Thread: Home theatre versus stereo system.

Yes, same experience here.

I fixed it by feeding the stereo preamp outs of the HT Reciever into a decent stereo power amp. After balancing the outputs, I now have both good stereo and HT with minimum hassle to operate.

I think the HT Recievers are actually ok, but they don't shine a candle to a decent amp. If you think about it, there is a lot of watts and electronic processing in a HT Reciever for not a lot of money. Something has to give...

woodbe.

Broadly similar experience here too.

I do use the main (of 7) pair of speakers for purely audio though; also with some CDs I can make use of the sub-woofer, but only if they are of the appropriate recording format (which is?).

The theatre system makes use of an Onkyo amp, and the HiFi goes through a Technics one - although I can't see why I couldn't make use of the Onkyo for both??

Originally Posted by Iain

audio sytem is NAD with KEF.

Their is a massive difference $ for $ in the sub $1000 AV amp quality compared to a dedicated 2ch Amp. What NAD and KEF do you have? i used to have a 3020e and the Q55`s That was a budget system made in heaven the digital sound now days sux

The guts of my system is Yamaha, sounds great on everything.

Originally Posted by Termite

The guts of my system is Yamaha, sounds great on everything.

Same here. Listening to purely cd's, the Yamaha has a "pure direct" switch which routes all audio through a much more simplified signal path rather than the DSP's etc. Not quite the same as a couple of Krell monoblocks and a dedicated pre amp but sounds pretty good.

Who would have though we would have a Hi-Fi Equipment forum!

Originally Posted by Termite

The guts of my system is Yamaha, sounds great on everything.

That's what I thought until I plugged in a decent Power Amp 'just to see' one day.

depends what you're running - I have a Denon AVC-A1 Home Theatre amp, but it is extremely high end, at least compared to today's general offering - in simple stereo mode I am not saying it is audiophile quality but I find it stunning with the speakers I am running. As far as our family room HT gear is concerned though, I only stick a CD in there when I am cooking of just want background noise.

http://www.homecinemachoice.com/revi...nonAVC-A1D.php

My sound system comprises of a NAD 3155, had it for a few years now, forgotten the rating but think it is supposed to be about 85 rms per channel, we put it on a test bench and it produced 150 rms per channel 2000 sine continuous within a watt of each other, but, NAD are known to underate their equipmemnt.
The Speakers are KEF C40, not big but pleasant for the style of music I like, mainly classical but not heavy style like Tchaichovsky etc.
The HT as stated is an Onkyo, can't see the model number and not pulling it out of the wall for fear of something falling off, I hate rewiring the bloody thing and if something comes adrift it requires full rewiring, another hour wasted.
I paid $5k for that and the Jamo speakers a few years ago and find it a pleasant system for movies, and great for catching the kids out when I get home and see who's been doing the homework.
The light on the subwoofer turns green when active and takes about 15 minutes to go off after switch off, the kids haven't figured this out yet and still can't figure out how 'Dad knows what we've been up to'

Originally Posted by woodbe

That's what I thought until I plugged in a decent Power Amp 'just to see' one day.

There's no doubt that a dedicated system sounds better but like most things in life there comes time for a compromise.

I went from 2 Krell monoblocks, a krell pre and a set of accuton speakers (ceramic cones, very fancy) to Yamaha gear. It came a time when I realised that I had 10's of thousands of dollars tied up in audio gear that I really only used to it's potential (ie sitting down on the couch by myself with a cd on with no other noise or distractions) a couple of times a month. It was a massive amount of money to have tied up for a couple of hours to myself every now and then.

I grew up around high end audio gear with a father that was a sound engineer for 24 years (and a cabinet maker for 10 years before that). Wonder how I wound up making speakers

The Yamaha just seemed to be a good compromise as was the Denon I had before it. The stereo is the first thing that is turned on in the morning and the last thing turned off at night and it copes with all of the scenarios (movies, cd's, background music, second set of speakers in the back yard etc) really well. That being said I find the 2 channel performance of most home theater recievers pretty average. The sonys and pioneers seem to spend too much money on flashing displays rather than their electronics.

I can feel an audiophile debate coming on

No debate.

less is more.

woodbe.

I recall a similar discussion in Choice magazine...I think the consensus was if your main use for the system is playing music then stereo is the way to go. If movies are your thing then go for a home cinema system.

Subwoofers for playing music in the home, a waste of time in my opinion. I believe the things were originally designed for car audio systems. Unfortunately alot of people equate a high quality sound system with one that can produce the largest artificial seismic event.

This is a great read if you want to try a different approach to setting up your system

http://www.cardas.com/content.php?ar...ing=Room+Setup

And im hanging to make these beautys (hopefully in Nov) and im going to go to george fethers and get some maccasar ebony veneer for them. You will be able to get a stunning Art Deco look happening. I heard a pair of these 12 months ago hooked upto an old Pioneer A400 (great buget amp in its day and still holds its own) and a Rega 3 and wow were they stunning.

http://www.enjoythemusic.com/magazin...nusessence.htm

and here is a pair being put together

http://www.pinkfishmedia.net/forum/s...threadid=13307

Some where in that forum thread (carnt remember where) is a bit on the Ted Jordan drivers sitting in a peice of cardboard (just the front baffle) designed by a Japaneese Audiophile and aparently increadably stunning. Their is also storys of those drivers in shoe boxes and wine boxes and all reports amazing quality sound

you can get them here for $264 each

http://www.decibelhifi.com.au/category24_1.htm (good web site this)

Originally Posted by woodbe

less is more.

woodbe.

Wrong, I was informed by a little bimbo that her BIG Kenwood system, stacked a mile high, graphic equaliser with lots and lots of flashing lights, booming big 8 way speakers had to be better than my pathetic little NAD sitting alone with only two knobs and a couple of switches, sorry, it has a light which tells me it is turned on.
So, you must be wrong
God I hate bottom end crud, TEAC plastic boxed subwoofer that rattles, anything AKAI, DEC, I mean, I have seen complete systems (and I use that term very loosely) selling for $150 or so.