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Similar to surround receivers, on stereo gear having a pre out/main in loop is a "high end" feature reserved for kilobuck gear because by definition the only people who care about that stuff have thousands of dollars to spend on their stereo. I am seeing more subs with built-in stereo crossovers from the likes of Emotiva and SVS which is a promising trend. Also I think a company like Schiit would do well to make a cheap analog crossover.
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Mar 12, 2021 17:39
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Is it possible to mix an eARC soundbar with passive speakers? I bought a great Samsung soundbar and sub a year ago. Since then we bought a house and the ceiling has 4x in ceiling speakers. Just wondering if I can repurpose those and put it all together or instead need to buy a new sub/Center/front facing speakers when I install a new tv in July.
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Mar 14, 2021 02:31
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Opioid posted:Is it possible to mix an eARC soundbar with passive speakers? I bought a great Samsung soundbar and sub a year ago. Since then we bought a house and the ceiling has 4x in ceiling speakers. Just wondering if I can repurpose those and put it all together or instead need to buy a new sub/Center/front facing speakers when I install a new tv in July. Does the sound bar have speaker outs? This should be a pretty easy question to answer.
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Mar 14, 2021 03:31
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Even if you could, combining a soundbar with in-ceiling speakers would probably sound terrible.
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Mar 14, 2021 06:45
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Yeah doesn’t look like it’ll be an option with only HDMI in, HDMI out (eARC) and optical in. It’s a Samsung Q series, paid $2000 for it with its Dolby Atmos stuff and great reviews. Was just hoping to incorporate it some way if possible. Likely I’ll just start from scratch in the basement then and leave the soundbar where it is upstairs. The textured drywall ceiling is going to be a treat for re-running the speaker cables to a new wall outlet. The original owners arranged all possible TV rooms to include a fireplace and above mantle mounted TV. Who needs 3 lovely electronic fireplaces and all TVs a couple feet from the ceiling? Opioid fucked around with this message at 06:54 on Mar 14, 2021 |
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Mar 14, 2021 06:51
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Opioid posted:Is it possible to mix an eARC soundbar with passive speakers? I bought a great Samsung soundbar and sub a year ago. Since then we bought a house and the ceiling has 4x in ceiling speakers. Just wondering if I can repurpose those and put it all together or instead need to buy a new sub/Center/front facing speakers when I install a new tv in July. Add a home theatre receiver with HDMI and hook up only the channels you want to your ceiling speakers. It would be stupid and unwieldy, but probably a fun technical exercise.
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Mar 15, 2021 16:56
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Some one locally had a set of B&W 684 S1s and an HTM61 S1 for $500. I'm looking up upgrade from some somewhat vintage altec lansing 105 bookshelf's. 75% listening to music. I have a garbage polk sub for now that may get replaced eventually. Is it dumb to buy the B&Ws at that price? I'm having trouble figuring out if its a good deal or not. I understand they are a bit brighter sounding of speakers (I assume maybe Grado esque?). I like music with bass from time to time but I imagine my sub can still cover that being that I've been happy with my old altec lansings.
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Mar 19, 2021 19:17
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Sadi posted:Some one locally had a set of B&W 684 S1s and an HTM61 S1 for $500. I'm looking up upgrade from some somewhat vintage altec lansing 105 bookshelf's. 75% listening to music. I have a garbage polk sub for now that may get replaced eventually. I like how B&Ws sound personally. $500 for the set isn’t a score but it’s probably a fair price.
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Mar 19, 2021 19:40
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So I didn't see anything in OP about CD players, so I'll ask. I have an old 70's Technics receiver that I'm very happy with; basic set up with a turntable and a couple okay speakers. I do however have a few CD's that I would like to listen to occasionally; does anyone know of a standalone CD player I can put into my system? Everything I find is either $500 amps/receivers or crappy self-contained stereos. Maybe I should look into antique, did they ever make something like this in the 80s/90s?
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Mar 19, 2021 21:14
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Super Waffle posted:So I didn't see anything in OP about CD players, so I'll ask. I have an old 70's Technics receiver that I'm very happy with; basic set up with a turntable and a couple okay speakers. I do however have a few CD's that I would like to listen to occasionally; does anyone know of a standalone CD player I can put into my system? Everything I find is either $500 amps/receivers or crappy self-contained stereos. Maybe I should look into antique, did they ever make something like this in the 80s/90s? Just get a secondhand DVD player for $15. If it’s kind of broken but another.
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Mar 19, 2021 22:01
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Super Waffle posted:So I didn't see anything in OP about CD players, so I'll ask. I have an old 70's Technics receiver that I'm very happy with; basic set up with a turntable and a couple okay speakers. I do however have a few CD's that I would like to listen to occasionally; does anyone know of a standalone CD player I can put into my system? Everything I find is either $500 amps/receivers or crappy self-contained stereos. Maybe I should look into antique, did they ever make something like this in the 80s/90s? Yamaha CD-S300 CD-C600 has a carousel for $100 more when they aren’t both on sale, although I’ve heard about reliability issues with this one
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Mar 20, 2021 06:21
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CD is digital, wouldn’t it be better to just rip some flacs and find some adapter to make a simple storage output work?
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Mar 20, 2021 06:34
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My new living room setup (Yamaha R-N303D + Dali Spektor 2) finally arrived, setup was super easy (I was expecting a painful hassle getting the network side to work, based on some reviews) and it sounds great. It's so nice not having to EQ it to hell to stop music sounding muddy. Would recommend. E: This is with Airplay from my Mac, I would test vinyl but the cats chewed up the drive belt 
Bobstar fucked around with this message at 20:29 on Mar 26, 2021 |
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Mar 26, 2021 20:26
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Hello Spektor 2 buddy! I run them with the R-202D and I am very, very happy with the sound. Glad you enjoy them too
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Mar 26, 2021 22:56
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Looking for some advice for sound setup. As stated above we bought this house last year and there are in ceiling speakers already in the basement. I was hoping to set up a TV into this recess and build a system around it. Eventually we'll remove the fireplace because we already have 2 others in the house and this one is just a cheap electric light 'fireplace' with foam painted to look like stone. The ceiling speakers are already routed to the corner by the treadmill so I'll be doing some re-cabling to the TV location. Ceiling speakers circled in red. Budget - $2000-$4000. Thinking a ?5.1.2 system or 5.1.4 system where I can make use of those ceiling speakers for Atmos. Hoping for amp + speaker suggestions! Also, any recommendations for speaker placements? Particularly the rear surrounds... Should I just use the rear two ceiling speakers as surrounds? 
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Mar 26, 2021 23:43
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Opioid posted:Also, any recommendations for speaker placements? Particularly the rear surrounds... Should I just use the rear two ceiling speakers as surrounds? That's what I would do. Put the saved money into a nice pair of front floorstanders and a good center channel speaker. You'll probably not notice if the rear channels come out of the ceiling, the back wall, or the side walls, especially if using Atmos, so all three are valid options IMO. If you're set on spending all your budget, sure go ahead and mount rear speakers and use the in-ceiling ones for height or whatever Atmos lets you do, but my tip would be that it's wasted money and effort.
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Mar 28, 2021 21:22
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BigFactory posted:Just get a secondhand DVD player for $15. If it’s kind of broken but another. Most DVD players suck as CD players, though. They're noisy or slow or both. Like, "boots in 10 seconds" slow. Blu-ray players even more so.
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Mar 28, 2021 21:25
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Not sure if this is the right thread for this, but I couldn't find a headphone-specific one. I'm looking to finally upgrade my old over-the-ear headphones for my pc, and am looking to get some nice wireless ones, around $100-$150. Now, I have a strange demand for the headphone; they have to be comfortable with only one side on sometimes. I know I could get in-ear buds (I already have some), but I'm looking for the sound that over-ear headphones have. I feel like this is really a per-person case for what is comfortable and what isn't, but I would imagine something that allows for adjustment and flexibility would be nice. Thanks in advance! Edit: while I say for my PC, I'm not looking for a gaming headset and don't need a microphone for it.
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Mar 28, 2021 21:32
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Fashionable Jorts posted:Not sure if this is the right thread for this, but I couldn't find a headphone-specific one. I'm looking to finally upgrade my old over-the-ear headphones for my pc, and am looking to get some nice wireless ones, around $100-$150. Now, I have a strange demand for the headphone; they have to be comfortable with only one side on sometimes. I know I could get in-ear buds (I already have some), but I'm looking for the sound that over-ear headphones have. https://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=3563521&perpage=40&noseen=1&pagenumber=316
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Mar 28, 2021 21:34
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Ok Comboomer posted:https://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=3563521&perpage=40&noseen=1&pagenumber=316 Thank you! I don't know how I missed that.
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Mar 28, 2021 21:37
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Hippie Hedgehog posted:Most DVD players suck as CD players, though. They're noisy or slow or both. Like, "boots in 10 seconds" slow. Blu-ray players even more so. You can get really top of the line 15 year old DVD players for $15-$35. High quality 24bit DAC’s, audiophile quality stuff. It’s just that everyone who used to have one of those in their home theater switched over to Blu-ray and there’s a million of them out there. There are also a million lovely DVD players that were $79 new in 2004. If those are still working, they have all the problems you mentioned and more. The real good old ones are worth taking a chance on, though, IMO.
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Mar 28, 2021 22:23
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Hippie Hedgehog posted:That's what I would do. Put the saved money into a nice pair of front floorstanders and a good center channel speaker. You'll probably not notice if the rear channels come out of the ceiling, the back wall, or the side walls, especially if using Atmos, so all three are valid options IMO. Appreciate this! Think I’m going to go with a Marantz SR5015 and just need to pick out LCR speakers and a sub now.
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Mar 29, 2021 07:24
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Is it worth it still to get a receiver that does video switching or is it just better to get a decent 5.1 receiver and use the ARC connector on your TV to get sound to the receiver?
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Mar 29, 2021 18:18
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DariusLikewise posted:Is it worth it still to get a receiver that does video switching or is it just better to get a decent 5.1 receiver and use the ARC connector on your TV to get sound to the receiver?
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Mar 29, 2021 19:06
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Anyone looking for a deal on a stereo receiver the Denon DRA-800H is on eBay refurbished for $449 with a 10% off code PAYLESSCR so around $400 for a HDMI 2.0 receiver with streaming and real deal 100WPC stereo.
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Mar 30, 2021 18:59
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This is my first time buying an AV receiver and passive speakers so I'm new to this. If a speaker has RMS 85 watts continuous and a peak power handling of 340 watts, is it okay to use a receiver with 125 watts per channel?DariusLikewise posted:Is it worth it still to get a receiver that does video switching or is it just better to get a decent 5.1 receiver and use the ARC connector on your TV to get sound to the receiver? From what I've experienced with soundbars, ARC can add audio lag and/or degrade the audio quality depending on your TV.
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Mar 30, 2021 21:17
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qirex posted:It depends on how many sources you have and if the ARC output from your TV isn't flaky, some TVs have problems with lag or decoding specific audio formats. If you're trying to do 4K gaming from either a console or PC you should expect to use ARC. I just got a PS5 and 4K console gaming is fine. Also it's handling all my other 4K sources fine. Maybe you meant 120hz?
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Mar 30, 2021 21:36
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Dogen posted:I just got a PS5 and 4K console gaming is fine. Also it's handling all my other 4K sources fine. Maybe you meant 120hz? Yeah the PS5 currently uses a tweaked chroma model that is cool at 120, it's the Xbox and PC that barf. e: I use ARC for my PS4 [and intend to continue when I get my PS5] because I like having different picture settings for games.
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Mar 30, 2021 22:07
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SweetMercifulCrap! posted:This is my first time buying an AV receiver and passive speakers so I'm new to this. If a speaker has RMS 85 watts continuous and a peak power handling of 340 watts, is it okay to use a receiver with 125 watts per channel? Having a "beefier rated" amp than speakers is the best thing you can do. Reasonable-quality speakers in a home setting will, generally, be able to handle as much wattage as you can apply to them without damaging your hearing. The "rated RMS" for speakers is just baloney, it's very rare that a consumer is able to fry speakers by putting too much power through them. The number you want to look at is the rated sensitivity (measured in dB/W), to ensure you don't need all that amp beef to get nice loud sounds. If you find speakers with a rated sensitivity below, say, 84 dB/W, look at a different set. What you should really watch out for, and what kills speakers dead, is when you have a weak amp driving your nice speakers. Cranking the volume too high will make the amp "clip" it signal (which is very audible distortion. That can melt the voice coils of the speakers really fast. To avoid getting distortion, audiophiles will advocate for having "headroom", which is a form of safety margin between what wattage you actually play at, and what wattage the amp can output.
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Mar 31, 2021 22:43
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To marginally walk back my praise the other day, I've been listening to my new kit for a week, and while it's a big improvement over anything I've had before, I'm not 100% convinced. I've got another 7 days to request a return if I need to. Looking for advice. As mentioned I have the Dali Spektor 2's hooked up to a Yamaha R-N303D receiver. Links in Dutch but the numbers are fairly obvious. I'm loving the receiver's functionality, it does exactly what I want it to - auto-on when I start playing Airplay from my Mac or iPhone, which is my primary source. I'm still finding that a lot of music sounds a little bit muddy in the middle though. Tweaking on the iTunes EQ helps a bit (though this is frustrating due to the multi-second lag between adjusting and hearing the change), but it's not quite the sound I'm after. I also find I need to turn them up quite loud to get decent clarity, otherwise it just becomes a bit muffled. I've played around with positioning, polarity, and tried an old FiiO player via the line-in (which sounded worse than the DAC in the receiver, which was pleasing). Questions: - Have I mismatched these items? Looking at Hippie Hedgehog's well-timed post above, I see these speakers are low-ish in sensitivity, and there's little headroom. - Am I expecting too much from a €600 setup in my living room? My background is pro theatre and live music (but as a lighting guy), so I'm used to much bigger sounds from large line arrays and such. Also influences the below, with a preference for a very clear, separated musical theatre sound with prominent vocals - Or is it just a personal speaker preference thing? Should I be looking at Klipsch (who I've seen described as "bright") or some other brand? Annoyingly I don't think I can get any other speakers here before the current ones have to go back, so comparing might be a problem. Any advice appreciated  E: Also still waiting for a replacement drive belt for my turntable, so I can compare that.
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Apr 1, 2021 16:39
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Bobstar posted:To marginally walk back my praise the other day, I've been listening to my new kit for a week, and while it's a big improvement over anything I've had before, I'm not 100% convinced. I've got another 7 days to request a return if I need to. Looking for advice. Have you played around with your room a little? It might be worth paying attention to where the speakers are and what’s around them before you send them back. They might break in a little too, although I think that’s overblown a lot of the time.
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Apr 1, 2021 17:15
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It's a shame you can't fit in a MiniDSP somewhere in the mix. If you was doing PC to speakers there's a great free program that does parametric equalization (equalizer apo) Klipsch are great speakers and you can always toe them in/out if they're too bright
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Apr 1, 2021 17:20
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I think you're just running up against the general ability of a speaker at that size and price to provide what you want. I hate telling people the solution is to just spend more money because if the problem is the room it won't solve everything but it's possible the Spektors aren't up to the task for what you want. If you want "bigger" sound Klipsch will certainly provide that although I'd strongly recommend the RP Series over the R, by all accounts they're miles better. Another option would be a subwoofer. All in all though, if you're not actually happy with it try something else, maybe even powered pro speakers if that's the sound you want.
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Apr 1, 2021 18:16
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Those Dalis should present a reasonable soundstage as long as your room isn't completely horrible acoustically, but they drop off real early, have you considered a subwoofer?
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Apr 1, 2021 18:28
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Bobstar posted:I'm still finding that a lot of music sounds a little bit muddy in the middle though. Tweaking on the iTunes EQ helps a bit (though this is frustrating due to the multi-second lag between adjusting and hearing the change), but it's not quite the sound I'm after. I also find I need to turn them up quite loud to get decent clarity, otherwise it just becomes a bit muffled. I don't think necessarily that the sensitivity is your problem in this case because what you describe doesn't sound like the amp is straining. More likely, you just had bum luck and chose a pair that isn't to your taste. I have the predecessor model (Lektor 2) as LR in a 5.1 setup, and while they do fit my needs nicely, especially for the price, I can see how someone might find them "muddy in the mid-range". Based on what you write, I would also say try a different model/brand. I have very limited experience auditioning different brands so don't have a specific recommendation that could be "livelier". Other words you could look out for if reading reviews would be "transparent" and "monitor-like", that usually is audiophile lingo for "more upper midrange and treble". Hippie Hedgehog fucked around with this message at 18:43 on Apr 1, 2021 |
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Apr 1, 2021 18:41
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Thank you all. Yeah the room might be acoustically suboptimal. I'll have a play with that. I may also order some Klipsch ones too, just to compare. This is my first foray into passive home speakers, and I can't get an idea of what's what with just one example. I can always send either back. qirex, I'm looking at RP-500M, seems to be the same kind of size. vvv cool, well I went ahead and ordered the above to come tomorrow, worst case I have to lug them down to the post office to send them back And yeah I'm aware that even though this feels like spending "proper money" on audio gear, it's just the bottom of a large mountain whose peak is hidden by money clouds. I can afford to stretch to those Klipschschs for now, I'll pick the ones I like best of the two, and then wait before getting sucked any deeper into the audio rabbit hole Bobstar fucked around with this message at 19:48 on Apr 1, 2021 |
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Apr 1, 2021 19:16
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You indeed might like the Klipsch house sound better, I feel like the RP series are more clear without the harshness that people disliked about prior lines. I have a 5 speaker RP setup (my sub is an ancient Vandersteen) that I updated from an older Klipsch setup last year, and I've been very pleased. But yeah, maybe you are expecting too much for the money, also. Like you really might want some floodstanders for a nice full sound, although good bookshelf speakers shouldn't have a clarity problem when setup appropriately.
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Apr 1, 2021 19:43
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After having a few pairs of really big 3 way speakers I don’t think I could go back to bookshelves except for a near field setup. Bookshelves are just limited by the size.
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Apr 1, 2021 20:11
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Oof. Went to a home audio place in town that sells Marantz to get some suggestions on speakers and thoughts on the SR 5015. He said that for my small room posted above I’d need at least SR 6015 and Totem speakers for LCR. Quoted ~$1100 x 3 for LCR, $1000 for sub. Any other speaker brand recommendations for LCR?
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Apr 1, 2021 22:10
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Totems are highly regarded but they are pricey, there's a shitload of cheaper options. Also nobody will ever be able to convince me there's any actual difference between a Marantz and the equivalent Denon other than the design. What was the logic behind a $1600 receiver? For well under $1000 apiece you're in the range of properly good stuff like LS50s, Wharfedale Evos, entry level Dynaudio, Ascend Sierra, etc. As far as the receiver there's a big price jump between a 7 channel and 9 channel amp, were you planning to do surrounds or just use the ceiling speakers? qirex fucked around with this message at 22:29 on Apr 1, 2021 |
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Apr 1, 2021 22:22
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