Hello all
I would really appreciate advice about how I could use my current hi-fi to get the best possible sound from my new tv. My current setup is:
tv - Sony kdl32ec503
stereo amp - Arcam Alpha 7
Speakers - B&W large bookshelf type, not sure of model number.
Whenever I connected my old tv to this hi-fi the sound was always muddy, background music was too loud and dialogue too quiet so I was always turning the volume up or down. Is this an inherent problem with using a hi-fi amp for home theatre? I guess my questions are what should I try and do to get the best out of my current equipment? Is there anything (modest price) I could buy that would make a big improvement?
Thanks for reading
The problem is that the analog circuits of TV's are an afterthought and often of poor quality.
I don't know why you have trouble matching the dialog and music. I have
one system that does use a vintage Quad 33 preamp and I have no problem like you describe, although I would have to say I designed the speakers for good speech clarity. A lot of Hi-Fi speakers have poor speech clarity. I don't know your model, but this issue is one of my many beefs with an awful lot of speakers past and present.
What I do in this system is to connect the digital sources to the TV via an HDMI switcher. I then run analog cables from the various units, Direct TV AVR and DVD player to Quad 33 and switch the audio with that unit. I have an HDMI switcher to the TV which switches automatically. For that little system it works fine.
However AV is now geared around AV receivers and pre/pros. Everything is connected to the receiver or pre/pro and it does the processing. A minimum of two speakers and a sub is generally in order. Full range speakers are an option but unusual, it happens to be mine, but for good results requires customization, like I'm able to engineer. A center channel can be added also surrounds and rear backs. Obviously this latter is not a cheap solution for you.
Now your Arcam is only 40 watts per channel into 8 ohms and 50 watts per channel into four ohms. Quite honestly this is less than adequate for today's AV sources.
Now I can't find specs on your Arcam anywhere. But it is common to see line levels on older European gear of 100 mv sensitivity. That was the DIN standard. Now line voltage is usually a volt and sometimes 2 volts. So the opportunity to clip the input and have muddy poor sound is great. So if your Arcam is 100mv line input, you will need attenuator leads of around 10 db for modern sources connected to your Arcam.
On the Quad 33 Peter Walker felt obliged to be a good European. However being the far sighted genius that he was, he left enormous head room on the two line inputs. On the tape input you can slide a board out of the back and set a screw in three positions that changes input sensitivity. You can set it at the modern 1 volt line. However Peter's products always separated themselves form the rest of the pack, which have made his products so beloved and enduring.
Bottom line: -
Connect the analog outputs directly to the Arcam.
If the volume control is well towards the anticlockwise, then attenuate the sources by 6 to 10 db with an attenuator cable or inline attenuator.
