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chris@panteg
06-01-2011, 09:43
I thought i would start the ball rolling as it were :)

I know some of you on here hate surround sound , and to be honest my interest has waned over the years , but i have had surround since 1987 , but until 1998 i used cheap add on unit's , a Marrantz thingy and then the Mordaunt Short processor.

At the moment i have a Yamaha RXV1700 which believe it or not has a very good phono stage , well IMHO ! i compared it to the 640p and there didn't seem anything in it , overall the big yammy performs well and of course is great with movies but it is a compromise to be sure ! and i accept that , its not bad though and sounding so different to the other set up actually give's a nice contrast .


So what have you guy's got ! have you found a good allrounder or do you just hate AV amp's with a passion , i find the Yamaha does the bis for me and with the Freeviw and sat HD box , DVD player and playstation malarky , i need the conectivity of this beast.

WAD62
06-01-2011, 11:21
As I've mentioned on a couple of other threads I've integrated my main stereo and AV surround sound systems, via a Yamaha DSP800.

Which provides basic DTS and DD 5.1 decoding, rear, cantre, and subwoofer channels and amplification, whilst passing the L & R channels to my Audiolab 8000Q (main stereo pre amp).

I actually spread the centre channel across the left and right front channel, which means this is passed to my main stereo too, and have ceased to use a subwoofer as there is so much bass from my main system and surround speakers already.

It is very easy to balance the channels.

So my TV(Viera), SKY HD, and Blu-Ray(Viera) player all feed into the Yamaha DSP800 digitally, which is feeding/driving my rear surrounds (Bose AM-5s), the front R & L (and therefore centre too) are then fed into my main Audiolab 8000Q/SX/P stereo amps, and then to my Mission 753s. All my AV channels are set to full.

I think this is a nice compromise for anyone who has a lot of money invested in their main stereo, and is also a great way of utilising that quality stereo system in their AV solution.

Movies & Sport (Sky sports HD is often in DD 5.1) sound excellent, and music blu-rays sound fantastic on DTS, particularly because the centre is spread between L & R, I'd tried a centre speaker (mission 780C) but I found the sound much better when passing it to the main stereo.

Works for me and I think one could do this with most decent AV amps, I just like the fact that the DSP800 was designed for this purpose.
:)

The Vinyl Adventure
06-01-2011, 11:39
The dsp 800 - How do you set the centre channel to the fronts ... Is it just a setting on the amp?
Does it have 6 channel ins and outs?

WAD62
06-01-2011, 11:44
How do you set the centre channel to the fronts ... Is it just a setting on the amp?

Hi Hamish,

Yes it's a setting on the DSP800...

Makes a massive difference when playing back music dvds/blu rays, as an awful lot gets put through the centre channel, and I'd rather my main system handled that.

It only does 5.1 however, but will also accept analogue inputs, but that would undermine it's value IMHO.

Using the AM-5s at the back gives me a kind of pseudo 7.1, well sort of ;)

Edit; Perhaps its one small downside to the DSP800 is that it pre dates HDMI, so for the audio I run optical toslinks from my sources to the DSP800, and HDMIs from them directly to my TV for the video, it would be nice to be able to use it as an HDMI switcher too...

The Vinyl Adventure
06-01-2011, 12:11
Yeah, me too ... This is exactly what I have been looking for ... I skimmed over the 800 thinking it wouldn't have all the specs I needed ... Turns out it does and you can get them for about £40 ... And in black too ... Perfic! Cheers Will ...

Do us a tiny favour will, can you measure the box including the feet for me ...

And, when you say dsp 800, that's the same as a dsp e800 isn't it ...

Oh and another thing, using the multi channel outs from a bluray into the multi channel in, then rear speakers out the dsp 800 then multichannel out from the dsp 800 to my pre amp for the front speakers surely means you aren't using the "dsp" part of the dsp 800 so the out dated 5.1 and dts spec is of no relevance anyway... The bluray player is doing the dts hd or whatnot hd audio bit and just sending analogue signals to the multi channel amp part of the dsp 800 ... Right?

WAD62
06-01-2011, 12:22
Yeah, me too ... This is exactly what I have been looking for ... I skimmed over the 800 thinking it wouldn't have all the specs I needed ... Turns out it does and you can get them for about £40 ... And in black too ... Perfic! Cheers Will ...

I'm amazed that no one seems to have come out with an alternative, or a modern day replacement, with HDMIs & 7.1...

At £200 new it was a steal, at £40 it should be compulsory...

N.B. Make sure the remote is fully functional as some of the functions, particularly the 'white noise generator' (essential for balancing in your main stereo) is only accessible from there. My original got squashed, but I managed to pick up a replacement for about £40 new, so there must be a lot of them out there.

...enjoy :)

Just seen your sizing request...back in a sec...

It's as you rightly say the DSP-E800, and it's about 12cm high, standard width, check out the photo, it's the one at the bottom below a pile of audiolab.

I'm feeding digital audio directly in from all my sources (it has multiple toslink inputs), so I am using its DSP capabilities, and am therefore limited to DD/DTS 5.1, hence I can pass the centre across the R & L, as this is a DSP function.

I'd not advise using it in an analogue configuration, there are probably better alternatives...

The Vinyl Adventure
06-01-2011, 12:28
... Yeah, sorry, I added another bit to that post still :) ... Trying to reduce my post count increase speed :)

TCats
06-01-2011, 12:37
Yeah, me too ... This is exactly what I have been looking for ... I skimmed over the 800 thinking it wouldn't have all the specs I needed ... Turns out it does and you can get them for about £40 ... And in black too ... Perfic! Cheers Will ...

Do us a tiny favour will, can you measure the box including the feet for me ...

And, when you say dsp 800, that's the same as a dsp e800 isn't it ...

Oh and another thing, using the multi channel outs from a bluray into the multi channel in, then rear speakers out the dsp 800 then multichannel out from the dsp 800 to my pre amp for the front speakers surely means you aren't using the "dsp" part of the dsp 800 so the out dated 5.1 and dts spec is of no relevance anyway... The bluray player is doing the dts hd or whatnot hd audio bit and just sending analogue signals to the multi channel amp part of the dsp 800 ... Right?
I have a DSP-E800 presently in the loft, from the manual it is :

Width 435mm x Height 126 mm x 391mm Depth weight 10kg

If you wish the full spec. I could scan and send to you.

Hope this helps

Terry

The Vinyl Adventure
06-01-2011, 12:47
I'm feeding digital audio directly in from all my sources (it has multiple toslink inputs), so I am using its DSP capabilities, and am therefore limited to DD/DTS 5.1, hence I can pass the centre across the R & L, as this is a DSP function.

I'd not advise using it in an analogue configuration, there are probably better alternatives...

Ah, yes... Makes sence, yeah I was wondering how it was possible to send the centre to the fronts ... :doh: ... I was being a thicky! :)

...

Hi Terry,

No it's alright buddy, I just found this which has given me the info I needed otherwise ...

Cheers though!

The Vinyl Adventure
06-01-2011, 12:56
... Height... 126mm ... Would you belive I have exactly 125mm in the space I want to put it ... Ah well ... I'd have to have a shuffle around of bits again...

WAD62
06-01-2011, 13:01
... Height... 126mm ... Would you belive I have exactly 125mm in the space I want to put it ... Ah well ... I'd have to have a shuffle around of bits again...

...It does have big rubber feet (about 1.5cm), which could probably be switched at a pinch

The Vinyl Adventure
06-01-2011, 13:08
If I swapped the feet on it and on the Belkin power conditioner for sorbothane pod things I could sit it on top of that in the rack I think ...

Alex_UK
06-01-2011, 13:23
I've got one in the garage - never got round to putting it all back together when I moved 6 years ago! Maybe this will spur me on to sort it out again - it really is a good bit of kit for those that don't want to lose "proper" hifi - but I guess the demand has dried up in the last decade hence why no modern equivalent is made any more.

WAD62
06-01-2011, 13:24
If I swapped the feet on it and on the Belkin power conditioner for sorbothane pod things I could sit it on top of that in the rack I think ...

Sorted... :)

WAD62
06-01-2011, 13:40
I've got one in the garage - never got round to putting it all back together when I moved 6 years ago! Maybe this will spur me on to sort it out again - it really is a good bit of kit for those that don't want to lose "proper" hifi - but I guess the demand has dried up in the last decade hence why no modern equivalent is made any more.

Do it Alex... ;) Just watched Cream's 25th anniversary gig at the royal albert hall in 5.1 DTS last night...magnificent!

Yamaha like everyone else is probably concentrating on the 'popular' market these days. My mate wanted to improve his TV audio, but doesn't take advice well, so all I said was get a yamaha AV receiver and some stereo speakers to start off with...He went and bought the bloody yamaha 'soundbar' !!!!! As he doesn't like wires (gaylord)!!!! For £450 :stalks:

What an abortion of a thing, it is a big improvement on his Samsung's TV audio, however it is not hi-fidelity by any stretch of the imagination...the AV receiver has the sub-woofer built into it!!!! Genius !!! :doh:

Eventually it will shake itself and the TV stand to pieces!!! never mind the acoustic feedback issues...

As for the soundbar itself...lifestyle tosh, all out of phase trickery, and speakers the size of pennies. Idiot :steam:

Oh but it is 7.1 :lolsign:

Reid Malenfant
06-01-2011, 14:30
I do things a little differently (as per usual :eyebrows:)...

I'm totally dead set against using any kind of processor or amplifier that decodes the audio from an HDMI input ;) The reason bieng is quite simple, they keep on changing the HDMI specs to include stuff like deep colour, 3D etc.. We are now seeing HDMI v1.4 so if you wanted to get a 3D TV & you decode in an amp it means that you have to replace the player & the whole amplifier :steam:

My solution is to buy a player with all the digital conversion done inside & use audio outputs from the player - in my case a Panasonic DMP-BD80 & Denon DVD2930 & feed this to a pre amp that handles 5.1 inputs. All the HDMI does is feed video to either the TV or projector.

Audio (which as i type is only 2 channel :rolleyes:) will be fed to a Audio Research MP1 (http://www.hometheatersound.com/equipment/audioresearch_mp1.htm) which has 3 sets of 5.1 inputs (one of those has balanced inputs as well as phonos).


This is the way i'm going, i get a pre amp that will be as good with 5.1 as with stereo & top quality to boot, no problems with having to change players & amplifiers - just the player for future upgrades :)

Yes i know the Panasonic has 7.1 out, but in reality i don't have room for 7 speakers & as long as i set it to "no speakers" on the rear surrounds it'll down mix any 7.1 content on the rear surrounds to the surrounds... Jobs a good one :eyebrows:

Beobloke
06-01-2011, 15:04
I have an A/V setup of sorts in the lounge - B&O Beovision Avant 32 DVD/Television, B&O Beosound 9000 CD player and B&O Beolab 8000 speakers. It plays music very nicely, thanks! ;)

I did provide cabling under the carpet to allow the addition of rear channels and a sub, but the room really isn't big enough to justify more speakers and also the shape of the room means the TV is in the corner, outside the main speakers. It still adds some good atmosphere and punch to films though.

As to my subwoofer, this is a Mordaunt Short Performance 9 and was banished from the room after we bought a larger sofa. To be fair I could barely use it before things started rattling or falling off nearby shelves, but it seems a shame that it's currently acting as a handy coffee table in my listening room. :doh:

Spectral Morn
06-01-2011, 17:07
I got myself into trouble once for my stance on multi-channel sound on the main forum. Those opinions were based on hearing a lot of stuff over the years including very expensive Lexicon and Parasound AV gear. Even the very best are beaten by cheaper two channel gear. There is way to much extra crap going on in these to sound as good as a dedicated HiFi system.However some AV amplifiers have reasonable power amplifiers inside so hooking up a dedicated audio pre-amplifier can work. However the system become messy to work so I never went down that road.

Stan Beresfords speaker/amplifier switch could allow you to hook an AV amplifier and two channel audio system together using the same front speakers. Worth a try as it is very transparent to audio signals.

My main set-up is as follows...

Denon AVC-AV1SE. The first 6.1 amplifier with DTS and Dolby Digital versions of that sound processing option. Fantastic weight and scale with effortless dynamics. But on music two channel its crap, movies are brilliant. One of the best all in one AV amplifiers I have ever heard. I should point out that I have heard a lot of Yamaha, Marantz, Harmon Kardon, Onkyo amplifiers that have come out since the AV1SE and none of them despite having more up to date sound processing are as good to me ears.

Pioneer DVD 868 AVI for multi-region discs. My main DVD player is a recently acquired Meridian G96 DVD transport.....no analogue outputs with it though; nor DVD Audio. On movies its stunning in fact I don't even need to put my Sub on at times.

I also have a Toshiba DVD 900E. I am not using it at the minute.

Panasonic DVD recorder with hard drive (I have never recorded a DVD but I do use the hard drive a bit) JVC Svhs/Hard Drive recorder HM HDS1 brilliant bit of kit :)

Sky + box (hard drive stopped working last year so I use the JVC and Panasonic. That's the second one to die on me :()

Speakers are Mission and the Sub is a Rel Q200E.

Cabling is Top of the range Qed and Ixos and the TV is a 36in Panasonic PD50 E

I also have an AV system in my bedroom comprising of a Toshiba 32 in flat CRT TV, Yamaha AV amplifier and an Energy speaker package. DVD player is a Sony with Sony VCR.

I never listen to music on any of this kit just watch movies and the odd concert. Turn the visuals off with a concert and the sound is usually wrong to my ears but put the visuals back and the mind seems to make adjustments...anyone else experience that ?

Oh yes everything is set up right using sound pressure wave metre...I have both a digital and analogue one. I calibrate the sound levels to 75 DB and C weighted. I bought those way back when I worked in the Brown goods trade....they have proven to be invaluable over the years. I prefer the analogue one.


Regards D S D L

Reid Malenfant
06-01-2011, 17:17
I never listen to music on any of this kit just watch movies and the odd concert. Turn the visuals off with a concert and the sound is usually wrong to my ears but put the visuals back and the mind seems to make adjustments...anyone else experience that ?


Regards D S D L
Interesting that you mention this Neil as you just reminded me of something :doh:

I happen to have quite a few DTS encoded 5.1 channel music discs (music only) & the effect is staggering with the thing set up properly. This is another reason i can't wait (even though i have to) to get back to having the AV setup as it should be. Except intead of a Harmon Kardon AVR5500 the whole thing will be improved :eyebrows:

In answer to your question i can't honestly say that i have ever knowingly tried it... however i seem to remember a couple of times the projector going off (dodgy connection in a 4 way mains block :rolleyes:) & apart from wondering what the heck had happened things did sound odd with no picture :scratch:

Spectral Morn
06-01-2011, 17:20
Yes Mark it is odd. I have never experienced anything like this with HiFi sound though but I usually listen in the dark anyway so visuals are not part of the equation.

I think it is the way the sound is mixed in to match the visuals etc. Take the visual away and the illusion is broken.


Regards D S D L

dantheman91
06-01-2011, 18:07
Hi

Im using My vintage yamaha 200e and mission seven 60i's with my tv and dvd and the tv is goodmans great big motherf***ker weights a ton and cambridge dvd 85 player it works great together sound not bad too :lolsign:
it will do


Dan

Jonboy
06-01-2011, 18:48
... Height... 126mm ... Would you belive I have exactly 125mm in the space I want to put it ... Ah well ... I'd have to have a shuffle around of bits again...


Av amps run quite hot, don't wont to tell you how to suck eggs but they need some fresh air around them or they will cook and also cook what ever is above them as well

Reid Malenfant
06-01-2011, 18:54
Av amps run quite hot, don't wont to tell you how to suck eggs but they need some fresh air around them or they will cook and also cook what ever is above them as well
I'll second that ;) Even putting out little or no power they run pretty warm compared to a stereo amp.. It's no doubt due to all those channels in close quarters :rolleyes:

Like Jon says, plenty of room & fresh air :cool:

E2A:- I bet you could toast bread on a Krell KAV500 knowing the standard high bias that Krell use :lol:

WAD62
07-01-2011, 11:01
Av amps run quite hot, don't wont to tell you how to suck eggs but they need some fresh air around them or they will cook and also cook what ever is above them as well

The DSP-E800 runs quite cool, it does not have amplifiers for the main channels, and if you pass the centre channel to your main system (via spreading it to your R & L front) the only grunt it's doing is amplifying the rear surrounds.

colinB
07-01-2011, 14:00
Good tip Will. Just started bidding on a Yamaha.
If i dont win that one theres plenty more. I guess everyone wants hdmi and blue ray sound these days.

Reid Malenfant
07-01-2011, 14:02
I guess everyone wants hdmi and blue ray sound these days.
HDMI for pictures definately :)

24 bit lossless sound is something to behold :eyebrows:

WAD62
07-01-2011, 14:48
HDMI for pictures definately :)

24 bit lossless sound is something to behold :eyebrows:

The HDMI's not an issue as one just connects the source device's HDMI directly to the TV (as long as you have enough HDMI sockets on your TV), with audio switched off, i suppose it would be nice to use it as the switching centre rather than the TV, but sending the video directly to the TV rather than via the decoder (and out again) will probably give a better image IMHO.

However it does mean you need twice the cables, an HDMI to the TV, and a toslink to the decoder for each input device.

Full HD DTS on the other hand would be nice, but until someone comes out with an upgraded equivalent of the DSP-E800, I'll live with 'standard' DTS.

I could go for an audiolab AV processor and another stereo amp for the rear channels, but I'd rather put that money towards a full 1080p projector...when they get a bit cheaper.

I have a Panny 42" 1080/24 Plasma & a Sanyo 720p Z5 at the moment, and although both are very good, I believe my sound quality outstrips my image quality at the moment. :)

Reid Malenfant
07-01-2011, 15:45
Will, you are not making life easy for yourself :eyebrows:

Simply purchase a player with built in decoders onboard & with 5.1 or 7.1 audio output & then you just need to control the volume of all channels at once.

No more upgrading amplifiers just because they have brought out an even newer version of HDMI or some new fangled DTS or whatever ;)

WAD62
07-01-2011, 15:54
Will, you are not making life easy for yourself :eyebrows:

Simply purchase a player with built in decoders onboard & with 5.1 or 7.1 audio output & then you just need to control the volume of all channels at once.

No more upgrading amplifiers just because they have brought out an even newer version of HDMI or some new fangled DTS or whatever ;)

Ah but you're assuming I only care about surround sound from my blu-ray player... ;)

I also enjoy it from SKY HD, and Freeview HD too, so it's easier to channel all my AV audio into one central multi channel decoder, and rear surround amp.

75% (probably more) of my viewing is either music or sky sports, cricket and football are broadcast in DD too :)

Reid Malenfant
07-01-2011, 16:05
Jeez :doh: You know what they say... Assumption is the mother of all f**k ups :eyebrows:

Point taken Will ;)

WAD62
07-01-2011, 16:24
Jeez :doh: You know what they say... Assumption is the mother of all f**k ups :eyebrows:

Point taken Will ;)

No problem Mark...;)

Unfortunately the ashes were only in ProLogic (Channel 9 Oz is not as slick as sky yet), but it's still nice to hear Michael Clarke go 'Oh Sheeet!' as he edges one to Matt Prior, in the best possible clarity...come on you poms!!!

Celebratory beers tonight :cool::cool::cool::cool::cool::cool::cool:

Jac Hawk
07-01-2011, 20:23
My setup is quite straight forward

Inputs:

XBOX 360 (hdmi to tv toslink to amp)
Acer Aspire AMD Athlon quad core, 6Gb ram, Bluray (hdmi to tv toslink to amp)

Amp:

Marantz SR5400 6.1 with Dolby Digital , EX, pro logic 2, DTS, ES, NEO 6, 96/24 and SRS Circle surround 2. It apparantly uses a crystal 192khz 24 bit DAC in each of the 7 channels (maybe someone could let me know if that's ment to be good)

Speakers:

Front Mordaunt Short MS45Ti
Rear Mordaunt Short MS10
Sub Yamaha YST-SW80
Centre Polk Audio CS250S

TV

Philips 42' Ambilight

It sounds pretty good to my ears, even better now the front speakers are a bit higher of the ground and on decent spiked stands, most of my music is played off the PC and i use Windows media player with a DFX plug-in on the circle surround setting on the amp, movies are played off the PC's bluray drive and i use the XBOX for getting Sky.

Reid Malenfant
07-01-2011, 20:31
It apparantly uses a crystal 192khz 24 bit DAC in each of the 7 channels (maybe someone could let me know if that's ment to be good)
It's certainly not bad :lol:

Seriously though, i'd say that using a DAC on each channel that is more than capable of doing anything that it is being fed is a good thing ;) Just means they are going to have an easy time & process what they are being fed easily & quickly, probably with less jitter than a DAC that was lower specified :)

Think of it as having a car engine with more performance than you'll ever need, no matter what you ask it to do it won't be a problem...

Macca
08-01-2011, 12:21
Here is my A/V lash up: (an old pic but so what)

http://i903.photobucket.com/albums/ac233/Macca_photos_2009/001.jpg

TV is a Sony Bravia KDF-50E 2010 rear-projection DSP. Very natural picture IMHO better than a good CRT - problem is that contrast ratio is poor compared to Plasma or LCD. My main concern was buying something that wasn't going to pack in after a couple of years so what better than a Made in Japan Sony?


Amp is a Sony STR DE968 7.1 channel - cheap and cheerful but clean sounding - due to be replaced as it has no HDMI input and I've just bought a BLu-Ray player.

Front Speakers are the Studiospares SN10 (redesign of the Yamaha NS10 desk monitors) 8'' bass infinite baffle - very clean and clear but bass rolls off early hence a Yamaha YST-sw120 fills in a bit of extra whoomph for films.

Centre is a cheap Gale jobbie - when I get a new amp this will be dispensed with altogether for a phantom centre channel.

This system fires across the width of the room whist the 2 channel Hi-Fi system fires down the length of the room. I just swap seats dpending on what system I'm playing!

Rear speakers are JBL Control One

DVD replay is via Pioneer DV 565A Universal player and Samsung BDC5300 (£80 ex demo:cool:)

chris@panteg
08-01-2011, 12:42
No problem Mark...;)

Unfortunately the ashes were only in ProLogic (Channel 9 Oz is not as slick as sky yet), but it's still nice to hear Michael Clarke go 'Oh Sheeet!' as he edges one to Matt Prior, in the best possible clarity...come on you poms!!!

Celebratory beers tonight :cool::cool::cool::cool::cool::cool::cool:

http://resources2.news.com.au/images/2011/01/08/1225984/131638-michael-clarke.jpg

Never mind eh , now they know what we felt like this past 24 years .

:) sorry for the thread drift but oh joy , beating the aussie's :cool:

chris@panteg
08-01-2011, 12:44
http://resources1.news.com.au/images/2011/01/07/1225983/846261-andrew-strauss.jpg

Reid Malenfant
08-01-2011, 12:53
:) sorry for the thread drift but oh joy , beating the aussie's :cool:
Makes a pleasant change for us to win anything :eyebrows:


Martin, that 50" rear projection TV you have there :) Is it 720P?, only asking as a friend of mine bought one ages ago (might have been 42" though :scratch:), LCD jobby on a recommendation from me ;) Told him to go & have a look in our local John Lewis & he ended up getting one, very nice it was to :)

They might have brought out a 1080P version & indeed you may well have the later one, i'm just interested...

Macca
08-01-2011, 12:59
Martin, that 50" rear projection TV you have there :) Is it 720P?, only asking as a friend of mine bought one ages ago (might have been 42" though :scratch:), LCD jobby on a recommendation from me ;) Told him to go & have a look in our local John Lewis & he ended up getting one, very nice it was to :)

They might have brought out a 1080P version & indeed you may well have the later one, i'm just interested...

Hi Mark

It's 1080i.

Reid Malenfant
08-01-2011, 13:01
Can you feed it a progressive signal though?

I bet that looks great, mateys was only 720 lines & it had a stonking picture :lol:

Macca
08-01-2011, 13:06
Can you feed it a progressive signal though?

I bet that looks great, mateys was only 720 lines & it had a stonking picture :lol:

The HD picture from my V+ box reproduces fine -I've always thought that Progressive or Interlaced was how the picture was ultimately processed in the TV, not a difference between feeds? :scratch:

Reid Malenfant
08-01-2011, 13:13
Hmmm, i guess it depends on what input connections you have. With HDMI you can feed it a Progressive signal, but if you are restricted to Component inputs then 99.9% of all sources will only allow a 1080 interlaced output :rolleyes:

You might well be surprised though, because the LCD panel is so small it might have built in de-interlacing. Most projectors do & they have a similar sized LCD panel ;)

WAD62
08-01-2011, 13:16
http://resources1.news.com.au/images/2011/01/07/1225983/846261-andrew-strauss.jpg

24 fecking years...Come on you beauty!!!! :eek:

To The tune of 'Sloop John B'

We came over from old Blighty
The Barmy Army and me
Around Sydney town we did roam
Six quid for a pint
A grand for a flight
With Strauss our captain
We’ll take the urn home

So hoist up the John B sail
See how the mainsail sails
Call for the captain ashore
We’ll take the urn home (take the urn home)
We’ll take the urn home (we’ll take the urn home)
With Strauss our captain
We’ll take the urn home

Ricky Ponting is a broken man
Without Warne he has no plan
He’s trying to carry this team
All on his own
He’s losing his hair
But we don’t care
With Strauss our captain
We’ll take the urn home

Repeat chorus

Graeme Swann is a caring guy
He rescues cats in his spare time
Now he’s going to tear the Aussies apart
They can’t read his spin
So England will win
With Strauss our captain
We’ll take the urn home.

Repeat chorus

Brad Haddin’s a simple man
He appeals whenever he can
He even appeals a catch down the leg side (even a wide)
He’s rubbish at his job
We think he’s a nob
With Strauss our captain
We’ll take the urn home

Repeat chorus

...now for the world cup!!! :cool:

Reid Malenfant
08-01-2011, 13:18
:lolsign:

Jac Hawk
08-01-2011, 13:23
24 fecking years...Come on you beauty!!!! :eek:

To The tune of 'Sloop John B'

We came over from old Blighty
The Barmy Army and me
Around Sydney town we did roam
Six quid for a pint
A grand for a flight
With Strauss our captain
We’ll take the urn home

So hoist up the John B sail
See how the mainsail sails
Call for the captain ashore
We’ll take the urn home (take the urn home)
We’ll take the urn home (we’ll take the urn home)
With Strauss our captain
We’ll take the urn home

Ricky Ponting is a broken man
Without Warne he has no plan
He’s trying to carry this team
All on his own
He’s losing his hair
But we don’t care
With Strauss our captain
We’ll take the urn home

Repeat chorus

Graeme Swann is a caring guy
He rescues cats in his spare time
Now he’s going to tear the Aussies apart
They can’t read his spin
So England will win
With Strauss our captain
We’ll take the urn home.

Repeat chorus

Brad Haddin’s a simple man
He appeals whenever he can
He even appeals a catch down the leg side (even a wide)
He’s rubbish at his job
We think he’s a nob
With Strauss our captain
We’ll take the urn home

Repeat chorus

...now for the world cup!!! :cool:

Well if it was Newcastle United winning the league or FA cup then i would be singing with ya, but cricket just isn't my kind of spectator sport :( sorry mate

WAD62
08-01-2011, 13:30
Well if it was Newcastle United winning the league or FA cup then i would be singing with ya, but cricket just isn't my kind of spectator sport :( sorry mate

Even with a Durham lad like Colly holding the 'Urn'...

Anyway shouldn't you be a 'Black Cat' coming from Durham ;)

chris@panteg
08-01-2011, 13:41
Well if it was Newcastle United winning the league or FA cup then i would be singing with ya, but cricket just isn't my kind of spectator sport :( sorry mate

You might have to get yourself one of those deep freeze thingy's out of the Alien Movie :eyebrows: sorry just kidding .


Australia 1 England 3 :carrot::gig::partytime::dance:

sorry just can't help it

And for Ponting and co:pat::wah:

Jac Hawk
08-01-2011, 13:52
Even with a Durham lad like Colly holding the 'Urn'...

Anyway shouldn't you be a 'Black Cat' coming from Durham ;)

Bit of a sore point in my family mate, me and my younger brother are the only toon fans, the rest are filthy macums:lol::lol:

WAD62
08-01-2011, 14:07
...the rest are filthy macums:lol::lol:

Best not to mention the recent derby game then ;)

As a Carlisle fan (just an unfortunate accident of birth), and a Sunderland Poly old boy, the 'Black Cats' are my glamour club :lol:

Jac Hawk
08-01-2011, 16:03
Best not to mention the recent derby game then ;)

As a Carlisle fan (just an unfortunate accident of birth), and a Sunderland Poly old boy, the 'Black Cats' are my glamour club :lol:


All i can say is, get ready for another can of wup ass to be opened on ya :eyebrows:

Macca
09-01-2011, 12:18
Hmmm, i guess it depends on what input connections you have. With HDMI you can feed it a Progressive signal, but if you are restricted to Component inputs then 99.9% of all sources will only allow a 1080 interlaced output :rolleyes:

You might well be surprised though, because the LCD panel is so small it might have built in de-interlacing. Most projectors do & they have a similar sized LCD panel ;)

I've had a look into this in more detail and seems that if you feed 1080P to a 1080i TV you will effectively be getting half the frames of 1080p i.e 540P.

Upshot: I need a better telly:(

Reid Malenfant
09-01-2011, 12:24
Are you sure about that Martin? Never heard of such a thing :scratch:

Does it have an HDMI connector? If not then you might be right, but if it has HDMI it means you can connect directly to the LCD panel & feed it 1080P with no problems ;)

Macca
09-01-2011, 12:40
Are you sure about that Martin? Never heard of such a thing :scratch:

Does it have an HDMI connector? If not then you might be right, but if it has HDMI it means you can connect directly to the LCD panel & feed it 1080P with no problems ;)

Well it is what I was told last night by a couple of pals who have stupidly expensive set-ups and have gone into the whole thing in a big way (60 inch Pioneer plasmas, twin active veolodyne subs, walls painted black etc) - not that I take their word as gospel but did seem to make logical sense to me at the time although I'm afraid I was very, very drunk...

And yes, I'm using HDMI connection for picture from Bluray and V+ box (TV has 2 HDMI inputs).

Reid Malenfant
09-01-2011, 13:03
In that case you should be able to feed the panel itself 1080P signals :eyebrows:

The whole idea of HDMI is that you can access the LCD panel directly, bypassing the interior electronics gubbins which may well only be capable of 1080i ;)


I'm using HDMI connection for picture from Bluray and V+ box (TV has 2 HDMI inputs).
Use your noggin, blu ray outputs 1080P, you should already be watching it in progressive mode..

Macca
09-01-2011, 13:12
In that case you should be able to feed the panel itself 1080P signals :eyebrows:

The whole idea of HDMI is that you can access the LCD panel directly, bypassing the interior electronics gubbins which may well only be capable of 1080i ;)


Use your noggin, blu ray outputs 1080P, you should already be watching it in progressive mode..

So I am watching 1080P after all? Wonderful - another problem solved:cool:

Reid Malenfant
09-01-2011, 13:18
:lolsign:

Vinyleyes
08-02-2011, 11:01
Hi Hamish,

Yes it's a setting on the DSP800...

Makes a massive difference when playing back music dvds/blu rays, as an awful lot gets put through the centre channel, and I'd rather my main system handled that.

It only does 5.1 however, but will also accept analogue inputs, but that would undermine it's value IMHO.

Using the AM-5s at the back gives me a kind of pseudo 7.1, well sort of ;)

Edit; Perhaps its one small downside to the DSP800 is that it pre dates HDMI, so for the audio I run optical toslinks from my sources to the DSP800, and HDMIs from them directly to my TV for the video, it would be nice to be able to use it as an HDMI switcher too...

Just noticed all the DS 800 owners here .. I am considering going the same route and would like to ask a question. Does the 800 act as a pre amp to the Main power amp that one needs to be added to the system to power the front two speakers ... .. or can one use an integrated or pre power combo fo feed into there.
Also .. can it be used as a stand alone DAC say for MP3's from a computer.
Thanks ..

Reid Malenfant
08-02-2011, 13:05
Just noticed all the DS 800 owners here .. I am considering going the same route and would like to ask a question. Does the 800 act as a pre amp to the Main power amp that one needs to be added to the system to power the front two speakers ... .. or can one use an integrated or pre power combo fo feed into there.
Yes the 800 acts as a pre amp. It has a volume control that controls the pre outs to the front channels as well as the internal amplifiers for centre & surround speakers. You could use it into an integrated but then you'd need to make sure that the volume control was always set at precisely the same position (to get everything balanced) when using the 800, this is why lots of amps these days have bypass switches. If you happen to have an integrated which has pre outs & power amp inputs which are linked you could feed directly into the power amp section by using a switch box ;)

Also .. can it be used as a stand alone DAC say for MP3's from a computer.
Thanks ..
I have no idea what so ever :scratch:

Vinyleyes
08-02-2011, 13:56
Hi Mark ... what I am after here is getting my preamp into the game for all signal processing ( except vinyl of course). So is there is nothing to stop me using ANY AV amp out there as long as it has pre outs. I was thinking that using the AV pre would expose the signal to inferior pre amp processing .. but are you saying that all the AV pre does is act as a volume control and I could go from there into my pre and power .. I understand now about using a switch box but am just looking at all options. If all the pre does is act as a volume contol then I could consider anything .. and the TAG AV32R looks the best option quality wise .. all the AV receivers I have read up on are suffering in their ultimate sound quality compared to standalone amplification. ..... Or is the very fact of using any AV pre going to degrade my signal out to the power amp .. even if it goes to my pre first .. ?

Reid Malenfant
08-02-2011, 14:08
Hi Brian, i think i understand what you are getting at yes. You could use any AV amp with pre outs, previously i used a Harman Kardon AVR5500 for anything with surround sound. It also had built in amplification & i used 3 channels of this for centre & surround speakers & the pre outs to my front power amps via that switch box i pointed out to you ;)

If i'm understanding you correctly you are investigating possible high quality AV pre amps, IE a pre amp that can deal with both stereo & 5.1 to a very high standard :scratch: If that's the case then i'd suggest you take a look at the ARC MP1 (http://www.audioresearch.com/MP1.html), which i happen to be just about to fit into my system as i type. This doesn't do any processing though, it only has line level inputs but for both stereo & 5.1 ;)

Vinyleyes
08-02-2011, 14:50
Not quite ... :) ... I have my own hi end 2 channel preamp .. but I wondered if it was OK to come into that directly from the AV pre out (for front 2 channels) without degrading the signal ... I would use the front two channels then solely for CD .. and I would use 5.1 for movie and music DVD,s .. but still using my own amp and pre for the front channels. The AV receiver in 5.1 would then be listened to with the AV's own amps and also with my own power amps linked to the pre outs from the rear and centre channels ... So ultimately I might end up with 3 of my own 2 channel power amps in there .. but the front 2 speakers would always be powered through my hi end pre and power. My question is .. does coming out of the AV amp pre's and into my own preamp degrade the sound at all .. is that OK to do ... or am I losing the benefit of my own preamp by doing this.
The switch box you mention would be used to switch into pure 2 channel audio from my exisiting pre and power for vinyl and CD ..

Reid Malenfant
08-02-2011, 14:57
You could do but you'd have a hard job balancing the fronts to the centre & surrounds unless you bypass your pre & use the volume control on a processor.

This is the big problem you see, keeping all the channels balanced :doh: The only way to do it properly is to use a volume control that does all 6 channels at the same time. You also need to balance everything so need gain controls which once set up never need to be touched again.

I fully understand what you are after now & it's a pita :rolleyes:

WAD62
08-02-2011, 16:03
Just noticed all the DS 800 owners here .. I am considering going the same route and would like to ask a question. Does the 800 act as a pre amp to the Main power amp that one needs to be added to the system to power the front two speakers ... .. or can one use an integrated or pre power combo fo feed into there.
Also .. can it be used as a stand alone DAC say for MP3's from a computer.
Thanks ..

Yes, yes, and yes...is the short answer.

1. Put your centre channel across the L&R front channels, if you want to make the most out of your stereo setup
2. Set your Pre/integrated stereo amp volume at 12 O'clock, on the appropriate input
3. Balance all the channels using the DSP800E white/pink noise generator

Now whenever you want to watch a movie, select the input from the DSP800E, set your stereo volume at 12 O'clock and away you go. Everything is now controlled by the DSP800E volume control

P.S. the onboard DAC will handle stereo for your mp3s too, it's not the best DAC but it will work, and if it's only mp3's it'll be ok. ;)

Vinyleyes
08-02-2011, 16:29
Excellent .. :) ..... Thanks Will and Mark .. ........... I think then I'll go the Yam 800 route for now and use that to learn my way around AV stuff and setting up. Then if I get into this big surround sound thing for movies and DVD music concert movies I will explore getting a better AV HD capable processor .. whether it be an exisiting all in one deal .. or something like the TAG // and figure out how to use all my own amplification with them ... I have a Nak PA-7 and Quad 405 that would be nice for surround channels ... In fact I am going to try out the PA-7 as my main amp as well .. loads of grunt there for movies .. ... In the meantime the Radford is the main power amp for sound quality .. until I can get/afford something better :eek:

Cheers :cool:

gary
29-12-2015, 17:04
Currently using a yamaha 3040 to provide surround with the front 2 channels pre out into naim feeding proac future 0.5 fronts, dali ikon 6 mk2 rears and 4 dali phantom E80s in the ceiling with a rel stentor III to provide the low end so yep sounds pretty amazing for both movies and regular 2 channel though for music the yamaha generally gets switched off its a good amp but not in the same league as the naim.

losepete
14-11-2018, 23:30
I have a Meridian G61RSL Surround Controller with Meridian G55 5 channel power amp and 2x Meridian 205 power amps which work fine for me.

The Meridian 205s power the 2 rear channels.
The G55 is running in bridged mode giving >300w per channel to the front stereo speakers and also providing 100w for the centre channel.

The G61RSL has a Stereo option which switches off all dsp processing and sounds really good - guess it is a bit to do with the watts involved :)