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Home Theater Bypass , why am I hearing this now.

I have a Home Theater and when I upgraded my Onkyo to a Marantz it was a true Upgrade I was impressed, anyway like any other hobby I wanted to make improvements on top of what I just gained. The more I read the more I realize AVR HT receivers will never get you a tru HIFI experience because of the processing that takes place and a dedicated 2 ch is the only way to go ask Millercarbon he will surly be all over this one. I only have one room in my house that doubles as a home theater and listening room. I was ready to pick up a Prisma NP5 streamer (to move to my rack and network ) and a Denafrips ares Dac thinking I would get an upgrade to my source that is Tidal over my phone over the air currently( anything is better than this method). Im wondering if its a waste of time and money since I plan on using it with my AVR, then I stumbled onto guys talking about HT bypass for this reason. I haven't read or herd HT bypass yet on this Forum and wanted to know what you all thought, at some point i wanted to get a 8k marantz Processor and dedicated Amp but before I drop $7k I want to make sure I figure out this HT bypass because I want better High Rez audio from my HT system. 
ngiordano
scottscottsdale
103 posts
 
PS Audio Stellar integrated amp has HTBP, which would allow you to stream Tidal. It is great.   But I warn you, I have been down this exact same route.   I ended up just sticking with an upgrade to my power amp (ps audio S300) and I use the HT receiver more like a pre amp.  Apple TV is the main source for everything.  Works fine for now. 
I have tried all sorts of upgrades in the electronics and not been convinced that they are better.  My rule is if you have to squint real hard to hear a difference , it is not worth the money.  
 I have come to the conclusion that  for me, there is no point in upgrading my system until I get better  L/R speakers.  I currently use JBL 590’s and they are great for what they are.  But all these upgrades I tried cannot be heard through them.  

So I suggest thinking also about the speaker situation. 
ishkabibil
422 posts
 
I have 2 amp/preamp setups in my room.

Very easy to do. 
sparty21
1 posts
 
Am with the OP in saying i have heard in past but def moreso recently about HTBP. All of this info above is fantastic and a bit paralyzing not knowing what will be a good solution to my system. I am def in the camp of 60/40 music to HT.

I have a Anthem MRX 720 with Emotiva XPA-5 (250w/ch) paired to GoldenEar Ref Triton One.R and Supercenter Reference. Been reading that my One.R would benefit for music from a better setup likely including HTBP.  

Am all ears to any suggestions/recommendations to better improve my music listening with a budget up to $4K. TIA!!
dean_palmer's avatar
dean_palmer
78 posts
 

Came across this thread as I was considering adding a preamp after my HT processor for the mains. My processor has a "pure direct" function (some call it HT bypass) where it disables all processing of the signal and even turns off the unit's front display and TV output signal to ensure the best pure audio. The unit is a McIntosh MX122, but still considering adding a Mc C53 preamp after it for feeding 2-channel-only audio. Tough choice as reading all the specs and reviews, it's hard to justify the outlay for a separate preamp when the specs seem to indicate that there would be no sonic benefit for human ears by doing this. Ith my current combo I think I've already got what most would recommend, for even critical listening, so maybe no benefit adding a preamp for the 2-channel-only stuff. Tough choice, but I think much of the opinions of 2-channel audio from a HT processor are based on low end and outdated gear. These days there are a lot of HT processors that are also fantastic for 2-channel listening.

erik_squires
16,056 posts
 

My experience has been that there is a really broad difference in sound quality between processors, and I encourage listeners to keep both an open but skeptical mind about them.

Onkyo and Marantz are not my favorites. Onkyo worse by a lot, Marantz bright and hard. Emotiva same as Onkyo but haven’t listened in forever.

The current generation of Anthem does OK, but my very old Theta Casanova, which was a pure digital preamp, would still beat all of them for sound quality. Honestly even my low end Oppo BD player sounded great compared to most modern processors.  Shame I had to use a 6 channel preamp to hear it. 

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