Need some WAF... advice please!

MI55ION

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Hi, I'm trying to cut down on the number of AV equipment I have sitting in my living room, er indoors is giving the evil eye. What I want to know is if I got rid of the following:

yamaha rx-v757se
cambridge audio 340a amp
cambridge audio cd4 cd player
cambridge audio dacmagic 2 mk2 dac

and replaced with the following:

yamaha rx-v2700 av receiver
toshiba hd-xe1 hd dvd player

Could I still get performance equalling if not better my current stereo setup? (from what I understand the rx-v2700 incorporates high quality dacs) My thinking is that I'll use a digital coax out of the hd dvd player for use as transport and allow the receiver to do all the dac-ing and amplification.

Your advice would be appreciated.
 
Your not using the 'WAF' as an excuse to get a new tosh hd-xe1 hd dvd player are you :eek: ...
 
Hi, I'm trying to cut down on the number of AV equipment I have sitting in my living room, er indoors is giving the evil eye. What I want to know is if I got rid of the following:

cambridge audio 340a amp
cambridge audio cd4 cd player
cambridge audio dacmagic 2 mk2 dac

and replaced with the following:

yamaha rx-v2700 av receiver
toshiba hd-xe1 hd dvd player

Could I still get performance equalling if not better my current stereo setup? (from what I understand the rx-v2700 incorporates high quality dacs) My thinking is that I'll use a digital coax out of the hd dvd player for use as transport and allow the receiver to do all the dac-ing and amplification.

Your advice would be appreciated.

I'd be very surprised if that setup was better in stereo than the kit you have :smashin:

Fine feeding the Toshiba device to the CA DACmagic but ig stereo is your bag, I would be looking at the CA 840 Amp, you can even use the XLRs on your DACmagic to it. Sorry dude, dont expect a 5.1 based reciever to be as good as a cheap stereo amp.
 
Your not using the 'WAF' as an excuse to get a new tosh hd-xe1 hd dvd player are you :eek: ...

No exuses here, just that I could now understand what she's been saying for a long time ie the av kit's taking over the living room lol.
 
I'd be very surprised if that setup was better in stereo than the kit you have :smashin:

Fine feeding the Toshiba device to the CA DACmagic but ig stereo is your bag, I would be looking at the CA 840 Amp, you can even use the XLRs on your DACmagic to it. Sorry dude, dont expect a 5.1 based reciever to be as good as a cheap stereo amp.

Stereo's my bag but I'm willing to compromise a 'little' here. The av receiver in question has had very good end user reports for its stereo performance and at a whopping £1300 I'd have thought it could beat the CA340a... no? What about the Arcam AVR350? (although I've had to overlook the Arcam due to lack of audio support via hdmi). Basically what I'm trying achieve is a fully integrated av system with minimum equipment and compromises but ability to provide a decent stereo sound that could at least beat my current budget setup. Is there any solution to my needs except the seperate stereo amp path?
 
I'd be surprised if the WAF factor is related to the number of boxes, probably more about how they're presented. What about a nicer stand for your kit that will match better with your decor? Probably a much cheaper option.
 
Stereo's my bag but I'm willing to compromise a 'little' here. The av receiver in question has had very good end user reports for its stereo performance and at a whopping £1300 I'd have thought it could beat the CA340a... no? What about the Arcam AVR350? (although I've had to overlook the Arcam due to lack of audio support via hdmi). Basically what I'm trying achieve is a fully integrated av system with minimum equipment and compromises but ability to provide a decent stereo sound that could at least beat my current budget setup. Is there any solution to my needs except the seperate stereo amp path?

Yep you should check out the 2.1 stereo solution. A stereo amp, main speakers & a decent subwoofer. Ive heard many £300-500 stereo amps blow away £1000-1500 AV 5.1 receivers or AV amps for stereo, its a fact of life, you have 2 channels to deal with rather than 5/6/7 etc, also no video switching. Then look for a good digital device that is good at stereo downmixing from 5.1.

If you do go for a 5.1 then your are comprimising stereo no argument. I am more happy to compromise surround for a stereo system, that does 2.1 (5.1 downmixed) very well, ask yourself how much you will use 5.1 and that should give you an answer :

CD, TT, Radio, MP3, Digital TV all stereo.
 
I have some sympathy for the 2.1 scenario having lived with one for a while.

But it just can't compete with 5.1 for films.

The best way to overcome potential WAF is to involve her. Make her think She is making the decisions.

My wife plays loud rock music while I'm at work using a very large subwoofer which has become "hers". The equipment rack and subwoofer are each almost as tall as She is. She needed written instructions in very large type for the order in which to turn things on and off to avoid strange noises and possible damage. It all sounds much worse than it is but it saves her finding her reading glasses just to turn the hifi on and off safely.

More seriously: Hide all the electronics kit in a nice piece of furniture she approves of. Wall mount your speakers. Then tidy all of those cables to total invisibility and re-lax.
(until the next time upgraditus strikes)
 
Mr Sukebe,

I understand what you’re trying to say regarding presentation and I absolutely agree. However since space is at a premium, I must also factor this into the approach I take towards a more WAF friendly system presentation. For instance, I decided to ditch the Toshiba TV stand, dedicated Soundstyle rack and centre speaker stand, all in favor of a….well how do I put it….more ergonomically designed TV stand that’ll better utilize the space underneath whilst matching the room decor. This is also why I’m cutting down on AV kit whilst following obvious factors such as color coordination wherever possible - something that I was never concerned with before – even if it’ll cost more for these little ‘extras’. However I’m not willing to sacrifice on the quality I’m getting at the moment but rather make this little upgrade an opportunity worth pursuing.

CJRoss,

I might have been a little over optimistic in thinking that a 5.1 receiver at that price could match a £300-£400 stereo amp. So let’s say theoretically that I was able to accommodate both a £900 5.1 receiver and £600 stereo amp (quite a feat considering the space) whilst using the HD DVD player as a transport, would there still be a need for the Dacmagic/CDP? How much of real world advantage would balanced XLRs have over regular rca pre-outs, what noticeable audio improvements do you think I should expect?

Nimby,

I agree, a 5.1 system is a must for movies as is a decent stereo setup for music so given the circumstances, I’m really trying to achieve the best of both worlds. I’m definitely trying to get her involved this time round but it’s a bit difficult when she seems more than content with the all-in-one system in the bedroom lol.
 
CJRoss,
I might have been a little over optimistic in thinking that a 5.1 receiver at that price could match a £300-£400 stereo amp. So let's say theoretically that I was able to accommodate both a £900 5.1 receiver and £600 stereo amp (quite a feat considering the space) whilst using the HD DVD player as a transport, would there still be a need for the Dacmagic/CDP? How much of real world advantage would balanced XLRs have over regular rca pre-outs, what noticeable audio improvements do you think I should expect?

My advice would still be to spend as much as you can on stereo, so lets say £1000-1000 on a stereo amplifier, you will see more "quality" here than a £900 AV receiver. Say £500 will by you a good amp for 5.1 or (C & Rears) as you will use the Fronts off the stereo amp. The only benefit of XLRs to me is long run application, thus I use a XLR DVD/CD source 6m away from my stereo amp, you could factor that in with the DACMagic, or you could sell it for £100 odd and add that to your budget.

Finally I will go back to how much you use stereo, I think if you use stereo 51% of the time that is where your priorities should lie, I think a stereo system with a down DVD downmixed and a sub lincluded is quite stunning for movies TBH. I certainly hear a wow factor in my system listening to DVD-Vs in stereo and the low effects from a sub are an excellent addition to the fronts. Why not have a system that does one thing stunning and the other reasonably well ? You would have that with a stereo 2.1 system I reckon. Rather than 2 areas that are "reasonably fine" anwyay there are lots of angles in this hobby and you should work out what yours are. Ive never regretted keeping to stereo, even when listening to 5.1 soundtracks downmixed. Never been that impressed with 5.1 surround music, a good stereo system playing stereo either vinyl, DVD-A, SACD can wipe the floor with a similarly priced 5.1 AV setup.

(IMHO)

BTW you can involve SWMBO in making your hifi gear merge into her space :

http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y57/CJRHifi/SysJan06-6.jpg

HTHs :smashin:
 

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