2. amps-preamps
  3. 1366325623

Using a receiver as a pre-amp...many questions

I have totem sttaf (8ohm, 88db sensitivity) l+r, a totem tribe II (6ohm,88db sensitivity) as center, and the totem storm sub. I use the system for both movies/tv and l+r and sub for music...music being the most important to me soundwise. My receiver is an integra 40.3. Ok so here come the questions...

In order to have the system sound good for anything (movies/tv or music) I feel like I have to turn the receiver up too high (around 68-75 out of 100)...otherwise the sound is flat/boring. Do people agree that this is a problem, or I should just turn it up and be happy? Keep in mind that once I do turn it up I am very happy with the sound it produces...overall I like what I have.

What I am thinking about doing is buying three red dragon audio m500 monoblock amps and connecting from the receiver to the amps. Should I expect this to improve the sound at lower levels, or the high volume need is just a function of the way my speakers work and nothing different will happen?

Another option I am thinking about is buying a two channel amp (I am thinking of tube hybrid) to connect to receiver, and using it to power just the l+r speakers to get possible improvement there.

Ultimately I would like to get away from the receiver altogether as everything I read says that a real pre-amp and amp improves sound dramatically...however all of my connections are HDMI (computer music, movies, and cable) and until someone starts making an HDMI dac then I think I am stuck with the receiver.

Sorry for so many questions but as you can likely tell I am a rather new audio person and need advise. Any comments on the questions above would be great...also setup suggestions that I may not have thought of would also help.
jpg1975

Showing 11 responses by jpg1975

jpg1975 OP
18 posts
 
@Loomisjohnson, my budget would be around $2K for the amp

@Tsugury, I play most music from my computer (home built htpc) using MOG connected via HDMI to the receiver) I also have an apple TV and cable box for TV watching (both hdmi). Then for movies I have a samsung blue ray player. HDMI cable are nothing special...I am not a huge proponent of spending a bunch of money on cabling. All the speaker wire is entry level from Tributaries brand (bi-wire to speaker). I am thinking of changing speaker wire to Signal Cable ultra, but this would be in addition to amp upgrade.

Thanks to you both.
jpg1975 OP
18 posts
 
@Loomisjohnson, one last thing about the amp suggestions. Based on placement limitations and WAF the amp cannot be enormous nor produce a lot of heat...probably 17ish wide and 17ish deep would be good.
jpg1975 OP
18 posts
 
@Bdgregory do you think a stand alone hometheater pre-amp (for example emotiva umc-200) would be any better with regard to the issue I am experiencing?

Also I see that you have the mani-2's with the beaks on top. Those are nice speakers. Do the beaks do anything for the sound in your opinion? What did you notice?
jpg1975 OP
18 posts
 
@Tls49 I am quite bad at describing how something sounds as I do not have all the proper lingo down. What I will say is that at low to moderate levels the sound seems hollow/lifeless. As I increase the volume into the range I mentioned the system not only gets louder but takes on a more "real" character where people sound like people, pianos like pianos, etc. Then if I continue increasing the volume it just becomes too damn loud to handle and hurts my ears.
jpg1975 OP
18 posts
 
@Tonyangel...Thanks for the advise. I am considering doing that, the problem is I have only one place to put everything. So if I dedicate everything to music then I will probably just end up with some crappy soundbar for TV/movies...and while they are not the most important they are still at least a little important.

To your other question I have not tried any other equipment. This is my first real stereo/home theater. Up to this point it has been Bose or soundbars.
jpg1975 OP
18 posts
 
@Bdgregory and Tls49. Thanks a lot for this suggestion. I was starting to feel like everyone was just telling what would not work. I need to look at the connections tonight to see what alternatives I have for connecting the computer and apple tv (these are my two music sources) directly to the integrated amp and still be able to get the video from each to the TV (whether through the receiver or not). I will do a little research this evening once I a have them in front of me. I know I will have questions, so I hope you can hang in for a while longer and respond again tomorrow.
jpg1975 OP
18 posts
 
@Bdgregory

one possibility for your music sources is to use your Integra as a DAC (ie leave them connected to the integra via HDMI),

Wouldn't this option have the receiver still acting as the pre-amp...so would likely not help the issue I am having? Is there some particular way of connecting the computer and apple TV to the receiver to have it only serve the DAC function?
jpg1975 OP
18 posts
 
@Tls49...I do understand now what you and Bdgregory were saying. However, this opens up a new question for me. If I connect the computer to integrated amp, should the computer be treated as a purely music source afterward? What I am getting at is this...So I connect the computer via usb to a dac and from dac to integrated and I want to watch a streamed show on my computer. Is it possible to also have the computer connected via HDMI to the receiver and toggle back and forth between usb/hdmi based on if I am listening to music or watching something...or is going back and forth a more complex process. This is not necessarily a deal breaker...I just want to understand.
jpg1975 OP
18 posts
 
@Tls49...I like that answer, it should make my life easier

I think I know what I need to do now...thanks all for your responses!

I will start searching for a dac and integrated...
jpg1975 OP
18 posts
 
Do you know of any integrated that is tube/ss hybrid and has home theater pass through, but not crazy expensive? I was interested in the one from Vincent brand but as far as I can tell there is no ht pass through. Also not there on the Jolida. For some reason I am very drawn to tube/ss hybrid. Bdgregory...I know you said that it is not a must to have ht pass through but the volume matching thing sounds like a bit of a pain I would like to avoid if possible.
jpg1975 OP
18 posts
 
@Bdgregory...thanks...will do.
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