Home Theater Forum - View Single Post - two Channel Music and Home theater Integrated or seperated?

CraigF · 04-29-2008, 11:34 PM

I combined both a 2-ch and a 7.1-ch system. I decided the 2-ch system must not be compromised, I mean within the capability of its gear. So it is cabled and the gear chosen and positioned to be optimised for 2-ch music. Then I (properly) built the 7.1 around that. I did this after I had two separate systems in different rooms, and decided this was a bit nonsensical as I was duplicating some stuff for no benefit. I can only use one system at a time, would be different if there was a family. I chose the biggest and naturally darkest and most isolated (from outside) room for the combo.

What I did was "compromise", and truly not very much, the 2 front channel sound during HT. Nobody notices, it is hard to tell, because the fronts (the 2-ch system) sound so good and the HT source is typically of somewhat lower quality than the stereo sources I use. I took the front preamp outs from the 7.1 pre-pro/box and routed them into an aux input of a *good* stereo preamp, which is connected to a good stereo amp that drives the front 2 channels. This means you need to choose a volume setting on the stereo pre and always move the knob there for HT listening, and calibrate the HT levels for that. No big deal, and with a decent stereo pre you'll never hear this "compromise", the front channels will still sound the best.

There was another way to do it, and that is to switch 7.1 pre-pro front outputs and stereo pre outputs to the front amp. I tried that, and couldn't tell the diff from the previous way. And the previous way required one less gadget.

There is a huge difference for music by using a quality stereo amp just for the stereo channels IMO, and NOT putting stereo analog signals anywhere near a mostly digital processing box. Especially phono, if you do that... Or even good digital signals if from a really decent DAC.

04-29-2008, 11:34 PM	#6 of 8
CraigF Member Location: Toronto area, Canada Join Date: Nov 2002 Local Time: 12:34 PM Local Date: 08-30-2008 Posts: 1,822	Re: two Channel Music and Home theater Integrated or seperated? I combined both a 2-ch and a 7.1-ch system. I decided the 2-ch system must not be compromised, I mean within the capability of its gear. So it is cabled and the gear chosen and positioned to be optimised for 2-ch music. Then I (properly) built the 7.1 around that. I did this after I had two separate systems in different rooms, and decided this was a bit nonsensical as I was duplicating some stuff for no benefit. I can only use one system at a time, would be different if there was a family. I chose the biggest and naturally darkest and most isolated (from outside) room for the combo. What I did was "compromise", and truly not very much, the 2 front channel sound during HT. Nobody notices, it is hard to tell, because the fronts (the 2-ch system) sound so good and the HT source is typically of somewhat lower quality than the stereo sources I use. I took the front preamp outs from the 7.1 pre-pro/box and routed them into an aux input of a good stereo preamp, which is connected to a good stereo amp that drives the front 2 channels. This means you need to choose a volume setting on the stereo pre and always move the knob there for HT listening, and calibrate the HT levels for that. No big deal, and with a decent stereo pre you'll never hear this "compromise", the front channels will still sound the best. There was another way to do it, and that is to switch 7.1 pre-pro front outputs and stereo pre outputs to the front amp. I tried that, and couldn't tell the diff from the previous way. And the previous way required one less gadget. There is a huge difference for music by using a quality stereo amp just for the stereo channels IMO, and NOT putting stereo analog signals anywhere near a mostly digital processing box. Especially phono, if you do that... Or even good digital signals if from a really decent DAC.