- Joined
- Dec 29, 2020
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After 23 years of service it's time to upgrade our stereo system.
Existing system:
— CD player
— Onkyo TX-8511 (integrated tuner and amp, 100 watts per channel, 0.08% THD)
— Kef Q15 speakers
— Subwoofer (Due to placement, the sound is so disconnected from the Kefs that I turned it down to the point that it is barely audible.)
Budget for new system: $5k.
(Accounting will be happier if it's closer to $4k.)
[No one really cares if Accounting is happy, so long as they sign the check.]
We own perhaps 100 CDs. Of these, 80% are classical; two parts instrumental one part vocal. The 20% of the collection that is not classical is mostly vocal with acoustic accompaniment. I don't think we have a single recording with electric guitars—though I occasionally listen to that sort of thing on the radio.
I like pure, clear sound, true to the performance. (The Q15s were a revelation at first hearing.)
The room is 15 x 20 feet with 9 foot ceilings; the speakers are on the 15 foot wall.
My selections so far:
Speakers:
Kef LS50 Meta
Kef Kube 8b sub (to be placed between the LS50s, pending approval by Aesthetics)
I chose the LS50 Metas as the most likely to reproduce the music as played, with good presence and a broad soundstage.
[I've picked up the lingo pretty well in just a few days of reading, yes?
]
I want to use a DSP to attenuate the LS50s at ~60 Hz and ship the lower frequencies to the sub.
(Or is the crossover knob on the sub good enough?)
Power amp: NAD C 268
Everything upstream of the power amp is up in the air.
Requirements:
— A streamer for radio stations, recordings (a la Qobuz), and local storage. (I'll eventually put all the CDs on a NAS.)
— TV audio.
— DVD/CD player.
The above inputs must be selectable, just as if they were inputs to a preamp or integrated amplifier. (Though of course without hardware buttons.)
Note, though, that the DVD output can be routed through the TV if necessary, eliminating the DVD as a separate input.
— A tool for manipulating the audio stream to suit the room. I'm leaning toward Dirac Live.
I considered the miniDSP DDRC-24 because it would give me the room equalizer, crossover DSP, and preamp in one package.
I also considered the SHD, for the better quality DAC and the Volumio streamer.
I decided I do not want to be tied to a particular streamer or room equalizer.
I do want consistency and reliability, which seem to be lacking in the miniDSP integration of Volumio and Dirac with their DSP.
To get flexibility with regard to streamer and room equalizer, I'm leaning toward a PC host for these tools. I'm most familiar with Windows, but I have worked in real time with both Windows and QNX. I can work with any operating system, programming language, or programming tool.
However, this is a hobby, so I reserve the right to rebel against excessive quirkiness or clunkiness.
By the way, I am a mechanical engineer who migrated into software to control automatic machinery. The most technically difficult project was development of a CNC motion controller, including circuit boards for interface to servo motors, servo position control, real time path planning, and compiling G code. So I understand real time programming and know a little bit about frequencies and filters. But I have no experience with designing crossovers, and no in-depth understanding of audio theory or electronic hardware.
Assuming the PC and Windows 10:
I'm leaning toward JRiver, but I really don't know enough to rule out any other streamer.
Except Volumio is out—I don't want to pay Volumio every month for the privilege of paying Qobuz every month.
Do you know if JRiver supports FLAQ files?
Assuming, then, that it's JRiver and Dirac Live on Windows 10, here are some questions:
— The SPDIF (optical) output from the TV will have to be connected to the PC, and it must be recognized by JRiver as an audio source.
Any suggestions on the input hardware?
Is JRiver able to discover the TV input and treat it as another audio source?
— The output from JRiver must be piped into Dirac Live.
Is this possible?
— The output from Dirac Live must be piped into a DSP tool for implementation of the speaker/sub crossover.
Do I need a separate DSP library? (that is, separate from Dirac Live)
If so, suggestions?
— The output from the crossover must be sent to the DAC. (likely via USB)
I'm leaning toward the Schiit Modius for the DAC.
The lack of support for MQA and DSD may be a problem.
Can JRiver convert MQA and DSD to PCM?
Should I care about MQA or DSD?
When I read about the Modius on the Schiit web site, I got the impression I could use the Modius as a preamp.
While writing this post, I saw an article about the Modius being used with the Magnius preamp.
Do I have to use a preamp between the Modius and the power amp?
Finally, volume control is an open issue.
Does JRiver support volume adjustment?
Or would it be better (and simpler) to spend the $200 for the Magnius preamp and get both volume control and a headphone jack?
Thanks very much for any help you can give. I'm sure I could answer some of these questions by googling and reading the relevant manuals. Tapping your knowledge will save me many hours and will likely prevent many mistakes.
Existing system:
— CD player
— Onkyo TX-8511 (integrated tuner and amp, 100 watts per channel, 0.08% THD)
— Kef Q15 speakers
— Subwoofer (Due to placement, the sound is so disconnected from the Kefs that I turned it down to the point that it is barely audible.)
Budget for new system: $5k.
(Accounting will be happier if it's closer to $4k.)
[No one really cares if Accounting is happy, so long as they sign the check.]
We own perhaps 100 CDs. Of these, 80% are classical; two parts instrumental one part vocal. The 20% of the collection that is not classical is mostly vocal with acoustic accompaniment. I don't think we have a single recording with electric guitars—though I occasionally listen to that sort of thing on the radio.
I like pure, clear sound, true to the performance. (The Q15s were a revelation at first hearing.)
The room is 15 x 20 feet with 9 foot ceilings; the speakers are on the 15 foot wall.
My selections so far:
Speakers:
Kef LS50 Meta
Kef Kube 8b sub (to be placed between the LS50s, pending approval by Aesthetics)
I chose the LS50 Metas as the most likely to reproduce the music as played, with good presence and a broad soundstage.
[I've picked up the lingo pretty well in just a few days of reading, yes?
]I want to use a DSP to attenuate the LS50s at ~60 Hz and ship the lower frequencies to the sub.
(Or is the crossover knob on the sub good enough?)
Power amp: NAD C 268
Everything upstream of the power amp is up in the air.
Requirements:
— A streamer for radio stations, recordings (a la Qobuz), and local storage. (I'll eventually put all the CDs on a NAS.)
— TV audio.
— DVD/CD player.
The above inputs must be selectable, just as if they were inputs to a preamp or integrated amplifier. (Though of course without hardware buttons.)
Note, though, that the DVD output can be routed through the TV if necessary, eliminating the DVD as a separate input.
— A tool for manipulating the audio stream to suit the room. I'm leaning toward Dirac Live.
I considered the miniDSP DDRC-24 because it would give me the room equalizer, crossover DSP, and preamp in one package.
I also considered the SHD, for the better quality DAC and the Volumio streamer.
I decided I do not want to be tied to a particular streamer or room equalizer.
I do want consistency and reliability, which seem to be lacking in the miniDSP integration of Volumio and Dirac with their DSP.
To get flexibility with regard to streamer and room equalizer, I'm leaning toward a PC host for these tools. I'm most familiar with Windows, but I have worked in real time with both Windows and QNX. I can work with any operating system, programming language, or programming tool.
However, this is a hobby, so I reserve the right to rebel against excessive quirkiness or clunkiness.
By the way, I am a mechanical engineer who migrated into software to control automatic machinery. The most technically difficult project was development of a CNC motion controller, including circuit boards for interface to servo motors, servo position control, real time path planning, and compiling G code. So I understand real time programming and know a little bit about frequencies and filters. But I have no experience with designing crossovers, and no in-depth understanding of audio theory or electronic hardware.
Assuming the PC and Windows 10:
I'm leaning toward JRiver, but I really don't know enough to rule out any other streamer.
Except Volumio is out—I don't want to pay Volumio every month for the privilege of paying Qobuz every month.
Do you know if JRiver supports FLAQ files?
Assuming, then, that it's JRiver and Dirac Live on Windows 10, here are some questions:
— The SPDIF (optical) output from the TV will have to be connected to the PC, and it must be recognized by JRiver as an audio source.
Any suggestions on the input hardware?
Is JRiver able to discover the TV input and treat it as another audio source?
— The output from JRiver must be piped into Dirac Live.
Is this possible?
— The output from Dirac Live must be piped into a DSP tool for implementation of the speaker/sub crossover.
Do I need a separate DSP library? (that is, separate from Dirac Live)
If so, suggestions?
— The output from the crossover must be sent to the DAC. (likely via USB)
I'm leaning toward the Schiit Modius for the DAC.
The lack of support for MQA and DSD may be a problem.
Can JRiver convert MQA and DSD to PCM?
Should I care about MQA or DSD?
When I read about the Modius on the Schiit web site, I got the impression I could use the Modius as a preamp.
While writing this post, I saw an article about the Modius being used with the Magnius preamp.
Do I have to use a preamp between the Modius and the power amp?
Finally, volume control is an open issue.
Does JRiver support volume adjustment?
Or would it be better (and simpler) to spend the $200 for the Magnius preamp and get both volume control and a headphone jack?
Thanks very much for any help you can give. I'm sure I could answer some of these questions by googling and reading the relevant manuals. Tapping your knowledge will save me many hours and will likely prevent many mistakes.
