Right, I thought of this but I don’t want the fronts to be full range.
For some reason, the Monitor Audio Gold 100s don’t seem to be performing as well as my silver in the mid range coming from the bookshelf woofer. Not sure if it’s because monitor got rid of that silver cone in the middle or not.
Anyway, I think I have my way forward. I’ll start with a 5 channel Atoll Amp from my receiver. Then, in the future I can either buy a preamp with bass management and ht passthrough to connect between the receiver and amp, or buy an AV processor and call it a day. I’m sure either will be good enough for me, better than just using my receiver. |
@craigert
The Atoll IN100SE integrated amp does not have built-in DAC. It is an analog integrated. It does not have any digital inputs such as USB, spdif/coaxial, Toslink (optical digital). It has only analog linestage inputs as well as HT bypass.
Analog stereo integrated amps or analog stereo preamps are usually better than the ones with built-in DAC as there's no interference caused by and noise introduced by its digital circuitry.
Digital-to-analog conversion process could potentially induce noise to the critical analog audio stages circuitry and thus will have negative impact on sound quality. But I've also heard integrateds or preamps with onboard DAC that sound incredible regardless when used as an analog preamp or when using its digital inputs thus using its onboard DAC assuming it is a good DAC implementation and configuration.
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Craig, sorry, I came off way to strongly. I"m sure you can understand why I posted what I did and again, sorry. I just hate when anyone chases things, especially new folks. YES, you are overwhelmed. That's the reason I said to go get any of the NAD BEE integrated amps. They are outstanding and much less than 1000 use. They are always wanted on the used market. I've sold many as I've own many. I have not dog in the fight, but felt that an inexpensive NAD would be your best place to start since you can upscale from there. I'm sure your Atoll will be assume and it will be so much better than any of the AVR's. |
Ok everybody...update! Thank you all for helping me. So I’m just starting out and I’m sure I will grow, but I had to go for the best deals at this time.
For my new man cave I just bought:
1. Marantz 7704 processor
2. Anthem PVA 7 Amplifier
For my living room I currently have a pioneer elite receiver and plan to buy the following, and put my MA RXW-12 subwoofer between them to use for bass management on my Monitor Audio Gold 100s for listening to music:
1. Atoll Pre-amp (HT Bypass)
2. Atoll AV500 (5 channel) so I can Bi amp
Thanks again for your help! |
congrats. What did you get to audition? I bet you had a good time and probably realized how some gear just didn't do it for you, while these pieces did. Always fun to hear stories from new folks and their surprise when they hear gear and don't just read about it. :) |
Enjoy your two systems! Please post your thoughts on how they sound to you. |
Are you getting the Atoll integrated or just a preamp? I'm not sure why you're so high on biamping. I think you're better off getting fewer but better amplifier channels for the same money and forgo biamping.
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Preamp so I can use my sub for bass management and attach the amp to the subwoofer. Otherwise I would have the full signal going to bookshelves which I do t want.
The monitor audio manual must recommend three separate times to biamp so I thought here must be a reason behind their design.
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To be honest I don't follow how you're incorporating the sub or what that has to do with your surround speakers, but I'd still get fewer and better quality amp channels -- just make sure you replace the stock speaker jumpers with decent wire. To me, better amp quality trumps biamping with a lower quality amp, but maybe that's just me. |
I have really nice speaker cable from Canada called Phantom cable. It’s 12ga. I can explain what I learned about using the subwoofer (for bass management) between the pre amp and amp instead of an integrated amp if you would like. The Atoll 5 channel amp has two toroidal power supplies and all independent transformers in it, so It is essentially similar to having two two channel amps. The good thing for me is that it will be flexible if I ever expand my upstairs system into a 5.1 (right now it’s a 2.1) and until then I can bi amp which as you said is probably more mental than actually making a difference in sound. I do see your point that maybe I should just get a really nice 2 channel amp for now. I could still get the Atoll 100SE which is a nice 2 channel, but the 5 channel is scaled properly with added components and not much more money. I’m not sure f I would rather have anything over it at this point. I know you can’t tell over a generic recording, but you can kind of get the idea of the detail in this one. https://youtu.be/n6aFGttjhdM |
The question still remains, If you have auditioned the amps, which way did it sound best? Forget manuals etc.., it's all in what the ear says. I personally always keep my 2 channel system as simple as possible. Fewer cables and interconnects is best for sooo many reasons. You seem to feel strongly on going the 5 channel route on your sound though. I say go for it that's what you want.
Also please try to keep in mind that cables, like components need to work together in synergy. Just because you have liked a cable with one system, doesn't mean it's going to work in another. I've found that Audioquest is one of the few cables I've heard (and I've heard many as I audition many systems) that is neutral enough to be used and sound good (because you don't get any sound signature) as I've heard. Mostly their mid/high to high end ones. Have never heard a truly balanced cable that's inexpensive, but that's to my ears. Just get what you want and what your ears have told you to get and then jump off the boards, or you will drive yourself nuts, lol.
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CTSooner, You are probably going to cringe when I tell you that I didn’t audition the Anthem amp, but it was too good of a deal to pass up. The Marantz sounded nice to me, but they all sound nice in the store. Again, I found too good of a deal on a new 7704 to pass up either way.
I only purchased HT for my downstairs theater system so far. I have been leaning towards Atoll for my music setup, but I am going to hold off on any purchase until I have a chance to really audition at Overture in Wilmington Delaware. I may stick with 5 channel in case I want to run a movie upstairs, or I may just buy a 2 channel and use upstairs strictly for music.
For now, I ordered 4 custom ICs you can see on my other thread. I ordered Buelund impregnated oil with Cardas RCA connectors.
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