So I"m getting into Hi Fi. I started with headphone upgrades, going from basic headphones and a phone to Sundaras and a JDS Atom setup. The difference was noteworthy. Now I'm taking a look at my HT system and trying to decide where to go next. I have a beginner (Andrew Jones) stuff 5.2 system. It works great for movies and video games, but is a little lacking for music. I'm trying to decide where to go from here, but it looks like I'll have to make compromises one way or the other.
It looks like the core of a good Hi Fi system are it's speakers. So to hit that Hi Fi level I think I'm roughly looking at $2K+ in speakers. I could power them with my current, budget 7.2 channel receiver, but as we've seen here on ASR AVR's don't tend to have the best AMP and DAC performance for musical fidelity. What I would like to do is have the best sound possible for music, movies, and games, but with the emphasis on music.
One option would be to simply buy Hi Fi speakers and plug them into my AVR setup. I wouldn't get the most out of them, but they would still be an improvement. In that scenario the weak link would be the distortion coming from the AVR's DAC and AMP and maybe a lack of power also. Another option would be to use the AVR's preouts to hook up a better amp. That would give my fronts the power they need, but I'd still be using the DAC in the AVR. A third option would be to get a stereo DAC, like that used for headphones (ex. SMLS SU-9), which are inexpensive and offer great fidelity and just ditching surround sound. I wouldn't mind that. I could use the optical out on the TV to hook up the DAC and just do stereo. The thing that I worry about, though, is that I would have to use an RCA splitter to hook up my subs. I could use the passive crossover in the subs to stop them from playing frequencies above 80Hz, but my speakers would still be getting everything from the DAC, so they may be playing lower frequencies than they optimally can, since none of the low cost, but audibly transparent DACs I know of have bass management like an AVR does. I also wouldn't have room correction anymore either.
It's too bad there isn't a low cost, but good DAC a la SMLS SU-9 that includes bass management/crossovers, sub outs, and maybe room correction. I can see why lots of people just have a stereo setup, without a TV. It looks to be hard or very expensive to maximize Hi Fi with HT. Buying "separates," like a good preamp and a power amp costs thousands and I can't imagine spending more on the electronics than the speakers. It seems counterintuitive. It's just so much easier to reach high fidelity with headphones I can see why they're so popular.
Any suggestions?
How much performance can I expect to lose if I use a cheap AVR (mfg rates them at 100watts x 2 channels @ 8 ohms) with high quality tower speakers (something like 8 ohms and 90 to 92 sensitivity?)
It looks like the core of a good Hi Fi system are it's speakers. So to hit that Hi Fi level I think I'm roughly looking at $2K+ in speakers. I could power them with my current, budget 7.2 channel receiver, but as we've seen here on ASR AVR's don't tend to have the best AMP and DAC performance for musical fidelity. What I would like to do is have the best sound possible for music, movies, and games, but with the emphasis on music.
One option would be to simply buy Hi Fi speakers and plug them into my AVR setup. I wouldn't get the most out of them, but they would still be an improvement. In that scenario the weak link would be the distortion coming from the AVR's DAC and AMP and maybe a lack of power also. Another option would be to use the AVR's preouts to hook up a better amp. That would give my fronts the power they need, but I'd still be using the DAC in the AVR. A third option would be to get a stereo DAC, like that used for headphones (ex. SMLS SU-9), which are inexpensive and offer great fidelity and just ditching surround sound. I wouldn't mind that. I could use the optical out on the TV to hook up the DAC and just do stereo. The thing that I worry about, though, is that I would have to use an RCA splitter to hook up my subs. I could use the passive crossover in the subs to stop them from playing frequencies above 80Hz, but my speakers would still be getting everything from the DAC, so they may be playing lower frequencies than they optimally can, since none of the low cost, but audibly transparent DACs I know of have bass management like an AVR does. I also wouldn't have room correction anymore either.
It's too bad there isn't a low cost, but good DAC a la SMLS SU-9 that includes bass management/crossovers, sub outs, and maybe room correction. I can see why lots of people just have a stereo setup, without a TV. It looks to be hard or very expensive to maximize Hi Fi with HT. Buying "separates," like a good preamp and a power amp costs thousands and I can't imagine spending more on the electronics than the speakers. It seems counterintuitive. It's just so much easier to reach high fidelity with headphones I can see why they're so popular.
Any suggestions?
How much performance can I expect to lose if I use a cheap AVR (mfg rates them at 100watts x 2 channels @ 8 ohms) with high quality tower speakers (something like 8 ohms and 90 to 92 sensitivity?)