Where's are all the Stereo Pre-Amp's relative to all these Power Amps?

[MalVeauX]

Okay, you're officially the only person I know who has gone from an HT system to a dedicated 2ch music system. I'm impressed.

I know several people that started with home theater with surround sound and their interest in audio lead them to two channel analog setups for music. It's not that uncommon these days. It used to be that you couldn't get surround sound and all that back in the day. You had stereo and things were really big. Now, you get surround and tiny speakers for nothing so most people end up starting with that. The ones that enjoy the process, well, they end up going to higher quality component systems, bigger stuff, bigger cabinets, and reduced numbers of channels involved... crazy!

I have both; I'm not going to say that home theater is better as 2 channel. But I much prefer 2 channel for music rather than using my home theater setup for that. And that's if I'm using speakers. I still very much enjoy an intimate 2 channel experience with good headphones.

Very best,

 

[Mikado463]

Care to share that then?

Very best,

other than what has been mentioned in this thread......... Conrad Johnson, Rotel, Rogue Audio, Vincent Audio, Schiit audio, Van Alstine, PrimaLuna, Bryston, PASS and the list goes on ...........

 

[JengaHit]

I have both; I'm not going to say that home theater is better as 2 channel. But I much prefer 2 channel for music rather than using my home theater setup for that. And that's if I'm using speakers. I still very much enjoy an intimate 2 channel experience with good headphones.

Very best,

Despite the fact that I've a 2.1 system, I would build a surround system for movies if it were practical for me. I like that surround bubble and all the steering sound FX. But I don't really see the need for surround sound with music. On rock and pop there isn't really much rear ambience or surround steering, unless maybe it's a concert recording, and even then it's not necessary for me. Talking Heads Stop Making Sense or The Doors sound great in stereo.

On symphonic, chamber, opera, and jazz most of the relevant soundstage is up front where the performers are staged (excepting just a few works like Mahler where horns occasionally play from off stage or the side of the hall). And many jazz studio recordings are engineered and mixed rather dryly anyway to make it sound like the performer is in your listening room (Sarah Vaughan, Tony Bennett, or Ella Fitzgerald). Good stereo speakers can recreate the ambience of the recording venue and the width, layering and depth of the orchestra, or movement and layering of opera singers. Also, my speakers, on the right recording, will throw a soundstage floor-to-ceiling and all the way around the sides. So even a recording done in a church or something like Arvo Pärt's De Profundis has atmospheric ambience and reverberation.

The other day I watched a Mozart Le Nozze di Figaro blu ray. It was stunning in its capture of the hall acoustic and its imaging and placement of singers as they moved about the stage, especially in those signature Mozart vocal ensembles with multiple singers and vocal lines--I could hear all of the overlapping parts clearly, and the vocal tuttis didn't distort with "hash". Those sonic qualities are more important than surround channels for classical music. I listen for what I've heard as a symphony subscriber and the many symphonic, chamber, and opera performances I've heard in renowned American and European venues. 2 channel does just fine for that.

 

[Jerkface]

I know several people that started with home theater with surround sound and their interest in audio lead them to two channel analog setups for music. It's not that uncommon these days. It used to be that you couldn't get surround sound and all that back in the day. You had stereo and things were really big. Now, you get surround and tiny speakers for nothing so most people end up starting with that. The ones that enjoy the process, well, they end up going to higher quality component systems, bigger stuff, bigger cabinets, and reduced numbers of channels involved... crazy!

I have both; I'm not going to say that home theater is better as 2 channel. But I much prefer 2 channel for music rather than using my home theater setup for that. And that's if I'm using speakers. I still very much enjoy an intimate 2 channel experience with good headphones.

Very best,

If any of the multichannel music options had ever taken hold (which might have happened if people aggressively remixed classic records for surround instead of just adding reverb information for the back channels), I would have maintained my interested in surround sound. Alas, I just don't care enough about shaking my foundation while watching an action movie on my 50-inch TV to buy 3, 4, 5, 8 extra speakers that don't really do anything at all when I'm listening to music.

I was a big fan of SACD when it first came out. Until they didn't do anything with the surrounds.

 

[lovinthehd]

If any of the multichannel music options had ever taken hold (which might have happened if people aggressively remixed classic records for surround instead of just adding reverb information for the back channels), I would have maintained my interested in surround sound. Alas, I just don't care enough about shaking my foundation while watching an action movie on my 50-inch TV to buy 3, 4, 5, 8 extra speakers that don't really do anything at all when I'm listening to music.

I was a big fan of SACD when it first came out. Until they didn't do anything with the surrounds.

Still, there is some good multich music enjoyment out there and the only reason IMO to even use SACD are to access some of the multich mixes.....not enough by me, but I don't have much choice in the matter. I do like what Steven Wilson has done with some older stuff, tho. Not into the classical so its just very limited as far as I'm concerned.

 

[Jerkface]

Still, there is some good multich music enjoyment out there and the only reason IMO to even use SACD are to access some of the multich mixes.....not enough by me, but I don't have much choice in the matter. I do like what Steven Wilson has done with some older stuff, tho. Not into the classical so its just very limited as far as I'm concerned.

I have quirky tastes in music, so the lack of widespread adoption was what killed it for me. I want Dream Theater's "Metropolis Part I: The Miracle and the Sleeper" in 5.1 surround. I want Procol Harum's "A Salty Dog" in 5.1 surround. I don't care enough about classical music to invest in all those extra speakers (and try to convince the wife that it's worth it to have them) when I can get a powerful experience listening to two great speakers (and maybe add a sub down the line if I really find value and purpose in it).

 

[lovinthehd]

I have quirky tastes in music, so the lack of widespread adoption was what killed it for me. I want Dream Theater's "Metropolis Part I: The Miracle and the Sleeper" in 5.1 surround. I want Procol Harum's "A Salty Dog" in 5.1 surround. I don't care enough about classical music to invest in all those extra speakers (and try to convince the wife that it's worth it to have them) when I can get a powerful experience listening to two great speakers (and maybe add a sub down the line if I really find value and purpose in it).

I have somewhat eclectic taste myself. I would also like that Procul Harum in multich. Dream Theater I tried and made me want to run away. I did invest in a variety of speakers and avrs, so no problem there but agree you need to not cheap out on the speakers if you want a better multich experience.

 

[Jerkface]

I have somewhat eclectic taste myself. I would also like that Procul Harum in multich. Dream Theater I tried and made me want to run away. I did invest in a variety of speakers and avrs, so no problem there but agree you need to not cheap out on the speakers if you want a better multich experience.

Truth is, when we moved down here to FL, buying the Belles was the farthest thing from my mind. It was my wife who brought up the concept of what sort of listening system we should get for the TV room, and that was when I brought Heritage Klipsch up as a bucket list item, and about my experience hearing them at Klipsch HQ back in '04. She was the one who hunted down the Belles about 2 hours east of here. Our current room? Only way surround would happen here would be in-ceiling. But I actually had a surround system back in the mid-90's. I was into it, especially after SACD and DVDA promised multichannel. They fizzled, and I gave up.

 

[lovinthehd]

Truth is, when we moved down here to FL, buying the Belles was the farthest thing from my mind. It was my wife who brought up the concept of what sort of listening system we should get for the TV room, and that was when I brought Heritage Klipsch up as a bucket list item, and about my experience hearing them at Klipsch HQ back in '04. She was the one who hunted down the Belles about 2 hours east of here. Our current room? Only way surround would happen here would be in-ceiling. But I actually had a surround system back in the mid-90's. I was into it, especially after SACD and DVDA promised multichannel. They fizzled, and I gave up.

More a recent convert myself....in the 90s was all 2ch, but just towards the end that started to change for me. I do like some of the old Klipsch heritage style speakers, but wouldn't particularly want any. More a JBL guy myself. I have four surround systems but I'm a bachelor Screw WAF.

 

[Jerkface]

More a recent convert myself....in the 90s was all 2ch, but just towards the end that started to change for me. I do like some of the old Klipsch heritage style speakers, but wouldn't particularly want any. More a JBL guy myself. I have four surround systems but I'm a bachelor Screw WAF.

I feel that vibe. I spent a decade with a pair of JBL S38s connected to an Onkyo amp and preamp I snagged out of one of those rack systems as my only sound. And it was great.

 

[JengaHit]

If any of the multichannel music options had ever taken hold (which might have happened if people aggressively remixed classic records for surround instead of just adding reverb information for the back channels), I would have maintained my interested in surround sound. Alas, I just don't care enough about shaking my foundation while watching an action movie on my 50-inch TV to buy 3, 4, 5, 8 extra speakers that don't really do anything at all when I'm listening to music.

I was a big fan of SACD when it first came out. Until they didn't do anything with the surrounds.

SACD multi-channel mixes for classical music aren't a game changer as reverb is really most you can do. And there's not a huge catalogue of them anyway. So I see no need to invest in a surround system for that reason. RCA Living Stereo in the 1950s did originally record and mix 3-ch LCR on some of their signature symphonic recordings, so some of those SACD releases are LCR. But having heard a few on friends' multi-channel systems, I'm frankly underwhelmed. A good stereo mix is realistic enough to create a palpable concert-hall and orchestral image.

But I think producers and record labels did miss an opportunity in exploiting multi-channel for a creative rock or pop musician who might want to experiment. Rock or pop are really the best genres for that type of experimentation. But would it be reason enough alone for me to build a multi-channel system? I doubt it.