Need Help! Absolute Beginner with more money than brains

[snackwell]

Morning. Need a good AV system with wifi, wired, airplay to drive both my Samsung Smart TV and all music. Need phono in, need ipod in, USB in. I have great MB Quart speakers from 'way back when. I am currently running a Yamaha RX v861 and think the sound quality is not good - also that the built in dac is probably way-substandard. I need help.

 

[PENG]

Morning. Need a good AV system with wifi, wired, airplay to drive both my Samsung Smart TV and all music. Need phono in, need ipod in, USB in. I have great MB Quart speakers from 'way back when. I am currently running a Yamaha RX v861 and think the sound quality is not good - also that the built in dac is probably way-substandard. I need help.

Yamaha RX-V840 and the Denon AVR-X4100W.

 

[Adam]

Welcome to the forum! There are a number of receivers out there that could fit your needs, so I'll ask:
(*) What budget do you have in mind? Is it just for a receiver, or do you need more speakers?
(*) How many speakers are you looking to use - just two for stereo, a 5.1 system, 7.1 system, other?

As a note, don't let a PHONO input be a big criteria for you because you can buy good phono pre-amps for around $20-$25 that will let you connect a turntable to any receiver.

 

[Swerd]

To repeat what Adam said, welcome to AH.

Can you say what makes you think the sound quality you now have is not good? Do you hear something specific that you can describe?

The reason I ask, is that changing speakers often leads to a much greater change in sound quality than from changing receivers. It should be easy to find a new receiver that will meet your needs, but it may not sound much different from what you now have.

Most DACs built into AV receivers are not at all bad. However, it is fashionable, especially among audio magazines and equipment reviewers, to push people into thinking the existing DACs in their receivers are inadequate.

Over time, I've heard 5 different DACs at work. Two were built into different receivers, and three were built into different CD, DVD, or Blu Ray players. I can confidently say I didn't hear a large difference among them. If there was only a slightly noticeable difference, I may not have heard it because I didn't make direct listening comparisons. But it has been my (somewhat limited) experience that different DACs make, at best, only a small difference in sound quality.

 

[snackwell]

Yamaha RX-V840 and the Denon AVR-X4100W.

THANKS

 

[snackwell]

Swerd, Adam,
Thanks for taking the time. I need only two speakers - stereo, as I don't do much movie viewing. The main thing is music - and I have stupidly over the years bought only iTunes. I have over 15K titles in lossy AAC 256k. Therefore, I need to consider that. I have these really high quality MBQuart speakers from back when they were making consumer stuff. They are almost 20 years old. I had thought that speaker quality didn't change much with time and that they would be ok. I hear often a "zizzing" in the background - really evident in classical music when there is a "pause" in tone. So I could indeed replace them if the recommendation is to do it.

You guys are right...the DAC salesmen are upon me...and that's why I threw up my hands in frustration. Don't want a lot of gear or stuff which I have to hold together with string. Want a slick, single solution. Budget around 4k USD. Thanks again.

 

[snackwell]

Swerd, by the way, the Salk Songtowers look amazing...very similar to the mb quarts I have ....but I don't think I can get them here in Germany.

 

[shadyJ]

In Germany you might take a look at Dali speakers, very good for the money. Adam Audio is also very good.

 

[Swerd]

Swerd, by the way, the Salk Songtowers look amazing...very similar to the mb quarts I have ....but I don't think I can get them here in Germany.

Do you know what model your MB Quart speakers are?

Salk is located in the USA near Detroit, MI. He sells speakers only through the internet, never through dealerships. I know he ships overseas to places as far away as Australia, so I wouldn't be surprised if he also ships to Europe. But the shipping and customs fees might add a lot to the cost.

 

[zieglj01]

Swerd, by the way, the Salk Songtowers look amazing...very similar to the mb quarts I have ....but I don't think I can get them here in Germany.

Check out German Maestro (owned by former MB Quart group) in your area.
http://www.german-maestro.de/EN/casa.htm

Also look at Canton Vento and Chrono, Monitor Audio Silver and Gold, KEF R series
and look into Wharfedale Jade.

 

[Seth=L]

I hear often a "zizzing" in the background - really evident in classical music when there is a "pause" in tone. So I could indeed replace them if the recommendation is to do it.

The speakers won't create that "hiss" on their own. That noise you're hearing is likely from the source material itself. Classical recordings specifically often have lots of excess noise. This is often the result of how these pieces were recorded and what kind of equipment was used to make the recordings. Microphones don't just hear the noise from instruments, they'll also pick up background noise in the room and feedback. Could also have a lot to do with how the recording was mixed. If the producer is mixing one instrument at a higher level in order to compensate for it's lack of output compared to other instrument recordings more noise will be present from that track. Large orchestral movements have a lot more instruments and tracks to mix than most other forms of musical material, hence the extra noise.

You guys are right...the DAC salesmen are upon me...and that's why I threw up my hands in frustration. Don't want a lot of gear or stuff which I have to hold together with string. Want a slick, single solution. Budget around 4k USD. Thanks again.

No amount of money you spend on a DAC will remove hiss from a recording, don't let them fool you into thinking otherwise. If the DAC removes noise from the recording, that by default means the DAC is not doing its job correctly, nothing should be "taken" away from the source material.