Tweaking/upgrading my 2.1 setup

[shk]

Hi there, just wanted to say first that it's great to be here. I finally found a place for my audio questions!

I have 2 Aperion 532-LR speakers and an Aperion S-10 sub powered by a Denon AVR-1507. This is all hooked up via digital interconnect to my computer's onboard digital coaxial.

1. Should I invest in a separate soundcard? I have a spare Creative Audigy 2 but it's so old that I'm not even sure it beats my onboard audio (8-channel HD: high-quality 192KHz/24-bit output, jack-sensing feature, retasking functions, and multi-streaming technology). My onboard has SPDIF optical and coaxial out; I'm using the coax.

2. Would a better receiver (say an Outlaw RR2150) or one dedicated to stereo sound produce a very noticeable improvement?

3. Is there anything I have to do in windows to optimize the sound? Right now I'm playing high-bitrate or lossless audio from foobar2000.

thanks for your time.

 

[Adam]

Welcome to the forum!

To try to answer your first question: I found a huge improvement when I added an Audigy 2ZS sound card to my system, but I'm using the analog outputs. I wouldn't expect much of a difference, if any, if you're using the digital output like you are.

 

[Gimpy Ric]

Hey shk, Welcome to the board!

The Outlaw RR 2150 looks like a great reciever. With 100 watts going to your mains, and the rest to your sub, it would be a slight improvement at higher volume levels. It has pre-amp outs so you could always add an external amp, if you need more oomph.

 

[jcPanny]

Receiver upgrade?

SHK,
The speakers (and room) are the most important components of your audio system and I doubt the slight power increase of the rotel will provide much benefit. The Denon should be close to its 75 Watt rating for 2 channel playback and during normal listing you are probably using a few watts.

The PC digital output and lossless audio tracks sound fine. I think Windows is more likely to degrade the audio quality than to improve it with EQ. M-Audio makes some sound cards with high quality analog outputs. Might be an improvemnt over the D/A conversion on your receiver.

 

[shk]

I think I will stick to my current setup for now (I still have a month to try it out) and if anything I may just go for better speakers.

Thanks for clearing everything up guys. =)