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Looking at Anthem preamp. Do I need it? Also the Innuos Zenith (Zen?) and or Lumin T2?

So much to say, I will definitely NOT get it all out here now. 

I am not an audiophile but would like to get better sound from my system. As good as I can get it for my needs and budget. I have a 5.1 System with 2 subwoofers.

Anthem MRX 720 receiver
2 Rythmik 15 inch subwoofers
Paradigm Persona 3f speakers
Parasound HCA2205 AT amplifier (5 x 220 wpc)
I recently added an Anthem STR power amp for the Personas.

Ease of use is right up there with SQ. I love turning on my receiver and having everything there for me. I don't have a source really. I'm not that thrilled with Playfi. I tried Tidal on it, but I think it was just the small screen of my phone that made me not want to use it. I will probably go with Roon and if I could view the menus on my TV screen with anything else, that would trump anything else. SQ will have toi take a back seat to that. I just prefer hard button remotes to touch screens because of my poor eyesight.

I loved the sound before upgrading to the Anthem str amp. I only say this because I did not recalibrate the system as a whole yet. So the settings are still for the previous Parasound amp. I do hear a difference between the Parasound and Anthem. I had the system calibrated professionally, if you will. I don't have the knowledge or the patience to do it. I absolutely loved the results.

So, I want to ONLY stream music now to my 2 front speakers (and subs)  when not watching movies etc... Do I need both the Innuos type product AND the Lumin T2 AND an Anthem preamp? Can I get away with just one or 2 of these products? That is a lot of money for me to spend on just streaming Qobuz or Tidal etc... Maybe even Amazon HD if that ever gets settled. I want to decide and purchase over the next several months and just keep the system for many years. Definitely will be buying used. After that, I will look into speaker cables, IC etc.. But this comes first, I guess. 

Also, where will my bottleneck be if these pieces are selected? Can I get away with the Zen instead of the Zenith? D2 instead of the T2? Can I just buy the T2 and go directly into my AV receiver? One piece would be great! and more affordable of course.

The reason I'm looking at higher priced units is I do not swap out components after purchase.... ever. So, they will stay for a long while.

Thanks for reading.

Also, is there one unit I should buy before the others? I think I made a mistake in buying the amp first. Maybe the Innuos? I may like it into the 720? I doubt it.

Thanks
cissado
cissado OP
113 posts
 
Been looking at the N100h, but now my heads spinning. Back to the drawing board...
So, the direction I go with is probably streamer, no dac, into the dac of the str preamp. 
So, will that eliminate the need for a server or what the Innuos was doing? I dont have a computer with music files on it. Can I just plug straight from my router into the n100h or similar unit?

Thanks again
david_ten
5,480 posts
 
@cissado  Since you are starting out (in the areas you are asking about) I highly recommend a dealer for someone in your situation.  As @audiotroy  mentioned, you can source used and demo units from a dealer. In your case, I believe a dealer would be truly beneficial and helpful. 

You are lucky in that you have good access to dealers in the metro areas in and surrounding NJ. I'd take audiotroy up on his offer. I suggested him in a previous post because you own a number of the components he represents and is familiar with. He is also well versed in streaming / computer based audio. 
armandito
158 posts
 
Guys
can anyone send me the right direction to purchase a  New Anthem MCA-525 at great price? What will be a good price? 
cissado OP
113 posts
 
So, I wanted to try a lower priced box to get my feet wet and see how I like the phone and tablet remote control. I bought a bluesound node 2. I'm using that straight into my Anthem AVR. Sound quality is OK but I had the intention of getting the str preamp and maybe the Zenith.

Well, I dont like the phone or the tablet control, so I've pretty much given up. I'll stick to roku/youtube with worse sound I guess. I'll revisit when I get the itch again, or if/when hdmi into a TV is a little more common.
Thanks again.

PS I've had the bluesound for over a week and will keep it, but dont use it much, if at all. 
audiotroy's avatar
audiotroy
3,584 posts
 
Cissado, unfortunately almost  all modern streamers use an Iphone, Android or Table to control the device.

Just curious to what you don't like? The sound quality of the Blue Sound is decent but a far cry from a higher end device. 

None of the major devices give you a TV output, you could run a laptop or PC into the TV and run Roon to give you a TV display, you would still need a table or phone to control the computer however.

Dave and Troy
Audio Doctor NJ
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