Non-Obtrusive Living Room Streaming Solution

[waynel]

I was looking for a small room décor friendly streaming solution for my living room with the following features

1) small form factor
2) Spotify connect and airplay with the ability to play local files from a server
3) proper bass management with hpf to main L+R output . Sub output LPF optional
4) ability for dsp room correction
5) built in amp
6) volume control knob

This is what I arrived at:

Spoiler: and a bunch of stuff hidden behind the books

and a bunch of stuff hidden behind the books:

This system now provides proper bass management, DSP room correction, 250W per channel into 4 Ohms while maintaining the illusion of being small and unobtrusive.

 

[waynel]

System consists of
Yamaha WXC-50 in preamp mode (direct) using SPDIF out (this serves as streamer and volume control) , Trigger out connected to Amp
MiniDSP nanoDigi for crossover and room correction
2X SMLS M300 mlk II DACs with xlr outputs (one for stereo , one for sub)
2X 10dB XLR attenuators
Audiophonics MPA-S250NC amplifier

Waiting on new speakers and sub (with XLR inputs).

 

[bigredrobotninja]

What are the XLR attenuators used for? Why are they needed if you have the nanoDigi?

 

[waynel]

What are the XLR attenuators used for? Why are they needed if you have the nanoDigi?

The DACs put out 4.2V when the volume is all the way up, The amps clip at 1.66V so I need 8dB attenuation as a failsafe in case the kids/dog turn the knob up all the way. 10dB is close enough and will keep the amp in its linear range without hurting the SINAD going in. This optimizes my gain structure.

 

[BDWoody]

The DACs put out 4.2V when the volume is all the way up, The amps clip at 1.66V so I need 8dB attenuation as a failsafe in case the kids/dog turn the knob up all the way. 10dB is close enough and will keep the amp in it's linear range without hurting the SINAD going in.

Where's your sense of adventure??!!

Tight little system. Nicely done.

 

[bigredrobotninja]

The DACs put out 4.2V when the volume is all the way up, The amps clip at 1.66V so I need 8dB attenuation as a failsafe in case the kids/dog turn the knob up all the way. 10dB is close enough and will keep the amp in it's linear range without hurting the SINAD going in. This optimizes my gain structure.

Makes sense, I'm considering a similar system and this is something I hadn't considered. Thanks.

 

[waynel]

I had previously tried the system with a Raspberry Pi Touch running Volumio as the front end rather than the WXC-50 and I think the Yamaha is a better solution

1) It has a intuitive volume knob that I can grab quickly, the rest of the family understands it too. I found the touchscreen controls clumsy and finicky ; often it would exit out or result in a much higher volume than I intended ( I set an upper limit so it wouldn't blow out by speakers which saved me a couple times)
2) Yamaha musicCast (or Heos or Sonos, take your pick) is more reliable than Volumio which would occasionally not work ( need to remount network drives, app had glitches, sometimes would just stop working until I rebooted) I want something that's easy for my family to use without having to play tech support.
3) Trigger functionality integrated ( I was in process of hacking together a GPIO controlled relay for the Pi before I gave up on it)
4) I have the Yamaha set to always start at -30dB, (Volumio also has this feature but it doesn't always work right after switching audio out, luckily I didn't trust it and turned my amp off!)

Wayne

 

[waynel]

New speakers have arrived , now just waiting on the new sub.

 

[Colonel7]

I had previously tried the system with a Raspberry Pi Touch running Volumio as the front end rather than the WXC-50 and I think the Yamaha is a better solution

1) It has a intuitive volume knob that I can grab quickly, the rest of the family understands it too. I found the touchscreen controls clumsy and finicky ; often it would exit out or result in a much higher volume than I intended ( I set an upper limit so it wouldn't blow out by speakers which saved me a couple times)
2) Yamaha musicCast (or Heos or Sonos, take your pick) is more reliable than Volumio which would occasionally not work ( need to remount network drives, app had glitches, sometimes would just stop working until I rebooted) I want something that's easy for my family to use without having to play tech support.
3) Trigger functionality integrated ( I was in process of hacking together a GPIO controlled relay for the Pi before I gave up on it)
4) I have the Yamaha set to always start at -30dB, (Volumio also has this feature but it doesn't always work right after switching audio out, luckily I didn't trust it and turned my amp off!)

Wayne

Have you ever tried the Yamaha's EQ through a browser or did you go straight to crossover solutions? Very nice system.

 

[waynel]

Have you ever tried the Yamaha's EQ through a browser or did you go straight to crossover solutions? Very nice system.

Thank you. Yes, I've tried it and the Yamaha EQ and "crossover" is beyond useless, See my measurements here (post 247)
https://www.audiosciencereview.com/...wxa-50-streaming-amp.7964/page-13#post-526942

 

[waynel]

E15HP2 arrived. It’s slightly bigger than the L12

 

[SDX-LV]

...
3) Trigger functionality integrated ( I was in process of hacking together a GPIO controlled relay for the Pi before I gave up on it)

I wonder how you use the "Trigger functionality" in this setup?

Or more generally, do you have a good idea how to cut AC power to all devices when main unit is turned off/on?

I like the idea of your installation. Perhaps finding a way to connect a TV and smoothly turn all devices on & off is what I am missing for myself

 

[waynel]

I wonder how you use the "Trigger functionality" in this setup?

Or more generally, do you have a good idea how to cut AC power to all devices when main unit is turned off/on?

I like the idea of your installation. Perhaps finding a way to connect a TV and smoothly turn all devices on & off is what I am missing for myself

I use the trigger out from the WXC-50 to turn the power amp on and off. I can use spotify connect or musicCast to play music and everything turns on without me touching anything but my phone. Turns off after 30 minutes (programmable)

The DACs and minDSP are always on but they don't use much power

No TV desired in the living room.