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A V Receiver or AMP for 2.0 ?

post #1 of 25
9/14/12 at 10:18pm
Thread Starter 
Hi!smile.gif

As the holidays are approaching (2.5 months left lol) I decided to buy me a HDTV and a sound system this winter.The problem is that I know too little about home audio so I can't really decide which is the best way to go.

Now I'm having a dilemma related to audio systems for HDTV and how do they work.

For start,I prefer a high quality 2.0 setup rather than a low budget 5.1 system.

So here is what I think I want after lurking the WEB over the past week:

Receiver + 2 Bookshelf Speakers ( Media Player>HDMI 1> HDTV >HDMI 2>Receiver>Speakers).Is this right?thinking.gif

OR

Amplifier + 2 Bookshelf Speakers (Media Player>HDMI cable>HDTV>RCA Analog Audio>Speakers).

Here are my questions:
1.What are the differences between the sound VIA HDMI to AV Receiver and the RCA analog audio to Amplifier in a 2.0 audio system?

2.If i go with the AMP,I'll need a DAC?

3.Will I benefit from any of the DTS/Dolby technologies in a 2.0 + 5.1 AV receiver if I hook the A V receiver VIA HDMI?(Dolby True HD,Dolby Digital Plus,DTS-HD,DTS 2.0 etc.).

4.Should I get a STEREO receiver or a 5.1 AV receiver for a 2.0 system?



For the AV receiver I was thinking about Yamaha RX-V373 or Pioneer VSX-527,

For bookshelf speakers at Monitor Audio Bronze BX2 or Dali Zensor 1 (230 Eur here)

And for the AMP at Yamaha A-S500.

Budget :550 Eur (700$)

As source I will be using the HDTV or the Ipad.

I'm pretty confused about this decision confused.gif.I'm counting on you guys to help me decide.

If you have any other suggestions feel free to reply!

Thank you in advance!thumb.gif
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post #2 of 25
9/14/12 at 10:27pm
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Why not get nice active speakers from someone like M-Audio and a good sound card?
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post #3 of 25
9/14/12 at 10:29pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by BeerPowered View Post

Why not get nice active speakers from someone like M-Audio and a good sound card?

Because he's talking about a home theater setup, not a PC setup......

I would go for a receiver, simply because it'll offer you more connectivity, and future upgrade paths into 5.1 or 7.1.
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post #4 of 25
9/14/12 at 10:35pm
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For a TV, my bad.

I would actually get a nice Soundbar if your going for 2 Channel audio over bookshelf.

I myself have a Yamaha RX-765 and Polk RM95 Speaker set. My Brother in Law has a nice Bose sound bar, and I prefer his setup over mine.
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post #5 of 25
9/14/12 at 11:21pm
Thread Starter 
Thank you guys for such a fast respond.smile.gif

I don't think the soundbar is a good idea for me.I'm 100% decided on bookshelf speakers.I even made some DIY speaker stands.Here are some picture of the stands with some old passive speakers of mine.






And I dont think that music will sound good with a soundbar.
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post #6 of 25
9/14/12 at 11:40pm
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Well Yamaha does make good receivers, I own one. Denon and Onyko also make good ones. The question is do you ever see yourself upgrading to 5.1/7.1

They have smaller sized 2.0 channel receivers for Bookshelf speakers, although you could opt for a bigger 5.1/7.1 receivers. If you go with a 5.1/7.1 you can always add speakers in pairs as you go.


Im pretty sure any new receiver will support the latest audio codecs such as TruDolbyHD and DTS HD as well as Legacy codes like DTS and Dolby Digital. THX should also be supported but I would double check. Other things to consider are receivers that support Apple Air Play, amount of outputs, DLNA, multiple zones, wireless speakers etc.

For example you can have a receiver support multiple zones and have 2 outputs. So you could wire 2 separate rooms with home theater setups using the same receiver. Or you can do something like add Patio speakers or even a bathroom/Kitchen ceiling speakers.

You didn't express this interest but it is something I wish I knew about before I purchased my Receiver.

As far as HDMI goes it can carry 8 Channels uncompressed PCM audio and RCA/Toslink can carry 2 channels uncompressed PCM audio.
Edited by BeerPowered - 9/14/12 at 11:48pm
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post #7 of 25
9/15/12 at 12:01am
Are you looking to playing music at a reasonable sound level with excellent sound quality or Loud with excellent sound quality?

What country do you live in?
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post #8 of 25
9/15/12 at 3:38am
Quote:
Originally Posted by amigo092 View Post

Thank you guys for such a fast respond.smile.gif
I don't think the soundbar is a good idea for me.I'm 100% decided on bookshelf speakers.I even made some DIY speaker stands.Here are some picture of the stands with some old passive speakers of mine.


And I dont think that music will sound good with a soundbar.
In some rooms Soundbars can sound good, but in others good luck. Unless running cables is a huge issue, I would pass.
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post #9 of 25
9/15/12 at 9:20am
Thread Starter 
@BeerPowered

I don't think that I will ever upgrade to 5.1/7.1.Maybe I will add a SUB in the future.

As for the small sized 2.0 channel receivers,I couldn't find one.The only ones I could find have analog audio inputs such as RCA White/Red cables.Maybe you can help me with some links.smile.gif

What I want to know is that if I get any beneffits from the DTS\Dolby techs in a 2.0/2.1 setup using a 2.0 receiver with analog audio out.

And if there is any difference between Analog audio (white/red RCA) with a 2.0 AMP\Receiver and Digital Audio such as HDMI and Digital Audio Out.Can anyone help me with this?

@Stoffie

Reasonable sound level with excellent sound quality.

@Face76

I don't mind about cables hanging out tongue.gif.I will find a way to mask them.If not,it's not such a big deal to me anyway.
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post #10 of 25
9/15/12 at 11:40am
On Formats:
  • Dolby Digital/DTS are compression formats, not just encoding

  • DTS is higher quality than Dolby Digital (less compression)

  • The main reason for these two technologies is to compress surround sound (5.1) into a more manageable size so it won't take up as much room on a movie disc and can be more easily communicated across existing data transfer specs (like optical).

  • A normal audio CD runs at 2ch 16-bit, 44KHz and has higher quality sound than either Dolby Digital or DTS; obviously, whether it actually is higher quality depends on the recording studio.

  • Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD Master Audio are the two new encodings for blu-rays; both are encodings for lossless audio (no compression) and thus neither is higher quality than the other

  • Both lossless blu-ray formats can run up to 5.1ch surround at 24-bit, 192KHz or 7.1ch surround at 24-bit, 96KHz; this is the maximum quality audio available unless you get into SACD.

On Analog vs Digital:
  • All modern systems have one or more processes converting a digital signal to anolog. This is done DACs (Digital to Analog Converter).

  • DACs are made in varying qualities and supporting varying quality sound.

  • You want to find out which of your components has the highest quality DACs and use that device for the conversion

  • It also makes a difference on the quality of components after the signal has been converted; hence why the quality of the amp has such a dramatic affect with high-end speakers (where you can tell the difference). I'm going to ignore this aspect, though, because it is also related to personal preference.

  • Generally, the electronics do not affect the quality of the digital signal (before conversion) unless you are doing some kind of processing to it.

  • Usually home-theater setups try to make the receiver or pre-amp/processor have the good DACs so the anolog signal passes through the least amount of connections and loses the least amount of quality. They also will generally have options like pass-through, direct, and other things to maintain the original sound without messing with it too much.

  • Digital transmission is much less prone to signal loss and distortion than analog transmission (meaning sending your sound over HDMI or optical connections will lose less quality). Whether you can hear the difference depends on your speakers.

Other Stuff:
  • You mentioned an iPad. If you plan to play back any form compressed audio, make sure you get a receiver or networking device that has some processing for restoring the sound unless you only use 256+kbps, FLAC, or other lossless format. Also, I've heard that the Yamaha iPad interface is better than most others. The telephone is the only thing I can think of with worse quality sound than compressed MP3s being played over high-end speakers, but you can't tell a difference with budget speakers.

  • If you watch a lot of movies or intend to; you want at least a 5.1ch setup without question. Not only are today's movies designed to be played back in surround and thus lose a lot of audio when not, but it changes the whole experience. Since you are already set on a specific front right/left speaker you will want to either purchase speakers from the same family for a surround setup or get a receiver with 2 zones, so your surround setup can have a matching sonic signature. If you plan to primarly just listen to music, then a higher quality 2ch system is better: even if run from the same receiver simply because you spend the same money from 6 speakers on 2 higher quality ones.
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