building system

jtincker

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Hello,

I am trying to build a modern day system. not sure all that I would need.

What I have so far
Denon x1500h
Emotiva B1+
Sony x700 and x800 blue ray players.
Samsung 65 inch tv

System mostly for music. Will listen to music in 5.1. I was thinking of adding amp to avr for little more headroom( Would not know how to do) also what amp with clean power.
Can I hook up eq for personal preference?
Avr can take 2 subs. Thinking of adding 2 Rythmck f 12.
Room is open floor plan with vaulted ceiling. All log. with wood floor. (Weird, but not bright like I thought it would be) 21 x 30 rectangle.
Will be using left 3rd of room for system.

What I would like to do is High Tech it up, with steaming music( Which one) and being able to use tv to control, and I Pad if possible, like they do on the Youtube. Any other gadgets you think would be neat. I am not a gamer.

Any ideas for the system would be valued, You might have to explain some of the stuff.

Thank you in advance
 
Listening to music in 5.1 may not give you the best sound unless it's a soundtrack on a movie or recorded in 5.1 as generally music is recorded in stereo and sounds better as such
 
There are some very good music titles that are available in a native 5.1 such as SACD, DVD-A and Blu-ray and these will sound good on a 5.1 system. Stereo music though is always going to sound at it's very best when played as such and for that an AV amp is going to be a very weak link unless you get the most expensive of AV amps.

Pound for pound, or dollar for dollar in your case, a stereo amp costing the same as an AV amp will sound much better with stereo music. If you are set on getting an AV amp then look elsewhere other than Denon, perhaps Marantz. If you want the best then Anthem, NAD or Arcam would give you excellent musical abilities.
 
@jtincker if you have that Denon AVR, then it takes care of streaming via its HEOS app. It'll let you use your iPad to control everything. I recommend you to use Tidal as a streaming service. It's popular and provides nice quality of the music.

If you want to add an external amplifier you should get a power amplifier, not an integrated one. There are many to choose from, Nord Acoustics, Arcam, Rotel... Your AVR has PRE-OUT jacks in the rear. That is where you connect the power amplifier. You will need to set up your audio settings again then.
 
Thank you for your responses. I realize that the Denon avr is a week link, but it is what I have. Even though it will be used for music mainly, it will also be serving surround sound duty. I understand that many people think that music in 5.1 degrades quality. Perhaps so, however I really enjoy the submersive sound. To me, it is akin to car stereo, which I have always enjoyed more than regular home stereo. Not sure why.

The reason I am kicking around the idea of adding amp is because the Denon is not very powerful, and my speakers are 86-87 sensitive. Plus having subs in the mix. Don't know if they have own power source or draw from avr (ignorant on subwoofers, but am reading up on them). The music will be played at low to conversation levels, rarely higher.

Perhaps the avr will never work for my needs, but since I have it, I thought I would give it a go.
Is there any other new tech that would be worth exploring. I'm a 1960's guy that did not evolve with the times, trying to rectify

FYI, I do have a much better system downstairs for music only. Will not fit upstairs
 
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Don't let anyone tell you what sounds better if you like something 🤣.

Have you room for bigger speakers? I suggest looking at some Klipsch or similar if you do as they are known for making very sensitive easy to drive speakers, may offset the amp not being super powerful
 
muljao:

I do like the Klipsch sound, but it appears the older sound. I have Cornwall's 75 and 82 (favorite speakers), played stacked. wont fit. Klipsch quartets will fit, sound great but partially hidden behind furniture. Have Rf 62ll which will fit but not a fan of them. 10 years old abouts, probably only have 10 hrs on. I feel the same about rb 61 ll as I do about the Rf's. Perhaps they never broke in?

Out of the box I liked the highs and mids of the emotivas better than Rf and Rb, maybe even a little better than the quartets. The emotivas in this room excell at low to mid levels. I wonder if I should recap Quartets and re-evaluate?

I have yet to even turn on avr that I bought new 2-3 years ago. I have been using onkyo 9010 to evaluate.

I forgot, but I actually did buy this avr with intent to use klipsch speakers, but new house changed that
 
muljao:

I do like the Klipsch sound, but it appears the older sound. I have Cornwall's 75 and 82 (favorite speakers), played stacked. wont fit. Klipsch quartets will fit, sound great but partially hidden behind furniture. Have Rf 62ll which will fit but not a fan of them. 10 years old abouts, probably only have 10 hrs on. I feel the same about rb 61 ll as I do about the Rf's. Perhaps they never broke in?

Out of the box I liked the highs and mids of the emotivas better than Rf and Rb, maybe even a little better than the quartets. The emotivas in this room excell at low to mid levels. I wonder if I should recap Quartets and re-evaluate?

I have yet to even turn on avr that I bought new 2-3 years ago. I have been using onkyo 9010 to evaluate.

I forgot, but I actually did buy this avr with intent to use klipsch speakers, but new house changed that
Those Emotivas you have are good bookshelf speakers. What is the size of the room? A good subwoofer might be a perfect solution to really improve the sound in your case.

You can always give RF62II a chance, especially since you have them anyways.
 
Good Morning iFi audio,

The room size is 21 x 30 rectangle. open floor plan. Kithcen, dining, and living. Vaulted ceilings. Most people will think the speakers are too small for the room, but some how they pull it off nicely. I was thinking of adding a pair of rymick f12. I know it sounds like over kill to use with these speakers

I never liked the sound of the Rf's. Some would say they are not broke in and others would say different. I thought I might have 10 hrs on these speakers, but thinking back, I doubt I have more than 4. I keep them because they were a gift, and that alone is why I still have them.
 
Good Morning iFi audio,

The room size is 21 x 30 rectangle. open floor plan. Kithcen, dining, and living. Vaulted ceilings. Most people will think the speakers are too small for the room, but some how they pull it off nicely. I was thinking of adding a pair of rymick f12. I know it sounds like over kill to use with these speakers

I never liked the sound of the Rf's. Some would say they are not broke in and others would say different. I thought I might have 10 hrs on these speakers, but thinking back, I doubt I have more than 4. I keep them because they were a gift, and that alone is why I still have them.
I believe two subwoofers are a good idea in your case. I can see your AVR has two subwoofer outputs. Using two subs greatly improves bass response not only by doubling the output power, but it fills the room more evenly making it easier to deal with bass mods of the room. They will relieve bookshelf speakers from playing bass, it will greatly benefit them. You can play around in your AVR settings and set a crossover for front speakers to be at 60-80Hz. That should do it. You can also look at REL and SVS, just make sure you are getting a sub that is designed for music, not movies. They differ in tuning, music subs are faster but don't go too low. But since you have two of them that won't be an issue.
 
iFi audio:

I appreciate you taking the time to respond. The Rel tx 5 is another sub I was looking at. Do you think dual tx5 could work in my room. 21 x 30 with vaulted ceilings? If not, any recommendations?
I realize your time is valuable, so this will be my last question.

Thanks
 
iFi audio:

I appreciate you taking the time to respond. The Rel tx 5 is another sub I was looking at. Do you think dual tx5 could work in my room. 21 x 30 with vaulted ceilings? If not, any recommendations?
I realize your time is valuable, so this will be my last question.

Thanks
You'd need much bigger for your room. The T5s are good subs for small rooms and very musical, I have one. It does not have the power to fill my room with deep effects and the room is nowhere near as big as yours. REL have a chart for working out which models suits different sized rooms.


The recommended sub for my room is the T7, based on your measurements is either 1 T9 or two T7.
 
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iFi audio:

I appreciate you taking the time to respond. The Rel tx 5 is another sub I was looking at. Do you think dual tx5 could work in my room. 21 x 30 with vaulted ceilings? If not, any recommendations?
I realize your time is valuable, so this will be my last question.

Thanks
I'm here to help people, ask if you have any doubts. There are no stupid questions and I know that sometimes audio can feel intimidating. I've been there once, I know how it feels.

@gibbsy my thoughts exactly, T5x is great but it will be too small. I would go for double T7x rather than single T9x. They will fill out the room much more evenly.
 

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