Music listening w/o a dedicated pre

kawizx9r

Well, the title says it. I'm wondering what many of you have your receiver/pro set on when listening to music (doesn't pertain as much to those with a dedicated pre for music) and how you have things hooked up. I've got my player going to my receiver via analog (AQ Sidewinders), so the player is taking care of the way the source is reproduced right? That statement holds true if I have my avr set on pure direct I would assume. Thing is during some music I tend to put it on Stereo to really enjoy the SDA effect but the quality isn't there as opposed to PD. On PD, voices just seem so natural and acoustic passages feel so real as if you had a guitar playing right in front of you but the soundstage or SDA effect isn't really there. I know this is more of a personal preference of how I'd want to hear things, just wondering what everyone else is doing.
Also, should I just connect my player to my receiver via optical digital or digital coaxial and use the sidewinders (in place of signal cable I's) from my receiver to my amp? I'd hate to pull stuff out just to connect and reconnect things over and over, hence why I'm not doing that now.

Tubed pre will be coming in the next few months, but for now I want to get a little more out of my setup if I can.

-Freddy

concealer404

kawizx9r wrote: »

Also, should I just connect my player to my receiver via optical digital or digital coaxial and use the sidewinders (in place of signal cable I's) from my receiver to my amp? I'd hate to pull stuff out just to connect and reconnect things over and over, hence why I'm not doing that now.

Tubed pre will be coming in the next few months, but for now I want to get a little more out of my setup if I can.

-Freddy

I'd try it... i don't remember what gear you run, but depending on what your receiver is, the DAC in the receiver may be better than the DAC in the cdp.

kawizx9r

Denon 2805 Receiver, and a Denon DVD2800 player as my source. I've heard things about digital coaxial being better because it isn't converted over n over like optical is? I don't know, I just want to minimize the amount of work by pulling stuff out/etc

vc69

I have my Oppo BDP-83 hooked up to my 606 three ways:
Analog into the "CD" input
Coax to the "AUX" input
HDMI mapped to "DVD" input

For music, I have toyed with both the coax and and analog in both "direct" (no processing) and "stereo" (audyssey corrected - front L/R set to large so no bass management).

I have really settled on the coax input in direct mode for most 2ch listening. Frankly, I like the DAC's in the 606. I sometimes go with 2ch analog just to compare, and it is really good, but always seem to come back to the aux input in direct mode. I think I may try my Kimber IC's on the analog inputs to see if I like them any better than the IC's (good one's but I can't remember brand) I have hooked up now.
Anyway, that's how I'm a doin' it.

Edit: The anolog IC's I'm using now are Transparent Link 100 or 200's. Nice and smooth.

thsmith

If you ever get a chance try this digcoax. It is outstanding.

http://www.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/cls.pl?cabldgtl&1257451968&/Kimber-Illuminati-D-60-1-meter

kawizx9r

thsmith wrote: »

If you ever get a chance try this digcoax. It is outstanding.

http://www.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/cls.pl?cabldgtl&1257451968&/Kimber-Illuminati-D-60-1-meter

Lol if I could swing that kind of cash I would.
So, it's better to go with digital coaxial then I guess. That could be ruled out though if the cables running via analog are better than coax? I was looking at what I could do with what I have now, not what I should add/etc (I.E. buying a cable that will only last me a few months).

thsmith

All comes down to how good your DACs are assuming digital and analog cables are similiar caliber.

I have a PS Audio DAC that is much better than my Denon AVR DAC but not tried my Rotel CDP DAC compared to PS Audio DAC and probably never will.

Face

You need a better source and a preamp with HT Bypass, the receiver is a roadblock for your application.

thsmith

Face wrote: »

You need a better source and a preamp with HT Bypass, the receiver is a roadblock for your application.

Face, Hopefully you mean this for OP, I have a Adcom GFP-750.

kawizx9r

thsmith wrote: »

Face, Hopefully you mean this for OP, I have a Adcom GFP-750.

He does
He's chimed in with much advice regarding what I should add/replace first. On the list is
1. Add a dedicated pre (with H/T bypass) since my SDA's are also utilized as part of my HT setup
2. Add a decent source

Though the pre isn't coming for awhile, got a list of what to look for and checking fleebay and the gon periodically if something nice comes up on the cheap suddenly.

Face

For a great cost effect DAC, check out the DacMagic.

concealer404

Face wrote: »

For a great cost effect DAC, check out the DacMagic.

This.

There's one used at onecall right now for $249 i believe. Crazy value.