I've been on a bit of a quest to improve the stereo music reproduction of my AV system for a while now and thought I'd share my opinions so far in case anyone is interested.
My objective is to to get good sounding hifi through a system that also serves as the everyday TV/Sky/DVD 5.1 system. I have a very limited budget and have been selling as much old gear as I can on ebay to raise cash.
To date I had an Onkyo SR605, BK 200 sub, mission 752 freedom's with matching centre and some crappy denon surrounds. I'm happy with the speakers but not so happy with the amp as it sounds fine with movies but pretty awful with music. I also have an old Quad 34/306 pre/power amp combo which sounds great (to me) but blew up recently and so is awaiting repair when I have the cash. It's also a pain to keep un/plugging speaker connections.
So, after much reading, I bought a Yamaha A820 as it has pre-outs which I can connect to my Quad when it's fixed.
My opinions about the Yamaha A820:
1. It is a step up for 5.1 movies and sky tv from the Onkyo - being much clearer and cleaner sounding all round. Surrounds suddenly seem to work properly too.
2. It's pretty awful sounding for music if you use the DLNA with lossless FLACS. The soundstage is muddled and it's harsh, I get listener fatigue in seconds! I'd hoped for better. I didn't bother to try an optical cable from my server as I cannot believe it will improve the situation. The pure direct button makes a lot of difference but not enough.
3. I bought an Arcam rDAC and fed this via USB from the music server and into the analogue Audio input on the Yamaha. Without pure direct engaged the sound is harsh and fatiguing. But with Pure direct engaged there's a huge difference and the music sounds warm, analogue almost, and the sound-stage is pretty solid with instruments largely remaining in their own space. I decide to go with this configuration for the time being.
So in summary, I'm reasonably happy at the moment as I've managed to improve the situation somewhat and the sound I get with this setup is acceptable. I can't wait to get my Quad fixed and see how that fares as an AV amp. However, I really wish at least one manufacturer would drop all the extra features and produce a reasonably priced, decent integrated hifi amp that also decodes 5.1 surround. (BTW: a 5th foot? Pleeeease.)
Thanks for reading, all the best....
My objective is to to get good sounding hifi through a system that also serves as the everyday TV/Sky/DVD 5.1 system. I have a very limited budget and have been selling as much old gear as I can on ebay to raise cash.
To date I had an Onkyo SR605, BK 200 sub, mission 752 freedom's with matching centre and some crappy denon surrounds. I'm happy with the speakers but not so happy with the amp as it sounds fine with movies but pretty awful with music. I also have an old Quad 34/306 pre/power amp combo which sounds great (to me) but blew up recently and so is awaiting repair when I have the cash. It's also a pain to keep un/plugging speaker connections.
So, after much reading, I bought a Yamaha A820 as it has pre-outs which I can connect to my Quad when it's fixed.
My opinions about the Yamaha A820:
1. It is a step up for 5.1 movies and sky tv from the Onkyo - being much clearer and cleaner sounding all round. Surrounds suddenly seem to work properly too.
2. It's pretty awful sounding for music if you use the DLNA with lossless FLACS. The soundstage is muddled and it's harsh, I get listener fatigue in seconds! I'd hoped for better. I didn't bother to try an optical cable from my server as I cannot believe it will improve the situation. The pure direct button makes a lot of difference but not enough.
3. I bought an Arcam rDAC and fed this via USB from the music server and into the analogue Audio input on the Yamaha. Without pure direct engaged the sound is harsh and fatiguing. But with Pure direct engaged there's a huge difference and the music sounds warm, analogue almost, and the sound-stage is pretty solid with instruments largely remaining in their own space. I decide to go with this configuration for the time being.
So in summary, I'm reasonably happy at the moment as I've managed to improve the situation somewhat and the sound I get with this setup is acceptable. I can't wait to get my Quad fixed and see how that fares as an AV amp. However, I really wish at least one manufacturer would drop all the extra features and produce a reasonably priced, decent integrated hifi amp that also decodes 5.1 surround. (BTW: a 5th foot? Pleeeease.)
Thanks for reading, all the best....