Which upgrade for my existing stereo set up?

[hydra]

@jagdish_p, just to put a different perspective on things, what is it that you feel is lacking in your setup? That would give you the answer as to what is to be upgraded. If you don't feel that anything is lacking, they why do you really want to upgrade something in your setup?

You did mention that your room is far from ideal. Perhaps, if you really want to spend money on a setup that you're mostly satisfied with, you'll get the most bang for the buck from spending money on basic room correction kit (diffusers/absorbers/carpet etc.).

Barring that, considering your usage pattern, I think the one other thing in your setup that will give the most improvement from an upgrade would be the source. I used to initially use the WDTV for playing FLACs, and believe me, changing to a Music PC (and later adding a CDP also) made a world of difference. A CD Player would also be a good option, provided you'll be mostly playing original CDs. You should be able to get significant improvements from just a budget of about 25K.

 

[jagdish_p]

I would love to hear the tannoys again ... In my auditions while looking for speaker, DC6T marginally lost to MA RX6 ... If middle of next week suits you, I can get my amp.

You are welcome. Call me and we can fix up some time - sent you my Mob No - PM

 

[jagdish_p]

I'd recommend a decent integrated. 50k is a good budget and puts you nicely around the mid-range NAD/Marantz/CAs and if you are open minded then even some lesser known brands too. The pre-outs of an AVR will have little to no improvements as per my experience. If at-all you want to just buy a power-amp use the pre-outs from the D2 they are definitely nice for the price.

Thanks ruenigma.
Unlike the D1 the the D2 DAC does not have pre outs. Below is the response I got from Ryan of Maverick.

D2 does not come with a volume control. The idea is to bypass the volume control to further enhance the sound quality. You will either to adjust the volume in the audio source or you need a pre-amp before the power amp.

The tube pre-out is just the analog signal from the analog output going through an additional tube buffer stage (to add some tube flavor to the audio signal). The specification of the two outputs are exactly same. The audio output voltage is around 2V.

D2 uses a better D/A chip, and we put better components into D2 as well. The production cost of the D2 is much higher than the D1, and D2 does offer better sound quality (the sound of D2 is more 3-dimensional and with more detail).

2) That's correct. You need a pre-amp to drive a power amp properly.


So my query is - Will the SQ suffer if I use my Yamaha AVR as a preamp?

 

[Staxxx]

So my query is - Will the SQ suffer if I use my Yamaha AVR as a preamp?

I have not heard the Yamaha per se as a pre-amp, but from experience I can tell you that a bad pre-amp will ruin all the good you are trying to achieve. You may be better off with a reasonable integrated 2 channel amp than a bad preamp and good power amp. Note, a pre and power combination is not necessarily better than an integrated amp and that more power does not translate to quality.

 

[jagdish_p]

@jagdish_p, just to put a different perspective on things, what is it that you feel is lacking in your setup? That would give you the answer as to what is to be upgraded. If you don't feel that anything is lacking, they why do you really want to upgrade something in your setup?

You did mention that your room is far from ideal. Perhaps, if you really want to spend money on a setup that you're mostly satisfied with, you'll get the most bang for the buck from spending money on basic room correction kit (diffusers/absorbers/carpet etc.).

Barring that, considering your usage pattern, I think the one other thing in your setup that will give the most improvement from an upgrade would be the source. I used to initially use the WDTV for playing FLACs, and believe me, changing to a Music PC (and later adding a CDP also) made a world of difference. A CD Player would also be a good option, provided you'll be mostly playing original CDs. You should be able to get significant improvements from just a budget of about 25K.

Valid points Hydra. What I feel missing - a deeper , richer, more detailed sound. I am no audiophile and am not even sure that I am describing correctly
Regarding room improvement - I don't have a clue of how to go about it.
In any case I am posting some pictures of the set up and the room.

 

[mshifi]

@jagdish-Are you running your FL speakers in 2 channel stero mode? you wiil not get any depth without adding the sub. Better SQ can be got in 5 channel mode. i have a similar problem when i run on 2 channel mode with my avr even with a sub there it lacks SQ.

 

[hydra]

....
In any case I am posting some pictures of the set up and the room.

That's a nice looking setup!

A medium thick natural fiber carpet on the floor between the speakers and the seats, and thick curtains on the sliding glass doors behind the speakers should help quite a bit, I think.

If you want to do more, I think removable foam panels like these (see pics in post #12) on the first reflection points will help. You can hide them away when you're not listening to music, and bring them into the room when you want to listen to music or watch a movie. To identify the first reflection points on the wall, just sit in the listening position, and have somebody slide a mirror along the walls (on either side) at tweeter height. The point at which you can see the tweeter of each speaker in the mirror is the first reflection point on that wall. These are easy to make and the foam itself is not very costly. These panels will help with diffusion.

You can also choose to employ absorption instead of diffusion and use fiberglass panels as detailed here.

I think this much would be what you can do without disruption of furniture and domestic harmony

 

[jagdish_p]

@jagdish-Are you running your FL speakers in 2 channel stero mode? you wiil not get any depth without adding the sub. Better SQ can be got in 5 channel mode. i have a similar problem when i run on 2 channel mode with my avr even with a sub there it lacks SQ.

I prefer listening to music in 2 Channel stereo/ straight mode.
I did try out with a low end sub - YST - SW45 in a 2.1 setup. Din't like it:indifferent14:

 

[jagdish_p]

That's a nice looking setup!

A medium thick natural fiber carpet on the floor between the speakers and the seats, and thick curtains on the sliding glass doors behind the speakers should help quite a bit, I think.
I think this much would be what you can do without disruption of furniture and domestic harmony

You hit the nail - I think a carpet is OK- anything more will lead to a war on the Home front

 

[Staxxx]

I think you will get a lot of benefit from the carpet which goes across the plane in front of the speakers and as Hydra said thick curtains on the two glass doors behind the speakers. I also think you can try to pull out the speakers a little more and toe them in.
Other than that, the room is enviously good and you will have to work on the equipment to get what you are looking for. A warm rich sound with lots of detail can be a life-consuming goal and also be aware a lot depends on the recording as well.

 

[elangoas]

Valid points Hydra. What I feel missing - a deeper , richer, more detailed sound. I am no audiophile and am not even sure that I am describing correctly
Regarding room improvement - I don't have a clue of how to go about it.
In any case I am posting some pictures of the set up and the room.

Your setup looks very neat....the stand in glass looks very chic...superb

 

[jagdish_p]

Thanks to all the FMs for looking and giving their valuable suggestions.

Based on feedbacks here is what I plan to do - dont know when.

a) Improve room acoustics - I think a carpet can be added immediately
b) Look for a good Integrated Stereo
c) Upgrade the source - Both Files and Transport

Thanks again

 

[Anshul89]

@jagdish-Are you running your FL speakers in 2 channel stero mode? you wiil not get any depth without adding the sub. Better SQ can be got in 5 channel mode. i have a similar problem when i run on 2 channel mode with my avr even with a sub there it lacks SQ.

Anyone that believes 5.1 is better for music loses all his credibility.

 

[jagdish_p]

An update. Got an Arcam FMJ A28 stereo Amp from a FM.

Yes there is an improvement in SQ though not a night and day difference between Yamaha RX V667 and Arcam.

Thanks to all the members who pitched in with their thoughts/suggestion..