csepulv
Member
Recently, I've done some room swaps in my home and I looking to update the equipment in my new family room. I discovered ASR a few weeks ago and have been grateful, amazed, and a bit overwhelmed, by the treasure trove of information on the site. I've spent many hours reading, trying to lessen my ignorance. (Many thanks to @amirm and the ASR community.)
I have an old Denon AVR-3808CI and Paradigm speakers. I recently built a Raspberry PI streamer running Volumio. (I also have a Roku, DirecTV, and Blu-ray player).
From what I've read here, AVRs are okay, but generally suffer from stuffing a lot of elements in one box and can have mediocre components constrained by price (and perhaps not enough attention to detail/testing).
So, I am considering buying a good desktop DAC (Topping, possibly Matrix Audio) and a Hypex or Purifi based amp. I can imagine connecting the DAC and the amp, with my Denon DVR, in a few different ways:
Opt A
Raspberry PI stream->Topping DAC->Denon analog input (direct/pure direct mode)->amp
Opt B
Denon Pre-out (fronts) -> Matrix Mini-i 3 DAC (has analog inputs)
Raspberry PI Stream -> Matrix DAC
Matrix DAC -> Amp
In both cases, I would let the Denon handle HDMI switching/processing for the Blu-ray, DirecTV and Roku.
In opt (a), I lose the balanced output/input from the DAC to the amp. How significant a loss is that, for my overall music listening? Might the Denon introduce noise/problems to the DAC->amp chain, even in pure direct mode?
Option (a) is a bit cheaper (I could use Topping D30 Pro) and seems fine if the Denon doesn't cause the chain to break down.
Should I just get the DAC? Or just the amp?
My goal is a better music listening experience. I am relatively happy with my current setup, but I don't know if the Denon is "clean" enough (SINAD, power, ...).
In short, I am wondering if my AVR is a weak enough link in the chain that the Topping DAC, the Hypex (or Purifi) amp or both would make for a much better listening experience. (The Topping D30 Pro and a Hypex/Purifi amp seem like good values with very good performance.)
Or perhaps the weak link in the chain is me? That would be okay, but it is hard to know (i.e. measure) if I am the weak link.
Thanks in advance for any guidance.
I have an old Denon AVR-3808CI and Paradigm speakers. I recently built a Raspberry PI streamer running Volumio. (I also have a Roku, DirecTV, and Blu-ray player).
From what I've read here, AVRs are okay, but generally suffer from stuffing a lot of elements in one box and can have mediocre components constrained by price (and perhaps not enough attention to detail/testing).
So, I am considering buying a good desktop DAC (Topping, possibly Matrix Audio) and a Hypex or Purifi based amp. I can imagine connecting the DAC and the amp, with my Denon DVR, in a few different ways:
Opt A
Raspberry PI stream->Topping DAC->Denon analog input (direct/pure direct mode)->amp
Opt B
Denon Pre-out (fronts) -> Matrix Mini-i 3 DAC (has analog inputs)
Raspberry PI Stream -> Matrix DAC
Matrix DAC -> Amp
In both cases, I would let the Denon handle HDMI switching/processing for the Blu-ray, DirecTV and Roku.
In opt (a), I lose the balanced output/input from the DAC to the amp. How significant a loss is that, for my overall music listening? Might the Denon introduce noise/problems to the DAC->amp chain, even in pure direct mode?
Option (a) is a bit cheaper (I could use Topping D30 Pro) and seems fine if the Denon doesn't cause the chain to break down.
Should I just get the DAC? Or just the amp?
My goal is a better music listening experience. I am relatively happy with my current setup, but I don't know if the Denon is "clean" enough (SINAD, power, ...).
In short, I am wondering if my AVR is a weak enough link in the chain that the Topping DAC, the Hypex (or Purifi) amp or both would make for a much better listening experience. (The Topping D30 Pro and a Hypex/Purifi amp seem like good values with very good performance.)
Or perhaps the weak link in the chain is me? That would be okay, but it is hard to know (i.e. measure) if I am the weak link.
Thanks in advance for any guidance.