13 Cables ... A Horror Story
As some may now I got my start as an audiphile working in motion picture sound. Manufacturing processors and installing turn-key racks. AMC was among our biggest customers. I wish I could say I had the background Floyd Toole and others have in measuring speakers, acoustics and auditoriums then, but my work was all done with the electronics.
As part of this I got very comfortable with 4' to 6' tall racks of audio gear and dozens of cables that needed connecting, and big beautiful meters on Yamaha amplifiers. Each amplifier required 5 cables, and a 5 channel theater had a minimum of 3 amplifiers. 70 mm film had a separate stereo bass track if memory serves as well, so 5 different balanced signal wires would feed magnetic head preamps, then noise companders (i.e., Dolby A) followed by equalizers and finally the output buffer. The point is, I got far too comfortable with dozens of cables polluting the space behind the equipment and too often I find myself wondering if I really need this many parts to my stereo and home theater setup.
My current setup uses a Luxman integrated amp for music and an Anthem AVM 50 for the home theater portion. Supporting the AVM 50 is a miniDSP for the center and subwoofer as well as three separate Class D monoblock amplifiers and I'm ready to pick a direction.
Do I get a pure processor and keep the overall hookups the same, or do I get a receiver like an MRX 720 and eliminate about a dozen cables in the exchange? That's where 13 cables comes from. If I eliminate the monoblock amps, the DSP (thanks to built in room correction) I get rid of 10 cables in my setup, and reduce five pieces of equipment to 1.
Similar thoughts, and a few years behind you hoping to head in this direction for the home theater system, next. The idea of selling the big heavy amps, processor, many $ cables, extra speakers is compelling any more. Likely eaded back towards a nice sounding 2-channel stereo -or- a super duper sound bar setup for TV, movies. The other separate 2ch tube audio system will remain, separately. :)
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Erik, do you have your two systems integrated together, using HT bypass or some other method? Just curious... If the answer is yes, I would definitely just replace all that stuff with and HT receiver to power the center and surround speakers, and perform the HT processing. But that's just me. "Make it as simple as possible, but not simpler". |
@reubent Yes, I’m using a Luxman integrated which has a "bypass" feature which allows you to connect a signal directly to the amp inputs. Those inputs are fed from an Anthem AVM 50 (without ARC) processor which is sending sends the center, surround and subwoofer signals elsewhere. I’m also using a miniDSP to match the C to the L/R and to EQ the subwoofer. I think your idea is pretty much the right way to go. I’m buying an MRX 540 Monday (if possible) which gets rid of the 3 monoblocks and the miniDSP. I have evil plans for reusing the DSP though. |
@erik_squires - Sounds like a good plan. Over the years, I've had several different combo systems, using an integrated amp w/HT bypass and a decent quality HT receiver to power the center and surround, and perform the HT processing. Worked great for me. Hopefully it will work well for you and you can enjoy a simplified, less cluttered, setup. Good Luck. Let us know how it turns out... |
