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Stepping up to the next level ? HT and Music

A little about the system.
I have a Onkyo 5509 Pre pro , 2 Emotiva Xpr 2 amps bi amped powering Tyler Acoustics D1x speakers . 1 Tyler center channel speaker and 4 tower speakers for surrounds and back powered by a Rotel 5 channel amp . 2 Chase 18.2 subs powered by a Suntron M 600 amp. the room is 17 x17 and I can seal it off with a door .

No problems with the system for movies and no glaring problems for music . I would just like it to sound more musical but still run my subs at the same time .

I know music lovers say no to subs but I really like the layer they add to music . So what are my options ?
1. Add a pre amp for music ? But what about the subs ?
2. Better Pre pro like a Classe ssp 800 but loose room correction .

I have had a tube amp in the mix and really liked it . The sound wrapped around my speakers but was not loud enough when I wanted to turn it up . Also cant justify running tubes always when watching movies and tv and the associated heat that comes from them .

Im looking for suggestions that I may have overlooked or advice from those who have had similar problems .
Like I said , it sounds good but would like to take it to the next level musically . I mainly listen to cd,s but am looking at a music server and or computer audio . No vinyl at this time but may add at some time later .

Thanks , Lambeau
lambeau

Showing 3 responses by kr4

kr4's avatar
kr4
3,648 posts
 
The biggest contributors to the sound are the speakers (I
am unfamiliar with yours) and the room and you should
examine those items first. What is lacking now?

As for a better prepro, note that the SP800 and the newer
Sigma-SSP do have room correction but just not automatic
room correction.

As for adding a preamp, look at the Parasound P7 and P5
which play nicely with mch systems.
kr4's avatar
kr4
3,648 posts
 
1. You can get equal/better results with the Classe PEQ
but you have to work much harder for it. You would have
to buy a measurement/analysis system (REW, XTZ, etc.) and
a calibrated microphone, hook them up to a PC and learn
how to measure and calibrate. Then you can transfer the
EQ filters to the Classe.
2. I cannot in any way account for your goose bumps or
lack thereof. Different folks like different stuff. I
think both my systems sound "awesome" and
"wow" with music but who knows if we would
agree. You just need to be happy with yours.
3. Both the Parasounds will accommodate subs albeit in
slightly different ways.
4. I cannot recall a published review of the Emotiva
with Dirac yet but I do not scan all the mags. I do have
one in house which I will set up in a week or so,
depending on the weather. What I can say about
Diracn(running on my PC/streamer) is that it is as easy
as Audyssey and is superior in outcome.
kr4's avatar
kr4
3,648 posts
 
I know of no similar preamps, with or without tubes.
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