Cheap but nice shelf system

[manther]

You are making the assumption that the recording engineer mixed the recording in your room on your speakers!

Good point


BTW was listening to the system at lunch today. Some acoustic guitar instrumental came on, and me, and my wife's ears perked up because it sounded so nice on this system. I've been listening to the system morning noon and night since I got it hooked up!

 

[PearlcorderS701]

An "80 hz crossover" could just mean a lowpass filter for the sub.

I was wondering the same thing about my mini receiver R805X from the MC35TECH system. I emailed them asking if it had a highpass filter for the main channels. The answer was something like:

"No it does not. All the bass is handled by the subwoofer when it is connected."

Which doesn't make sense and contradicts itself. I don't think the first tier of support people understand the question. Maybe a phone call would be better.

It could be, but all I know is that supposedly, Onkyo has confirmed an 80Hz rolloff for this particular model -- the 8555 -- when a sub is connected.

 

[PearlcorderS701]

Good point


BTW was listening to the system at lunch today. Some acoustic guitar instrumental came on, and me, and my wife's ears perked up because it sounded so nice on this system. I've been listening to the system morning noon and night since I got it hooked up!

So, the acoustical guitar sounded nice on the Infinitys and the Onkyo receiver?

 

[manther]

So, the acoustical guitar sounded nice on the Infinitys and the Onkyo receiver?

Yeah and that was in a live365 account that only gets 95kbps streaming. I just purchased a year of Pandora that gets 192kbps. So far the difference in quality is nice. I'm looking forward to trying it on the system tonight.

 

[PearlcorderS701]

Yeah and that was in a live365 account that only gets 95kbps streaming. I just purchased a year of Pandora that gets 192kbps. So far the difference in quality is nice. I'm looking forward to trying it on the system tonight.

Cool.

I still say you get yourself some good quality CD recordings and hook a dedicated CD player up to the 8555's analog "CD" input terminals -- I have a Marantz changer running into mine, and you'll really hear what the 8555 can do that way...trust me.

 

[manther]

I just dont feel like spending a bunch of money on cd's.

 

[96cobra10101]

I noticed you use your Iphone for Pandora quite a bit. If you want avoid doing that, you can do what I did and purchase a Bluray player with Pandora capability. My Samsung recieves, wirelessly by the way, Pandora, Netflix, Blockbuster and Youtube. I know when I stream Pandora on my PC or laptop, it gets commercials, not sure if the Iphone does or not, but my Samsung doesn't, and its cd quality as best as I can tell. I also use the Netflix occasionally for streaming. I haven't tried the Blockbuster, and Youtube is sorta limited. Anyways, just a thought, either way it looks like you have a nice new setup your happy with.

 

[PearlcorderS701]

I just dont feel like spending a bunch of money on cd's.

I understand; but feed this receiver some really well recorded rock, jazz or even club or hip hop and you'll see what this thing can do -- I'm not saying to go out and make yourself broke, but maybe borrow some from someone or just buy one or two of your favorite artist. Most folks don't realize just how compressed and awful sounding those "downloaded" music channels and methods are compared to compact discs (let alone good vinyl)...you're really missing out by not feeding that 8555 signal from a quality CD changer/player.

Just my two cents.

 

[manther]

I noticed you use your Iphone for Pandora quite a bit. If you want avoid doing that, you can do what I did and purchase a Bluray player with Pandora capability. My Samsung recieves, wirelessly by the way, Pandora, Netflix, Blockbuster and Youtube. I know when I stream Pandora on my PC or laptop, it gets commercials, not sure if the Iphone does or not, but my Samsung doesn't, and its cd quality as best as I can tell. I also use the Netflix occasionally for streaming. I haven't tried the Blockbuster, and Youtube is sorta limited. Anyways, just a thought, either way it looks like you have a nice new setup your happy with.

Yeah I upgraded my Pandora account to Pandora plus. Its $36 a year. That gets your higher bitrate music, and no adds. I still haven't looked up if their mobile streaming is of the same quality as their PC streaming. So, when I can I stream through my macbook instead of my iphone.

Thats interesting about the bluray. If it does get you higher quality streams that might be just the thing to push me towrds finally buynig a blueray.

Also kinda interested in the rhapsody deal. $10 a month and you get unlimited mp3 downloads. I need to look into what the compression rate / quality is like.

Thanks for the input cobra.

 

[manther]

I understand; but feed this receiver some really well recorded rock, jazz or even club or hip hop and you'll see what this thing can do -- I'm not saying to go out and make yourself broke, but maybe borrow some from someone or just buy one or two of your favorite artist. Most folks don't realize just how compressed and awful sounding those "downloaded" music channels and methods are compared to compact discs (let alone good vinyl)...you're really missing out by not feeding that 8555 signal from a quality CD changer/player.

Just my two cents.

I hear ya man. I will defiantly scrounge up some CD's and listen. Thanks for the advice.

Just for the sake of discussion:
I used to have vinyl, and CD collections. And I know your right about the superior sound quality. I can remember listening to some reggae albums in vinyl that were so hypnotically awesome sounding I didn't want to leave the house.

However, on stuff like this I try to keep in mind there comes a point of diminishing returns. I like to turn on a satellite or internet radio station, and hear some good indie bands while doing things around the house or driving somewhere. This way I get to hear a couple dozen artists. (Many that I hadn't heard before). It keeps me discovering new bands, and keeps up my interest. To listen in this manner with physical media I would have to have a huge expensive collection, and I'd spend most of my time figuring out the next couple of songs I want to play.

This happened slowly. I slowly stopped buying CD's in favor of electronic media over a course of years. I guess I could purchase a dozen or so of my favorite CD's but, there are compression formats, and rates these days that are close enough to CD quality.

This may be where I am just more of a music fan and not an audio-holic/audiophile.

 

[PearlcorderS701]

I hear ya man. I will defiantly scrounge up some CD's and listen. Thanks for the advice.

Hey, no problem -- was just trying to let you wring the performance out of that 8555...

Just for the sake of discussion:
I used to have vinyl, and CD collections. And I know your right about the superior sound quality. I can remember listening to some reggae albums in vinyl that were so hypnotically awesome sounding I didn't want to leave the house.

Indeed...

However, on stuff like this I try to keep in mind there comes a point of diminishing returns. I like to turn on a satellite or internet radio station, and hear some good indie bands while doing things around the house or driving somewhere. This way I get to hear a couple dozen artists. (Many that I hadn't heard before). It keeps me discovering new bands, and keeps up my interest. To listen in this manner with physical media I would have to have a huge expensive collection, and I'd spend most of my time figuring out the next couple of songs I want to play.

I totally get this...

This happened slowly. I slowly stopped buying CD's in favor of electronic media over a course of years. I guess I could purchase a dozen or so of my favorite CD's but, there are compression formats, and rates these days that are close enough to CD quality.

This may be where I am just more of a music fan and not an audio-holic/audiophile.

Indeed, it may very well be -- for true audio enthusiasts and 'philes, there is no substitute at all for well-mastered physical pre-recorded media to play back on our systems.

But I just wanted you to know the kind of disservice you're doing to your ears and your 8555 by feeding them compressed downloaded music.

 

[riker1384]

I asked about bass management on the CR-325 mini receiver:

"when a subwoofer is connected to the subwoofer output, does the receiver reduce the level of bass going to the main speakers? That is, does it place a highpass filter on the main channels?"

I got this reply:

"We apologize for the delay in responding to your email. We are experiencing a heavy volume of inquiries. We appreciate your patience and understanding. The Subwoofer will take over all bass control over all the main speakers.

This unit operates with a POWER SUB."

I don't think English is this guy's first language. I guess I'll have to test it myself and see.

 

[manther]

Hey, no problem -- was just trying to let you wring the performance out of that 8555...



Indeed...



I totally get this...



Indeed, it may very well be -- for true audio enthusiasts and 'philes, there is no substitute at all for well-mastered physical pre-recorded media to play back on our systems.

But I just wanted you to know the kind of disservice you're doing to your ears and your 8555 by feeding them compressed downloaded music.

Yeah I really ought to keep around 30 or 40 of my favorite cd's.

 

[PearlcorderS701]

Yeah I really ought to keep around 30 or 40 of my favorite cd's.

If you want me to send you some to borrow, let me know; we can work out the shipping costs and such.

 

[manther]

I asked about bass management on the CR-325 mini receiver:

"when a subwoofer is connected to the subwoofer output, does the receiver reduce the level of bass going to the main speakers? That is, does it place a highpass filter on the main channels?"

I got this reply:

"We apologize for the delay in responding to your email. We are experiencing a heavy volume of inquiries. We appreciate your patience and understanding. The Subwoofer will take over all bass control over all the main speakers.

This unit operates with a POWER SUB."

I don't think English is this guy's first language. I guess I'll have to test it myself and see.

Hmm, so I guess if I shop for a subwoofer that filters out the higher end on its own I'd be covered either way...

 

[manther]

If you want me to send you some to borrow, let me know; we can work out the shipping costs and such.

Thanks that's cool of you to offer.

 

[PearlcorderS701]

Thanks that's cool of you to offer.

Hey, no prob man. Thanks for the "thanks"!

 

[manther]

So, you got me thinking. I located a CD I like. (So I'm failure with this songs). Listened to it today and it did sound great, as expected.

So if I am not in the streaming mood but want to listen to a "collection" of owned music maybe I wouldn't have to settle on CD's or MP3's (Which at even 320kbs are still compressed). I started google'ing around for places to purchase flac files and wav files. I got a lot of various answers, and I'm still not sure yet. If I find some definitive answer I'll post it.

 

[PearlcorderS701]

(So I'm failure with this songs).

Huh??

Listened to it today and it did sound great, as expected.

Did you have the source player hooked directly up to the 8555's "CD" analog inputs?

So if I am not in the streaming mood but want to listen to a "collection" of owned music maybe I wouldn't have to settle on CD's or MP3's (Which at even 320kbs are still compressed). I started google'ing around for places to purchase flac files and wav files. I got a lot of various answers, and I'm still not sure yet. If I find some definitive answer I'll post it.

Oh, no -- don't use flac or wav files either; these aren't as good as CD through a system like yours, trust me...

 

[manther]

Huh??

Haha damn Firefox spell check. That was supposed to be familiar.

But yeah CD directly into the receiver.