A/V amp Jiggery pokery

[jon1]

With respect mate, what i have is bloody good to my ears, sure i could improve it, but at what cost? trust me it would be thousands, money which i don't have right now, i've chosen main speakers that i've always liked the sound of, and an A/V amp that was noted to punch above it's price bracket and luckily compliments my speakers, the only weak link is the sub and only for movies, something i will fix when the right sub turnt up for the right price

Mike when you have a fat wallet have a look at one of these http://www.bkelec.com/HiFi/Sub_Woofers/XXLS400.htm have had one for a few months now no complaints..welcome to the hobby of diminution returns

[Sir Real]

Hi
Newbie, and reading this post with interest. As I detailed in my 'Welcome' post, I retired to Fuerteventura a couple of years back, and left my old stereo behind. Replaced with a Cyrus 6a and MA Bronze 5s. Soon concluded that I spent too long watching film and TV, so should have surround sound to do so. Was not prepared to ditch the nearly new Cyrus for an AVR. Did a 'quick and dirty' improv, with a mega cheapo 5.1 decoder feeding the Cyrus, as well as separate Class D budget amps driving the rear and centre speakers (no sub).

The above was more a proof of concept than a serious attempt at surround sound - works tho'!. From it (and from diligent googling) I've learned that:
Surround is great for TV and film
It's about sensation and experience, rather than audio quality
Consequently, I want to retain a discrete stereo system, which also integrates into the AV setup
Music mixed down to 2 track stereo sounds better played thus.
Few if any AVRs can match stereo equipment for audio quality

I know previous posts have been along the lines of 'whatever floats your water borne vessel', so apols if the above is obvious to some, and anathema to others. Now I'm planning to upgrade the AV tat I have with a Marantz NR1509. It has the necessary pre-outs to integrate the Cyrus for front speakers, and will act as pre-amp for streamed stereo vids such as Youtube lala.

Questions are, will the Marantz integrate adequately with the Cyrus for surround sound - I gather Marantz has a signature sound? Is it likely to function adequately as a pre-amp streamer for the Cyrus? Thanks if you've read this far. Now off to listen to some Pantera (I feel the need for a spiritual sledgehammer )

[Macca]

I would say the answers are yes and yes.


For music I'd expect the Marantz to have a slightly different character to the Cyrus, for surround sound I'd be surprised if you can tell any difference. But it will all be compatible

[Sir Real]

Thanks Martin
Good to know your view coincides with mine. I believe I'd be ok with the setup described, but it's all a bit 'by guess and by God'. It's also a question of logistics - you'd be surprised how many online sales items (Ebay and Amazon included) won't ship to the Canaries. Fortunately, with the Marantz, I have a few options. (And don't even think about local suppliers!)

Cheers,
Chris

[Macca]

Thanks Martin
Good to know your view coincides with mine. I believe I'd be ok with the setup described, but it's all a bit 'by guess and by God'. It's also a question of logistics - you'd be surprised how many online sales items (Ebay and Amazon included) won't ship to the Canaries. Fortunately, with the Marantz, I have a few options. (And don't even think about local suppliers!)

Cheers,
Chris

But on the plus side you get to live in the Canaries. I'd probably take that deal on balance.

[Sir Real]

But on the plus side you get to live in the Canaries. I'd probably take that deal on balance.

That's true Macca, so yeah, swings and roundabouts. I knew this place was quirky when I moved here. Plus there's the satisfaction of finding a problem, then identifying and implementing a solution. The probs are usually self-inflicted, mind, but if you decide that you want to do something, and want to do it in a certain way, that's what you have to do. Or maybe I'm just obstinate and inflexible? Nah...

Cheers,
Chris

[Jac Hawk]

Ok a quick question, on my A/V amp I have 2 x line level outputs for subwoofers labelled sub1 and sub2 imaginatively, I have it connected to a Bose acoustimass 10 series 5 and it’s connected strangely, you have L&R speaker cables for all 5 channels plus a line level for the sub, however this harness terminates at the Bose sub and the 5 satellite speakers plug into that. I’ve recently bought a REL storm and want to connect to the 2nd line level sub output, the REL has 3 inputs, high level, low level and balanced, and uses 3 pin XLR plugs to connect to the mono built in amp, I know I need to connect to the low level input but as the cable is connected with 2 positive and 1 negative do I need to connect the 2 positive wires to the positive on the RCA plug which goes into the A/V amp or do I just need connect 1positive?

[Firebottle]

I would imagine that you only need one positive connection from the Sub2 output. I don't think there is any harm in connecting both positives.

The filtering and channel combination would be done inside the AV amp so all the bass info would be available.

[Lawrence001]

Ok a quick question, on my A/V amp I have 2 x line level outputs for subwoofers labelled sub1 and sub2 imaginatively, I have it connected to a Bose acoustimass 10 series 5 and it’s connected strangely, you have L&R speaker cables for all 5 channels plus a line level for the sub, however this harness terminates at the Bose sub and the 5 satellite speakers plug into that. I’ve recently bought a REL storm and want to connect to the 2nd line level sub output, the REL has 3 inputs, high level, low level and balanced, and uses 3 pin XLR plugs to connect to the mono built in amp, I know I need to connect to the low level input but as the cable is connected with 2 positive and 1 negative do I need to connect the 2 positive wires to the positive on the RCA plug which goes into the A/V amp or do I just need connect 1positive?

It sounds like you've got the high level cable which terminates in a Speakon plug rather than balanced. The low level should just be RCA I think?

Could you post a photo of the cable and the back of the Rel?