Music primary, HT secondary amp question

[Latent]

Yeah you might just want to keep things simple to begin with. my suggestions are a bit on the weird side

I would try and avoid doubling up your speakers if possible as you will probably get the most audible gain in your system by spending money getting the best you can afford.

I would try auditioning a power amp and just connecting it to the AVR pre-outs. Once you have listened to that you can also try connecting the Bluesound Vault direct to the power-amp inputs instead of the AVR and seeing how that sounds without the AVR in the mix. You will then know if you want to look at doing anything more complex.

Note that the Bluesound Vault has two volume control modes. In Variable mode the outputs act sort of like pre-outs and you just need a fixed gain amplifier connected (your AVR can do this if you don't adjust the volume on it). And then there is Fixed mode where it always outputs line level output and you get no volume control function at all in the Bluesound control application. Instead you use an AVR or stereo pre-amp to control the volume level with it''s separate IR remote.

 

[PENG]

B&W 802D3, Sonus Faber, Magico, and many others I'd consider.

On the plus side with most of those, I wouldn't need to worry about a sub anymore.

Now you are talking, even fmw will likely be supportive if you go that route, though I bet he would still tell you to "get a sub, or a real sub, something like that.." I would add Revel and Focal's models that use Be drivers.

 

[KenM10759]

I'll be visiting my favorite local audio dealer sometime this week to discuss it all. They know me and my system so intuitively and are the very best kind of sales staff there is in the business. I'm very confident they'll understand my dilemma and help come up with the most comprehensive solution. My preference is to go in knowing a little something about each issue ahead of time so I can have a coherent conversation. I have never once felt pressured, talked down to, or dismissed.

Quite a different experience at two other dealers about the same distance from me. One barely cared that I was in there, the other made me feel as though I wasn't "good enough" to be in their store.

 

[PENG]

I'll be visiting my favorite local audio dealer sometime this week to discuss it all. They know me and my system so intuitively and are the very best kind of sales staff there is in the business. I'm very confident they'll understand my dilemma and help come up with the most comprehensive solution. My preference is to go in knowing a little something about each issue ahead of time so I can have a coherent conversation. I have never once felt pressured, talked down to, or dismissed.

Quite a different experience at two other dealers about the same distance from me. One barely cared that I was in there, the other made me feel as though I wasn't "good enough" to be in their store.

Well at least you have one to work with and that is a good thing. You have a decent system now so you can afford to take the time you need to figure out what's best for you. I did not do it right so I ended spending too much to get to what I am finally happy with. I used to feel depressed when I returned from a live classical music to my home hi-fi system. Now, I can close my eyes and convince myself I am in the concert hall. The only regret is, again, it took me too long to figure it out, spent too much, and ended up with too many electronic gear and speakers.

 

[KenM10759]

Yes, I'm stepping a little more carefully now as each buying decision from here on out is further into the "point of diminishing return" and I'm very cognizant of that. I do know that whatever speakers I ultimately end up with may well be the last in my lifetime (with the requisite "unless I win the lottery") and they'll be the best I can get for me. I do realize that as technology marches on there's less and less chance for the head-end stuff to be "future proof", and it'll be the day after my big spend on speakers that we'll have a remarkable, game-changing break-thru on speaker technology.

 

[KEW]

OK, I admit I'm getting lost on your post. Perhaps it would just be better if I sprung for a another pair of R100 and planted them on top of the R500 to use for HT and create a completely separate 2.1 system that just needs me to switch the source to the sub.

If I understand you are considering two identical pairs of speakers so the only difference in gear will be the amps.
I did this to compare two amps and got really excited when I heard a distinct difference!
However, I then decided I should swap the speaker positions and discovered it wasn't the amps, but the location of the speakers that made the difference. IOW, the better sounding amp became the worse sounding amp when I moved the speakers. I cannot say there was no difference between amps, only that 10" difference in BS speaker location dwarfed any difference between amps.
Better to stick with a way to switch the same pair of speakers between the amps.


These are cheap and easy for switching source to sub as long as you have sub cords to reach your LP.
http://www.amazon.com/Neon-Signal-Switch-Switcher-Selector/dp/B00SFJ8AFK/ref=sr_1_12?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1454297758&sr=1-12&keywords=rca+source+selector

 

[fmw]

OK, so I'm an idiot and no nothing, learn nothing. Seems I have to explain everything in minute details every time and no matter what I'm wrong. Forget I ever asked. \

In this case I am saying that two different amplification setups with the same source and same speakers in the same place sounded different. I'm not good enough to discern a difference, I gather.

There is no doubt in my mind that you heard what you heard. The question for me would be why did you hear it? What caused the audible difference? I've done enough bias controlled testing to have developed a lot of skepticism about audible differences in the electronics. In general I consider sighted comparisons without accurate level matching to be meaningless. Not meaningless to you but meaningless to me. Sorry to have upset you.

 

[KenM10759]

Good suggestion to try moving the speakers, unfortunately I have VERY little room in any direction. I'll give that a try before investing, though one impetus for getting an amp is that some of the digital files played off the Vault just don't have the volume of newer releases and I'd like more headroom. And with that I don't mean I can't reach reference levels that I rarely listen to for more than a couple minutes, some don't get loud enough that I could talk over them with a mildly raised voice. I'll still audition a couple of amps but if I find no significant difference I could always go with Outlaw, Emotive, standard NAD or other more affordable amp.

 

[PENG]

If I understand you are considering two identical pairs of speakers so the only difference in gear will be the amps.
I did this to compare two amps and got really excited when I heard a distinct difference!
However, I then decided I should swap the speaker positions and discovered it wasn't the amps, but the location of the speakers that made the difference. IOW, the better sounding amp became the worse sounding amp when I moved the speakers. I cannot say there was no difference between amps, only that 10" difference in BS speaker location dwarfed any difference between amps.
Better to stick with a way to switch the same pair of speakers between the amps.

I had done it with two speakers almost side by side using the same channel but that only minimized the effect, not eliminating it entirely.