for those speakers. I would still like to hear the Dutch and Dutch 8cs.

 

[jjk]

Hello Gents,
This looks like a good place for me to seek some guidance.
I am a MCH operator. Home theater But MCH music too.
I am a bit unconventional in that I employ I2S from a PinkFaun streamer/I2S bridge to 3 Matrix DACS. I have monoblock amps and top shelf Revel speakers.
Looking at the measurements, it seems pretty clear that the Emotiva XMC-1 is the weak link in the system.
However, it only exists as a switch and a volume control.
I really don't care that much about the fidelity of directv or bluray through the Emotiva, but obviously I want the music to be as pure as possible.
Given that music files only pass straight through in an analog path, only affected by the volume control (no trims/eq...all that is accomplished digitally previously in JRiver), how much is the Emotiva downgrading the audio.
Amir's measurments are poor but that mostly has to do with DAC performance.
What do y'all think? And do you have any alternatives or suggestions for me? Thanks very much.