1. Home
  2. misc-audio
  3. 198810-93212

AVP 2CH to dedicated 2CH....how big of difference?

Hey all, long time lurker.

Currently I have a Marantz AV 10 paired with a Marantz AMP 10 that I use for HT and multi-channel music.  LR are GoldenEar Triton Reference speakers.  Also have (2) HSU VTF-15H mk2 subs.   Room is treated...its not perfect but Ive spent quite a bit of time in this area.

 

Lately, I have really been doing a lot of 2CH listening. Sources are SACD/CD from an Oppo 205, Tidal via HEOS and a VPI Scoutmaster w/ Soundsmith Zephyr Star MIMC cart and  Lehman Black Cube SEII phono stage.

Music preferences are literally all over the map.  (Rock, jazz, blues, classical, etc.)  

 

My question is, how much of a change am I going to get if I setup a dedicated 2CH stack? 

 

I know the GoldenEar TRefs can be a polarizing speaker, but I actually enjoy them and would like to continue using them with a 2CH setup.  If I had a budget of about 20K to dedicate to 2CH....how much of a difference am I going to experience by moving away from the AV10/AMP10 combo?  Are we talking diminishing returns levels or 'omg, Im hearing music for the first time' levels?

 

What I currently like about the AV10/AMP10 combo with Dirac ART.  Background is totally black.  Dead silent.  Excellent imaging both in sound stage width and depth.  In certain music, it throws a very wide soundstage...almost Q Sound-like. And I know from a purity standpoint this is frowned upon, but I do like Dirac ART or some kind of RC.

Where I want to see improvements.  On heavily dense tracks with a lot of instruments/layers, the sound stage can get very narrow.  It doesn't collapse but I lose a lot of imaging. Two examples of this I can think of immediately are Comfortably Numb on the Pulse album.  At the end with the crescendo and guitar solo...it can get congested and narrows.  Same with November Rain Remastered.  The beginning of that track is well layered side to side and front to back but at the end with everything hitting at once, I almost completely lose that image that I had throughout the first 3/4 of the track.

There is also a slight 'edge' to music.  While this is excellent for movies (clear, distinct sounds) this can make music sound more clinical vs smooth and warm.  I dont know if this is because its really an AV product and Im trying to do something outside of its wheelhouse, the ICEPower Class D crispness from the AMP10 or the revealing nature of the GE TRefs or a combo of all three.

Im ready to take the next step and dedicate some time/resources to 2CH.  I just don't want to spend a ton of money and get a marginally better experience.  Unfortunately, I live in an area where demoing most of the gear Ive been looking at is going to require some travel.  I don't have anything remotely local.

Budget would be going primarily to a preamp/amp or integrated and probably a different SACD/CD source for the Oppo 205.

Apologies for the length of the post, just trying to provide as much information as possible.  

quick2k3
ricred1
2,147 posts
 

I submit you can have both by using a 2-channel preamp with HT bypass. I've tried to put together a decent HT system, but sold it to focus on my 2-channel. I had a Trinnov Altitude and Amplitude 16. I tried them for 2-channel only, but strongly preferred my Rowland components compared to Trinnov.

mahler123
4,038 posts
 

I have Dirac in my two channel system and in my 2 HT systems I have Anthem AVR.  I think they both add modest improvements.

deep_333
2,443 posts
 

a) Your first bottleneck is the golden ear,  it is a lackluster midfi speaker. On the other hand, a tekton epic 15 priced at a measly 2.5k/pair is a hifi speaker. A Yamaha NS-2000A is a hifi speaker. A mofi 888 is a hifi speaker, etc. Ya gotta know how to recognize a hifi sound somedays.

b) 2nd bottleneck is the class D ice diddly. Save it for surrounds and heights. Buy 3 Schiit Tyr monoblocks and deploy it for the front stage (front left, center, front right)

The Marantz AV10 is worth its weight in gold. Marantz is able to sell it to you for 8k because it is also subsidized for you by video enthusiasts around the world. If they didn't do that for you, price will become 100k. Gain stage the AV10 correctly. There is a learning curve associated with using it correctly. It is not some simple 1 trick pony preamp. Good luck.

Where I want to see improvements. On heavily dense tracks with a lot of instruments/layers, the sound stage can get very narrow. It doesn't collapse but I lose a lot of imaging. Two examples of this I can think of immediately are Comfortably Numb on the Pulse album. At the end with the crescendo and guitar solo...it can get congested and narrows. Same with November Rain Remastered. The beginning of that track is well layered side to side and front to back but at the end with everything hitting at once, I almost completely lose that image that I had throughout the first 3/4 of the track.

 

There is also a slight 'edge' to music. While this is excellent for movies (clear, distinct sounds) this can make music sound more clinical vs smooth and warm. I dont know if this is because its really an AV product and Im trying to do something outside of its wheelhouse, the ICEPower Class D crispness from the AMP10 or the revealing nature of the GE TRefs or a combo of all three.

More to discover