A walk to the past with Monitor Audio BR2 & Denon 1612

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Hi Everyone,

Its been a long time after my last post as office works kept me away from starting new thread, but couldn't resist myself in following threads silently. Its high time...

Its been an year I'm using Denon AVR 1612 along with Monitor Audio BR-2 Speakers (Cables are from DAC & Belkin). Its working pretty fine and i enjoy listening to audio as well as watching movies everytime. But... quite surprisingly, i'm unable to get that sound stage yet through my present setup like the sound signature of a Yamaha basic HT setup which i auditioned 1 year before. To be frank, it was mesmerizing :licklipsI am an audioholic believes in perfection but within my budget of course). I did all the R&D in AVR as well as repositioning my speakers, but no luck. At present, i feed my AVR using usb (direct to usb port of avr) for audio & for movies, optical output from my samsung d5000 led tv.I do understand that BR 2 require high end audio inputs to shine, if so, what should i do next to feed quality audio to avr? My usage is 60:40 Audio:Video & a die hard fan of floor standers. (Couldnt afford wayback due to budget constraint)

Please help me in answering few queries appended below:

1) Does it make sense to change my avr & speakers or to build on further using centre channel, surrounds & sub? (budget is a big constraint for me, that also changing entire setup in less than a year will burn a hole in my pocket)

2) For top notch audio quality input, should i invest in a BD player or a media streamer or DAC within 10-15K budget? (i have no plan to buy BD instead prefer downloading) If its BD, then anything else than sony & Pana? If network streamer, which brand ? (A.C.Ryan, Popcorn, Asus, Xtreamer). If BD & network streamer are on same price then does streamer make any sense ? Dune hd is out of budget.

3) Sub: i've already finalized 3 subs from SVS (PB 10), Sunfire (HDS 12) & HSU (no availability in India) with a stretched budget of max 50 K. Also, for centre channel, i am unable to get BR series centre speakers, can anyone help in availability & pricing ?(Seconds/alternatives will also work)

4) Everyone recommends a low end speakers for surrounds, if so, which brand & at what budget ? ( i can shell out max 70K for sub, centre speaker and surrounds)

Too much questions & totally Confused !:sad:

Pran.

 

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So many views and not even a single reply???

Guys: oppo bdp 103 is available n shipping from US with landed cost of 44k from bombay electronics.. Hurry.. Grab it!!

 

[Acuity]

Hi Pran,

I once had a problem when my BX2 would just not shine. The problem for me was the positioning and room shape, the speakers were placed inside a bookshelf (surrounded by wood on all sides), it was placed too high, and the room was a large L shaped hall. After a few weeks when I moved the same setup to a dedicated rectangular room the speakers sounded fabulous and were very worthy of their accolades, the result was just night and day.

The other MAJOR thing you should check is your content source. Try playing some FLACs through a Laptop >> DAC. Even an iPhone playing Lossess music (ALAC) and outputting it through the earphone jacks should do. Don't use MP3s however high the bitrate to test the performance. Maybe you could borrow some of these devices until you isolate the problem.

DAC cables are fine.

If you can shell out 70k for sound improvement... I would suggest you go with Monitor BX5, BX Center, and use your BR2 as surrounds (no sub). Alternately Wharfedale or Mordaunt Short aviano FS Speakers and center can be considered. MS Aviano has good bass, I know someone who disconnected and locked away his Subwoofer after installing the Aviano. There was a Monitor RX 6 for sale on the forum - that has strong bass too.

 

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Hi Acuity,

Excellent! I just changed the input from my laptop using foobar and believe me the output was heaven. I never expected that much of change by modifying the content source.

Please visit below thread to understand speaker positioning:
http://www.hifivision.com/home-theater/44753-my-ht-setup-br-2-a.html

As far as upgradations, i am planning to build a custom theatre in my newly constructed house @ kerala, so just completing the present setup in delhi. The next time, shall go for a high end avr & floorstanders (for me, amp will not serve the purpose for movies) for pure audio & movies. I've auditioned bx5 with cambridge amp n dac, didnt liked that much. I'm an ardent fan of sub (confused how much shall i invest),so that i could use it for my future setup also instead selling (i dont believe in changing systems every year & burning my pocket instead invest once on a long term perspective due to financial crisis).

Now the issue upfront are:

1) MA BRLCR centre channel is phased out, i ve checked with audio people in chennai n bass treble, no luck. Could you guide me in availability or alternative for tonality match? Also, its not worth to convert speakers worth 25K as surrounds.

2) Regarding inputs, if a good bluray + DAC will cost around 40k, then y not oppo BDP103? else media player with HD audio out will also serve. (yet to know such kinda stuff and don't have that much of budget too for now)

3) Polk/Wharfedale surrounds are available for 10K, is it a good bet?

Regarding all above investments, i prefer quality in my limited budget (i dont have lakhs to invest like a die hard audiophile, hope u understand) and can wait for few time to arrange budget & achieve nirvana.

Please advise
Pran.

 

[Acuity]

1) MA bx center may be close tonally. If you plan to spend upto 70k do consider better fronts (preferably FS) and using the BR2 as side speakers. It's all about how much you wish to spend.

2) Whether to go for a BDP: depends on how many Blu-ray Discs you have and how many you want to buy. Alternately look at WD TV live which can play a wide variety of movie files aNd output HD audio over hdmi. There are some threads on other media players, you can even use an Xbox.

3) Polk is tonally quite different from MA, so I don't suggest it in the mix. Wharfdale diamond is close to MA.

 

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BX is also phased out.

No plans to buy any bluray, instead fultu downloads. I was looking for bluray only for utilizing the sophisticated audio circuits & upscaled video support. If media streamer provides the same, m saved with hell lot of money. The issue is except dune hd, i never heard about a high end audiophile media streamer (anything else like ac ryan, popcorn etc) & dune hd is 30+ K making BDP sensible buy. (check PANASONIC DMP BDT 500)

Whats say?

 

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By the way.. Hwz the tannoy and nad combo you use? Whats the model n price ?