Question Can I improve Sky sound quality?

D M B

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Afternoon guys,

I've always appreciated good sound quality, having had many systems, both AV and hi-fi. I've had my fair share of upgraditus, and swapped out countless components and enjoyed it along the way. For the last few years however, lifestyle changes - have a 3 yr old son now - means we spend more time watching Sky TV than actually listening to music or watching DVDs.

Main system is Sky TV > Arcam AVR350 > Tannoy DC6TSE floorstanders + Tannoy Revolution XTC centre speaker.

I have to say it feels criminal and a bit of a waste running this amp / speaker set up from the Sky box, but I just want the best I can get from it. We found dialogue quiet compared to everything else most of the time and I added the Arcam and centre speaker to boost the centre channel output. This worked, but the overall quality is still average.

Next door we have a music based system: Sonos Connect (used purely for playing my NAS drive music) > Rotel RA04 > Q Acoustics Concept 20.

I connected my old Sony DVD player to this system so my son can watch DVDs, and the sound quality is far superior.

So after that long winded look at my background, i'll now ask the question. How can I improve the sound quality through our main Sky-based system? It is the HD+ model (not Sky Q). We did try a separate DAC which didn't improve things much at all to be honest.

Are there any alternatives to Sky which offer better sound quality? I'm not in to streaming, and we need something easy to use and hassle free.

Thanks in advance !
 
I should have mentioned, whilst the Arcam amp is a high end model, it is getting on and does not have HDMI, so i'm still using interconnects from Sky to amp. Would a newer amp with HDMI be any better?

The fact that our other system (also using interconnects) sounds so much better leads to believe it won't.
 
Is this on movies, or general TV etc.

Also daft question, do you have Dolby Digital enabled in the Sky Sound settings?
 
I experienced the same thing a few years back and basically the thing with sky boxes is they are cheap and make to a price point.

The only cure I found was to get Russ Andrews to upgrade the Sky box and use the digital (Coax) output into my AV Processor. It is a night and day upgrade, masses more detail and dynamics, even music on advert jumps out of the speakers.

I am more than happy to provide a demo if you are anywhere near Winchester?

For me given we watch 90% sky and watch it every day the upgrade cost was good value. I know there are may critics of Russ Andrews, but for me this one upgrade works and my wife could easily hear the difference also. It also improves the pictures, removing a kind of film and sharpening the picture.

Hope that helps?
 
@orange55 but did you prior to the upgrade use the digital output or analog (or have the right setting)

There is a night and day difference between analog vs digital and also Normal vs Dolby Digital on the digital output.
 
@orange55 but did you prior to the upgrade use the digital output or analog (or have the right setting)

There is a night and day difference between analog vs digital and also Normal vs Dolby Digital on the digital output.
Yes I used digital out all the time and yes played with the Normal V Dolby Digital settings. The dude diligence on trying all options was completed and I even posted to this forum to try and find the solution. :)
 
Cheers guys.

I would say 70/30 (General TV/movies).

I will check i'm on DD setting, which I think I am.

What sort of cost if the Russ Andrews upgrade? I didn't know he did such a thing.
 
Thanks for the offer of a demo, however, I am up in the North East.
 
If using the RCA stereo out (or the scart socket via an audio adapter) of a $ky HD box then your limiting factor will be the DAC in the $ky box.

If using an optical lead from $ky box to amp then IMHO you can't really improve. Digits is digits (albeit jitter, noise and such can cause uncorrectable errors).

Similarly if using $ky HD -> TV via hdmi cable and then optical out back to the AVR then the digits should be as good as you will get (though often limited to stereo only and not DD 5.1) as many TVs don't pass through 5.1.

Russ Andrews upgrade is Sky HD set-top box Upgrade (Amstrad) and mainly consists of a few filters and upgraded capacitors.... Not sure I'd be convinced of hearing a difference in a blind trial of a modded-unmodded box with the same off air data stream feeding the tuners.

Check out your room EQ is spot on and you have no unwanted audio processing affecting the sound you hear. {I find 'dynamic EQ' on my AVR, by Onkyo, really ruins the sound! and it defaults to on.}

Some broadcast channels may bit-starve their audio (and video) to save money... So the precise programme channels you watch/listen to may be relevant. BBC in general do not do that.
 
Have you the speaker sizes set correctly on the AVR 350 - I had one linked to sky by optical and my speakers sizes weren't configured properly it makes an enormous difference! The AVR 350 should sound great with Sky
 
Cheers guys.

I would say 70/30 (General TV/movies).

I will check i'm on DD setting, which I think I am.

What sort of cost if the Russ Andrews upgrade? I didn't know he did such a thing.

They come up on eBay for about ÂŁ100.
 
Have you the speaker sizes set correctly on the AVR 350 - I had one linked to sky by optical and my speakers sizes weren't configured properly it makes an enormous difference! The AVR 350 should sound great with Sky

Cheers Mark, I believe i'm using your old amp ;)

I've actually not tried optical yet, which from what I gather means i'm not getting a DD signal, which would explain a bit !

Yep, speaker size settings all correct.

The AVR350 certainly isn't the problem. The A18 stereo amp I was using sounded similarly average with Sky.

I was considering dropping a few hundred quid on a new AV amp, for the sake of HDMI and a few other features, but I think its a drastic measure.

Going to try an optical cable first.
 
I've actually not tried optical yet, which from what I gather means i'm not getting a DD signal, which would explain a bit !

Definitely the problem then, if you are just using the Analog white and red stereo outputs from the Sky box you are not getting a Digital signal to the amp.

I assume your DVD player is connected up via optical in which case that's you difference. It's not a fair comparison :)

Get yourself a ÂŁ5 optical lead from your favourite supplier and you will be basking in the new found sound quality.

You can hear it for example when you jump from 101 to 115 on Sky as BBC HD is in Dolby Digital. It maybe slightly louder which can often bias tests but it certainly seems crisper for lack of a better word.
 
Cheers Mark, I believe i'm using your old amp ;)


I've actually not tried optical yet, which from what I gather means i'm not getting a DD signal, which would explain a bit !

Yep, speaker size settings all correct.

The AVR350 certainly isn't the problem. The A18 stereo amp I was using sounded similarly average with Sky.

I was considering dropping a few hundred quid on a new AV amp, for the sake of HDMI and a few other features, but I think its a drastic measure.

Going to try an optical cable first.

Hi Greg
Indeed its my old Amp !!
As Chuck says a ÂŁ5 Optical cable should be your key to Sky happiness. Whilst it is an old Amp the AVR 350 can more than hold its own with the cheaper new amps particularly if you just want DD. I never particularly missed HDMI
If you want the new formats you need to put your hand deep in your pocket. I eventually replaced it with an Arcam SR250 which 2.1
 
Yes, I meant to add that your amp new was ÂŁ1,500 so don't even think about buying a cheap couple of hundred quid HDMI capable amp to fix the problem. Agree with Mark the 350 going to hold its own as it will have good DACs and a good amplification setup, the latter on which the cheaper amps skip. IMHO you could end up with a lot worse sounding by going cheap.
 
Cheers guys.

I have ordered an optical cable.

Its all making more sense now.

As for other system, the Rotel is a stereo integrated so its interconnects between DVD and amp.
 
Hello again chaps.

Quick update to say i'm now getting a much better sound with the optical lead :laugh:

Only slight bugbear is that i'm getting a click/pop sound when switching between channels etc i.e. every time the DD signal is being received. I have tried two optical leads. Next port of call (no pun intended) is to give the ports a clean. There will be dust in there as the amp is a good few years old.

Mark, do you recall this happening when you owned the amp?

Thank again for your help guys.
 
The popping sound will not be caused by cabling (usually) or by ports.

I had a similar issue once with an external power amp connected and when swapping channels. It can get a bit annoying. In my case removing the power amp resolved the issue.

There is a thread here about the issue, it seems some combos are more prone to it...

Popping sounds when changing channels on Sky HD
 

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