Which will enhance sound more, seprate amp or DVD-Audio? (1 Viewer)

[Kyle_Y]

I'm planning on either buying a seprate amp or a DVD-A player, but I cannot decide which, and the budget won't allow both. My current receiver is an Onkyo 797 and I am running it with A/D/S tower speakers up front(4ohm) and Definitive Procenter and Procinema surrounds with a Velodyne CT-120 sub. I'm thinking of spending $300 on a DVD-A player such as the Toshiba 4700/4800/5700 or Panasonic RP-82 or DVD-CP72. If I go the amp route, I woudl spend about $500-600, either a Parasound HCA-855A or Rotel RMB1070. The Onkyo is very stong in surround, so I'm probably looking for a stereo amp. So where is there more improvement in sound? I've heard that the difference between DVD-A and CD is like night and day, but everyone says seprate amplification is the way to go, which did you find made a bigger difference?

 

[Jed M]

I would go for the amp since you will own it longer. Might as well wait for the firewire ports (or usb, dvi???) anyway since they are right around the corner. That way, when you eventually get a new receiver your dvd-a player will be ready to go digitally. I like dvd-a but since I don't own a whole lot of dvd-a discs I don't think I get the same impact right now as I do with my amp. I used to use two monoblocks for my two fronts before I got my 7 channel amp and the difference that the amps made for the two channels was pretty significant. It makes everything a little bit more tighter (cymbals and drums) and much cleaner. Some call it night and day, some say its not that noticeable but almost all would agree that an amp does improve your sound.

If I were you, I would buy something like the Toshiba 4700/4800 and two monoblocks. Someone is selling three marantz on this board right now for 175 a piece. Great amps and that way you could get 2 amps and dvd-a for around 500. If you want to spend a little more I would look at the Norh LeAmps. I have never heard them but from everything I've read they are a great value. I think they are 500 a pair.

 

[Paul Clarke]

Kyle,

This can be a tough nut to crack. The DVD-A sound format, depending on system, is a very big improvement. So do you use standard amplification for a high quality multi-channel format? Or do you run separates to fully enhance the improvement?

IMO you do both. But since your current budget does not allow this at the present time and you seem happy with the multi-channel output of the 797, I say go for the player. Doing this, you will experience DVD-A from your present system now and have time to settle on what better amplification you might desire in the future...2 channel or multi.

 

[Phil Mays]

Kyle,

Are you talking about using a DVD player in place of a CD player for music? I may be slow in this as I do not understand DVD-A.

 

[Wayne_T]

I got the DVD-A player last year, but so far I've only got a few DVD-A disks. I got the outboard amps in May and June this year. In my opinion, this is a no brainer. The amplifiers (Bryston 4B-ST for the mains and Anthem MCA-3 for the center and surrounds) made far more overall improvement than the DVD-A player. Don't forget, the amp is there every time you turn your system on, no matter what you are playing - CD's, DVD's, TV, everything. The DVD-A player won't do squat for you unless you are listening to a DVD-A disk (to state the obvious), which will probably be a small portion of your total system use. I'd say get the best 2 channel amp for your mains that you can afford, new or used, and buy the DVD-A player later.

BTW for reference, my receiver is the Yamaha RX-V3000 which I'm thinking (I'm guessing) is roughly equivalent to your Onkyo. Even though you like your Onkyo, I think you'd be amazed at how much better it will sound all around if you move the mains to an outboard amp.

Wayne

 

[Kyle_Y]

The amp would be a good idea, because as Wayne said, it would be on all the time. Has anyone else gone through this dilema? Which makes more difference? If the DVD-A was really good, even if it was on only at certain time, it would be okay if it was good, but I don't want to end up with a junk amp. Opinions?

 

[Kevin. W]

Amps tend to stay while Audio formats will come and go. Get the amp first.

Kevin

 

[John Garcia]

[smartass]Both [/smartass]

 

[Drew Eckhardt]

One or more power amps, because they'll help your hundreds of CDs and movies while there's little worth listening to on DVD-A.

 

[Michael Mathius]

I think you will get greater use and enjoyment from a new amp. But ultimately the decision is yours.

 

[Phil Mays]

I added amps and could not be happier.

 

[Philip Hamm]

What titles are you concerned about with DVD-A? Have you considered SACD? You can get a bottom rung Sony SACD player for $170 or so these days and it will sound incredible (or so I'm told). And remember there are bass management issues with SACD and DVD-A.
Look at the titles available on DVD-A and SACD and decide if you want any. Look at www.elusivedisc.com. The release of new titles is extremely slow on both formats. There are more titles available on SACD, but do they interest you?

 

[Ed Four]

Like most everyone else, I have to say that I'd go for the amp too. You'll see more use out of an amp then a DVD-A player.