Surround Processor Upgrade to improve surround music?
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Well, if you want to go absolutely nuts, and don't want to quite get to Theta Casablanca levels, you could get an Oppo 103 with a coax mod board. It outputs all 8 channels on discrete, 2 channel SPDIF coaxial connectors, letting you buy 3-4 DAC's of your choice, with your choice for DSD, depending on board. http://audiopraise.com/vanityhd/overview.php Best, E |
Auxinput, Thanks for your insight. It seems like moving to the Oppo205 would be a good first step using the analog outputs and then evaluate if that is far enough Shadorne, I do have a separate preamp and streamer/DAC (Lumin A1) for two channel digital. I did initially experiment with Audyssey XT32 and was not happy with the results. My center channel is also Green Mountain Audio and as the same tweeter/mid as my main speakers. My rears are a combo of Green Mountain Europa (rear) and M&K Tri-poles (side)...Perhaps I will experiment with Audyssey again over the holidays since it has been a long time since I used it. Thanks |
I have the same DSP. Have you calibrated with Audyssey XT32? I think the advantages of a good calibration are the most important - especially as you have different speakers in your setup which rarely works well. I like XT32 for surround and had good results in a 7.1 setup with all matched speakers and matching sub. For two channel I would bypass the Integra and go with a good separate DAC - easily done if the DAC doubles as a preamp and has an HT bypass feature. |
Okay, just for information, any sort of PCM audio through HDMI is never as good as through s/pdif COAX. HDMI is a poor interface for clocked audio sources, such as PCM or DSD. The sound of PCM through HDMI lacks dynamics and sounds very compressed. I have also found that it has a blare or shouty effect in the upper midrange as well. If you really want to play surround SACD, I would highly recommend upgrading to Oppo 105/205 and then use analog output with some very good interconnects. Alternatively, you can do PCM through digital COAX. For the surround pre/pro, the SP3 has extremely good audio stages. Fully discrete Class A circuits for BOTH input as well as output. The Bryston is somewhat laid back in sound, so keep that in mind. In my opinion the Bryston digital/DAC board is not up to par. Looks like there is one on Audiogon for $3k. I tried the Bryston out in my system and I just did not feel that it was good enough. The movie sound was laid back and lacked excitement, attack and dynamics. I would also look at Krell S1200U 3D. It is an excellent pre/pro. Fully discrete Class A analog output stages. It does use OPA2134 op amps for the analog input stage, so resolution is okay. If you use COAX for 2-channel PCM, the Krell will automatically down-convert anything to 44.1/48 sampling frequency before sending to DAC (this includes stuff such as 24/96 and 24/192). It's just Krell behavior. However, 2-channel PCM audio still sounds awesome!! I own the S1200 and it's my favorite out of this list. There's one on Audiogon for $3595. The Class SSP800 is also a nice device. It's very clean sounding. However, it uses LM4562 op amps for all analog stages (no discrete or Class A circuits). Classe has gone out of business, so there will not be any support for this item. |
