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Post by supadean on Oct 29, 2014 20:18:42 GMT -5
Many audiophiles will have a separate 2 channel system and a multichannel home theatre system.
I'm finally happy with my setup which handles both duties. I thought it would be interesting for others to share their dual purpose setups.
My current setup consists of:
Anthem MRX310: ARC room correction, signal processing, sound quality, is fantastic. The latest MRX line is very musical and the ARC implementation is apparently much better than the original MRX line. This model is perfect for my small listening room / home theatre at 60wpc all channels driven, 8 ohms.
Emotiva Mini-X-A100 (x2): These are 50wpc, 8 ohms. I use these to vertically bi-amp my main left and right speakers using the Anthem pre-outs. Some will say passive bi-amping doesn't result in any sonic improvements, but I've found it adds clarity to music tracks that are not well recorded. It also provides more amplification to the main speakers.
M2Tech HiFace DAC 384/32: This little orange USB Stick DAC from Italy is superb. Great soundstage.
Yaqin SD-CD3 Tube Buffer: I love this thing for music playback. It adds tube warmth, sweetens the midrange, great bottom end, gets ridge of digital glare. There's a lot of quality audio gear coming out of China.
Mac Mini / Drobo USB 3.0 / Audirvana: I'm a supporter of high resolution audio, and this setup works. The newest Drobo is a great unit, and I am happy having a redundant system as I've a lot of digital content, both high resolution and CD quality audio. The new Audirvana release has content management, so one can move away from iTunes to manage a large library.
Pioneer Elite BDP-23FD: nice bluray player.
JBL SVA 1600 (x2), JBL SVA Center: I acquired these speakers years ago, and am very happy with them.
Optimus Pro-X44AV (x2): inexpensive surrounds; they're good for my small room and are mounted to the wall.
Paradigm PDR100 Subwoofer (x2): I'm a believer is using two small, front firing subs vs. one large sub. I acquired these units years ago and they perform well in my setup.
Cables: I've a mix of good quality interconnects and speaker cabling.
Power conditioner: APC H15.
So there you have it. Look forward to what others have to share.
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cgolf
Emo VIPs 
Posts: 4,615
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Post by cgolf on Oct 29, 2014 21:07:29 GMT -5
Love mine. Have gone back and forth many times between dual systems and single dual purpose systems. Neither version has outperformed the other to the extent that it was safe and would never be changed out. Currently I have a single dual purpose system that sounds great.  |
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Post by novisnick on Oct 29, 2014 22:07:27 GMT -5
My system is the best,
It consists of an RMC-1, Clearaudio/Emotiva TT and a Mac Mini as a digital source with XPR-1s and a set of " Big Dan " towers that are ribbon loaded!!
Yes, that's my greatest two channel,,,,,,now for HT,,,,,,,,,,,,,
PUFFfffff OH Wait, somebody woke me up!!!!! 8(. That was such a great dream!!,
I almost had everything I wanted!!!
Wow,,,,,,,now I can't fall back to sleep!!!!!! I'm so exited!!!!!
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Post by pedrocols on Oct 29, 2014 22:16:00 GMT -5
I got out of the HT or multichannel venue. So far I am happy with my two channel setup.
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Post by Boomzilla on Oct 30, 2014 3:46:58 GMT -5
Like pedrocols, I culled my multi-channel rig. I now use 2-channel for stereo AND HT. Less clutter & better sound, IMHO. |
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Post by vneal on Oct 30, 2014 4:25:22 GMT -5
Interesting question. I have a fair system for HT(I use a 80" LED Samsung monitor) but use the HT only for BluRay movies. This is 15% for me. Sometimes 7.1 is too much to watch Fox news. The other 85% of my viewing/listening time is 2.1 for stereo listening to music. I am a two channel guy who set up the HT but prefers two channels on most music. EVEN MUSIC VIDEOS------------. I have a Pono on order which may or may not make it. I am willing to experiment
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Post by geebo on Oct 30, 2014 8:01:59 GMT -5
I'm very happy with my HT system when playing two channel material which I do quite a bit.
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Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
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Post by Deleted on Oct 30, 2014 8:05:35 GMT -5
I have since gotten rid of my 2 channel/HT combo because I now have a dedicated HT room in the basement...so I dont want to sit down there to listen to music.
once the kids move out (in 18 years) i will use their playroom for a new 2 channel room
but when we were in our old house...i had the multi-purpose HT/2 channel setup and it was pure bliss...
but watching movies NO WAY would i EVER consider 2 channel suffice...in fact I have jst gone Atmos and am now using 9 speakers..its unbeleivable
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Post by TempTag on Oct 31, 2014 13:11:29 GMT -5
Very happy with my main system but hate the usability. The reason I am happy with the system is Trinnov room correction - I do wish someone like Emotiva would release a Trinnov product at less than 5k. It is not just the Trinnov room correction I like, it is also the available Trinnov speaker remapping which I use constantly. When properly set up the speakers really disappear.
My second system uses a Fusion and quite happy with that as well.
Despite being relatively happy with both systems I am always looking to tinker with the sound - I guess that is what I am on these boards!
Even when listening to music I rarely use stereo only.
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Post by pedrocols on Oct 31, 2014 13:24:03 GMT -5
I used to have a projector with a big screen and what not. I sold everything as I lost interest in watching movies. Moreover, recently I went to see a movie and I like to watch movies not because of the soundtracks but because I find it interesting. Personally, I can still enjoy a GOOD movie even if the soundtrack sucks. However, when it comes to listening to music is a whole different story. I do not get goosebumps when I am watching a movie and the subwoofers go "BOOM" but when I play a nice tune and the guitars start playing and I hear and feel the presence of the artist it almost brings tears to my eyes....yeah I then get the goosebumps...
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Post by thepcguy on Oct 31, 2014 14:44:40 GMT -5
Would you even get a NO answer to this question?
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Post by Gary Cook on Oct 31, 2014 14:57:14 GMT -5
I'm very happy with my set up as it is right now (refer signature) it is easily the best sounding system I have ever had for both 2.1 music and 5.1 movies. Yes, I'm one of the people who prefer a large single sub using a music quality amp.
Everything in the system contributes, but the biggest single thing that makes one set up work for both movies and music for me is having a quality 2.1 preamp with HT bypass. Something so simple that makes so much difference.
Cheers
Gary
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Post by pdaddy on Oct 31, 2014 15:25:13 GMT -5
I love my double duty 5.1/2.1 setup. I did have two separate systems 5.1 and 2.1 in one room with an Oppo BDP-93, DC-1 and XPR-2 driving a set of Magnepan MG III's. In the same room I had B&W 602/600 L/C/R and MMGW's for the surrounds. My issue was I had to move the Maggies in and out when I was in 2 channel mode which was a pain. Maggie's weigh a ton and are a bear to setup for the best imaging (so yes I used tape to mark my spot).
Move forward a few weeks and add 5 Pendragon Monitors (sold by Pop) and I moved the whole 2 channel system out and am using the Pendragons for double duty, because they are just that good. I moved the XPR-2 and Maggies to a small 12x11 room but they are way too large for that room and so they are up for sale.
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Post by danny01 on Nov 1, 2014 9:16:02 GMT -5
Am I a reacher or a settler? I'll never be 100% happy with my system. There is always room for improvement. Otherwise this hobby would not be interesting once you reach the holy grail. Much like my philosophy on life hah
Sent from my SM-P600 using proboards
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Post by drtrey3 on Nov 1, 2014 9:52:53 GMT -5
I am happy with my 7.1 setup, mostly. I wish I had set the center channel a little lower, I may move it under the tv, and I wish I could move my surrounds back about a foot, but the room will not cooperate with me. Mostly I wish I had more movies/music that made better use of my back surrounds. For music it is the best I have had. I wish I had a room that did not basically require room corrections, but I am quite pleased with the room corrections my UMC-200 supplies. Friends and family enjoy the tunes and movies as well. When I think of updating, my mind goes back to my stereo system in the den, which I mainly use for gaming and ripping lps. It would certainly be nice to have a couple of Emotiva monoblocks back there, along with a sweet Emotiva stereo preamp, but I think that would be overkill!
Trey
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Post by audiobill on Nov 1, 2014 11:34:53 GMT -5
Tubes, Dynaudios, Grace Dac/preamp and a blanket over the tv.
Add the fireplace and a glass of Malbec while listening to acoustic jazz or Mozart Adagios, life is good!
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Post by ocezam on Nov 9, 2014 18:24:45 GMT -5
the biggest single thing that makes one set up work for both movies and music for me is having a quality 2.1 preamp with HT bypass. Something so simple that makes so much difference. Couldn't agree more. I'd rather have separate systems in separate rooms of the house, but if for some reason I had to combine them, HT bypass would be essential for me. |
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Post by thomasd92 on Nov 10, 2014 7:52:05 GMT -5
I am pleased with my 2 channel setup which includes Wyred 4 Sound ST preamp SE, Jolida JD-1000P amp, Audio Space CDP-8A tube cd player and a Music Hall 7.0 turntable playing into Salk Sound HT2's that also serve my as my fronts for HT. The ht part of my system is in the process of being rebuilt. My Denon 4311 is being replaced with a Marantz Av 7702, XPA-7,and a UPA500 for Atmos speakers. The processor and amps are in rout to me now. I have a lot of work ahead of like putting in ceiling speakers and rewiring the whole system. I use a Sony 960- 400 disc blu-ray player for blue ray and an OPPO 83 for all region blu-ray. I am going to replace the 83 with a 103d later. I feed the video to a Samsung plasma and a Optoma 8600 projector setup with a 106 inch screen that comes down over the plasma . I live alone so I like having everything in one set up. It saves me money on buying speakers. I can't wait to get the Dolby Atmos up and running.
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Post by frenchyfranky on Nov 10, 2014 19:07:01 GMT -5
I think that I actually own the better Hi-Fi system since ever. I really enjoy every listening session, stereo or HT.
Thank you Emotiva, if you were not exist, I never couldn't afford this level of sound quality.
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Post by htguy on Nov 10, 2014 22:12:40 GMT -5
Many... Paradigm PDR100 Subwoofer (x2): I'm a believer is using two small, front firing subs vs. one large sub. I acquired these units years ago and they perform well in my setup. ... share. Why do you prefer two small subs compared to one larger one? or maybe versus two larger ones? |
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