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#1
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Should I get a new amp?
Hi,
I'm trying to build a midto high-fi audio system on a reasonable budget for 80% audio and 20% movies. Right now I'm sticking to 2 channel but would like the option to upgrade in time. I'm worried my amp is lower in quality then my speakers and subwoofer and was hoping to get some advice as to whether I should return the amp/receiver in favor of higher quality. Are my strong speakers and sub being wasted with my mediocre receiver? - Receiver - Pioneer VSX-1014TX-K (http://reviews.cnet.com/Pioneer_VSX_....html?tag=spec) - Main speakers - Soliloquy 5.0s (http://www.solspeak.com/sol_products/i_monitors.php) - Subwoofer - Audio Physic Luna (http://www.aanvilaudio.u-net.com/ap_luna_1.htm) My speaker cables are decent 12AWG and I will have qulity RCA interconnects. Thanks in advance for any suggestions. -Dave |
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#3
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Dave wrote in message
Hi, I'm trying to build a mid to high-fi audio system on a reasonable budget for 80% audio and 20% movies. Right now I'm sticking to 2 channel but would like the option to upgrade in time. Dave, since you plan on using your system watching movies 20% of the time, you need to accept now that what you need is a multi-ch amp. and additional speakers. I'm worried my amp is lower in quality than my speakers and subwoofer and was hoping to get some advice as to whether I should return the amp/receiver in favor of higher quality. Are my strong speakers and sub being wasted with my mediocre receiver? As I don't own that receiver, none of that specs, prints, and picture would tell me if it'll sound good along with your speaker and powered subw -- which I also don't own. There might be others in this ng who has that particular Pioneer. Since you think that it is a mediocre receiver, I think you should get a receiver that is not mediocre. - Receiver - Pioneer VSX-1014TX-K (http://reviews.cnet.com/Pioneer_VSX_....html?tag=spec) I can't tell whether you're wasting your strong speaker and sub on this receiver. They might, in fact, be a perfect match. Do you have any other question ? |
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#4
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Since you think that it is a mediocre receiver, I think you should get a receiver that is not mediocre. Ok, I threw the Pioneer on eBay and I think I'm going with a Xindak XA-6900SE with a Xindak SACD. I've read strong reviews of Xindak sound and quality compared with the Pioneer. My concern now is that I'll have to turn this thing on hours in advance before it reaches its sound potential. I would also like to leave it on all the time, but I doubt that's smart since the amp and CD have some tubes running inside. Can I leave on all the time? |
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#5
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Dave wrote in message
Since you think that it is a mediocre receiver, I think you should get a receiver that is not mediocre. Ok, I threw the Pioneer on eBay and I think I'm going with a Xindak XA-6900SE with a Xindak SACD. I've read strong reviews of Xindak sound and quality compared with the Pioneer. The Pioneer receiver you tossed cost about $400, with the 2 ch Xindak SE amp that your considering at $2000, that's 4 times your original budget plus another $1700 for the SACD. I think you should judiciously allocate your budget if you still plan to build a mid to hifi audio system yet, aspire to use it to watch movies 20% at the time. My concern now is that I'll have to turn this thing on hours in advance before it reaches its sound potential. I would also like to leave it on all the time, but I doubt that's smart since the amp and CD have some tubes running inside. Can I leave on all the time? I have a tube preamp that uses 4 tubes. There are times that I listen to my system on consecutive days for several weeks, so I leave it on. I turn it off if I don't plan to listen in 2 - 3 days. At one time, I left them on for over a year and the tubes lasted about the same time compare to another set a year later after they've been consistently powered off at the end of day. Both sets lasted 12 1/2 mos. |
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#6
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"JBorg" wrote in message .com...
Dave wrote in message Since you think that it is a mediocre receiver, I think you should get a receiver that is not mediocre. Ok, I threw the Pioneer on eBay and I think I'm going with a Xindak XA-6900SE with a Xindak SACD. I've read strong reviews of Xindak sound and quality compared with the Pioneer. The Pioneer receiver you tossed cost about $400, with the 2 ch Xindak SE amp that your considering at $2000, that's 4 times your original budget Amp is costing me the same as the Pioneer. plus another $1700 for the SACD. I think you should judiciously allocate your budget if you still plan to build a mid to hifi audio system yet, aspire to use it to watch movies 20% at the time. SACD is costing same as amp- I think I am being judicious here. I decided if I start watching more movies down the road I can get a DSP. This is minimum several years away. My concern now is that I'll have to turn this thing on hours in advance before it reaches its sound potential. I would also like to leave it on all the time, but I doubt that's smart since the amp and CD have some tubes running inside. Can I leave on all the time? I have a tube preamp that uses 4 tubes. There are times that I listen to my system on consecutive days for several weeks, so I leave it on. I turn it off if I don't plan to listen in 2 - 3 days. At one time, I left them on for over a year and the tubes lasted about the same time compare to another set a year later after they've been consistently powered off at the end of day. Both sets lasted 12 1/2 mos. Only 12 1/2 months? I was expecting 5 years from them. This is a concern. My seller told me not to leave on b/c it will "greatly reduce tube life." Sounds like that's not the case. Thanks for the info. |
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#7
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Dave wrote in message
JBorg" wrote in message Dave wrote in message Since you think that it is a mediocre receiver, I think you should get a receiver that is not mediocre. Ok, I threw the Pioneer on eBay and I think I'm going with a Xindak XA-6900SE with a Xindak SACD. I've read strong reviews of Xindak sound and quality compared with the Pioneer. The Pioneer receiver you tossed cost about $400, with the 2 ch Xindak SE amp that your considering at $2000, that's 4 times your original budget Amp is costing me the same as the Pioneer. The Xindak amp don't look like $400, you sure? plus another $1700 for the SACD. I think you should judiciously allocate your budget if you still plan to build a mid to hifi audio system yet, aspire to use it to watch movies 20% at the time. SACD is costing same as amp- I think I am being judicious here. I decided if I start watching more movies down the road I can get a DSP. This is minimum several years away. You sure? You might wanna check if they're giving you the same gear. BTW, if you're gonna use dsp, are you going to get separate amp to drive the speakers in the back ? Hmm, maybe you don't want speaker for the back and that's ok too. My concern now is that I'll have to turn this thing on hours in advance before it reaches its sound potential. I would also like to leave it on all the time, but I doubt that's smart since the amp and CD have some tubes running inside. Can I leave on all the time? I have a tube preamp that uses 4 tubes. There are times that I listen to my system on consecutive days for several weeks, so I leave it on. I turn it off if I don't plan to listen in 2 - 3 days. At one time, I left them on for over a year and the tubes lasted about the same time compare to another set a year later after they've been consistently powered off at the end of day. Both sets lasted 12 1/2 mos. Only 12 1/2 months? I was expecting 5 years from them. This is a concern. My seller told me not to leave on b/c it will "greatly reduce tube life." Sounds like that's not the case. Thanks for the info. Dave, 12 1/2 months is a stretch. When I was using that preamp early on anywhere from 1 to 3 hours a day, 4 to 5 days a week, on the average they lasted 10 months. Sovtek 6922 cost $15 a pop, so that wasn't so bad. Ask the dealer for specific infos. alright. You sure you don't have any more question? |
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#8
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Dave wrote:
Hi, I'm trying to build a midto high-fi audio system on a reasonable budget for 80% audio and 20% movies. - Receiver - Pioneer VSX-1014TX-K (http://reviews.cnet.com/Pioneer_VSX_....html?tag=spec) Some months back I auditioned a pioneer vsx 1013, or some such, I think quite similar to what you have, plus a yamaha dsp az something-or-other, etc.. I even went all the way up to a 2500euro rotel, which was the best amongst the bunch. The problem with all of them was that they just didn't have the ability to render decent two channel audio. Most notibly they lacked in dynamics and detail. The pioneer even missed completely whole set of sounds on some bueno vista social club tracks !!  The *cheapest* model I auditioned, end ended up buying was the Cambridge Audio Azur 540R receiver. It's two channel delivery is miles ahead compared to much more expensive models mentioned above (costs 690euro here in finland). I would recommend this to you. My setup eventually turned into a "hybrid" system though, consisting of a "real" two channel amp (Densen beat 100) for the front channels, feeding sonus faber concerto grand pianos. For home theater the cambridge just works as a pre amp feeding a the tape loop of the densen (with the densens volume turned to max) for the front channels. For all them other channels required for HT I use audio pro speakers, plus an audio pro sub, fed directly by the cmabridge unit. I know it's no ideal solution but works like a charm. I have spectcular (by my standarts) two channel audio, plus good HT for movies *without* comprimising from my pure two channel audio bliss. I have read in some forums that the Marantzin SR5400OSE and SR5400 are even better then the cambridge in two channel sound quality, plus that they have more of the typical HT receiver bells and whistles involved. So you might want to give an audition to them also. But my ultimate advice to you would be that get some primare, electrocompaniet, densen, krell etc, dedicated two channel integrated, a good cd player and enjoy real music. Like I do, use the front LR preouts of your 6/7.1 channel receiver (you might no even need to change your pioneer for this) to feed your *real* amp for the front channels in HT mode.. My last advice would be that do not use your DVD player (unless it's some meridian, linn, etc) for CD audio rendering. Do get a reasonable dedicated CD player for that. |
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#9
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"Dave" wrote in message
m Hi, I'm trying to build a midto high-fi audio system on a reasonable budget for 80% audio and 20% movies. Right now I'm sticking to 2 channel but would like the option to upgrade in time. I'm worried my amp is lower in quality then my speakers and subwoofer and was hoping to get some advice as to whether I should return the amp/receiver in favor of higher quality. Are my strong speakers and sub being wasted with my mediocre receiver? First off, let me complement you on having a nicely-balanced system. No, I don't think that the receiver is unduely limiting your system's sound quality. I want to know where you want to go with your system. I think you have a nice LITTLE system, but it seems that does not satisfy you. That's fine, but where do you want to go? What is your vision for your next system? Perhaps it would help you if I pointed out that your current system, as nice as it is, can't go deep and can't go loud and stay clean-sounding. The problem area is the speakers, probably mostly the subwoofer. On the scale of subwoofers, a subwoofer that crows about generating a mere 104 dB ain't much. OTOH, if you live in a shared building, it might be as far as you can go and still keep the neighbors out of your hair. |
Hybrid Mode
