lex MC1/Sony combo TAP9000 cant be beat ?? (1 Viewer)

[John Tompkins]

I'll pose this as a question.

What can beat the MC-1 for HT ? not much is my opinion.Assuming this, what is the downside of the MC1? It would probably be no analog bypass for music

No problem just add the class "a" sony tap9000 and now you have a pre with TWO sets of 5.1 inputs for sacd and dvd-audio. It also has ht bypass at the touch of a button.

Now you have the best of both worlds, ht and music for about 2500.00 or you can purchase dc1/tap9000 combo for about 1500.00...this would be hard to beat

What do you all think ??

 

[Tony Lai]

The TA-P is long acknowledged as an exceptionally fine analog preamp (class A stereophile, either Larry Greenhill or Kalman Rubinson).

Any upstream digital processor or SACD/DVD-A unit passing thru it is guaranteed a basically transparent signal.

T.

 

[John Tompkins]

Tony, I have heard nothing but glowing reviews for the TA-P, For music it should be about as good as it gets within reason. It also has individual volume settings for each speaker {VERY handy for sacd}.

This combination mc1 or dc1 plus ta-p combo would appear to a killer setup all the way around. I am giving it deep thought..What would be the downside if any ?

 

[Kevin C Brown]

John- I looked at the MC-1 and DC-2. Won't work for me because I have a 6.1 system. Lex's only really work with 5.1 or 7.1 systems.

Also, Lex's have 24/96 DACs. But maybe not an issue if you're going to use the P9000ES for analog sources. But still need the digital in the Lex if you want to use it's distance/delay compensation.

 

[Ricky T]

John,

The only downsides would be no component video switching (most TV's can handle two inputs) and no analog bass mgmt (when hooked up to TAP, multichannel player needs to provide some bass mgmt).

The advantages of the MC1 over DC1 are primarily more inputs, better video-switching, and better DAC's and A/D....which most people probably wouldn't care about if they are critical with their 2 channel audio, which goes directly into the TAP. Superb combos IMO! And someone on this forum is selling a load DC1 V4.

 

[John Tompkins]

Kevin,

I didnt know that about the lex only being for 5.1 or 7.1 thats interesting but wont effect my situation as I have 7.1 now.

Good point about not being able to use the delays on the lex. I would use the ta-p for analog sources, plus for music I'm a two channel guy anyway.

Of course for movies it a digital connection straight from the dvd player and this would be the only place I would need to set delays, which isnt a problem.

 

[John Tompkins]

Ricky,
I dont have a need at all for video connections as Im not doing any switching at all. I think Im the only one left out there that doesnt do this and oh yea, I could care less about remotes other then to turn up/down and off
Inputs not that important either as I wouldnt need many because Id be using the ta-p anyway.
HT processing would be the only thing that I would be concerned as far as the lex goes. Do you think the dc-1 is about the same as the mc-1 for this duty ?

 

[Ricky T]

If you are critical about 2 channel and only want one processor, maybe the MC1 is worth extra $1k. For just movies, I think the DC1 should rock! BTW, I sent you an email.

 

[John Tompkins]

Hey Ricky, I just emailed you with my home email address, the other is work and I cant check untill tommorow

I am critical about music, you dont think the ta-p would do as well with analog sources as the lex ? OK I see you said one processor, two boxes are no problem for me as my rack has an empty space..So the Lex is for ht only but if the dc-1 is inferior to the mc-1 for this then that would be a issue.

 

[Ricky T]

Of course not! The TAP, since it has no digital circuitry, should beat just about any HT processor for analog inputs.

I meant: if someone didn't want an add-on unit like the TAP, and wanted higher resolution 2 channel (or a little more detail in surround) and video switching, the MC1 is probably worth the extra bucks.

 

[John Tompkins]

Ricky, Sorry I realized what your were saying about two boxes and edited my earlier post at 2:01 am while your were posting at the same time
I guess thats leaves the question about for ht processing only , would there be a big differnce between these two.

 

[rodneyH]

anyone have a link to the TAP, sounds intreging

 

[Ricky T]

Rodney,
Here are specs. And oade is an authorized sony es dealer; price is ~ $450:
http://www.oade.com/hifi/sony/sony_es/ta-p9000es.html
John,
People usually buy the MC1 over the DC1 for three things: video switching, more inputs, and higher resolution/detail (HT and 2 channel). For someone who values all three, the $1k price premium is easier to justify. Since only half of the third feature, higher HT resolution, applies to your needs, you'd have a tougher time justifying the premium. Did you get my email?

 

[rodneyH]

Ricky, thank you very much, that is why I love this forum!!

WHat are people using the TA-p for?? It seems that is doesn't have DTS/DD processing so its only real intregue is that is allows you to switch between 2-5.1 inputs (which is good for me, since I have DVD-A and SACD), anything else??

 

[Zbigniew]

Rodney, TA-P is a pre-amp. You are correct, there is no processing (DD, DTS, DSP) on it. John is looking for it to integrate 5.1 processed sound (from Lex MC-1, which does not have 5.1 input, only 7.1 out) with output from SACD/DVD-A players.

2-chan HT -> Lex -> TA-P -> amp -> speakers

SACD---------------/

DVD-A-------------/

2 chan HI-FI -----/

so TA-P acts as unity gain device switching between 3 5.1 sources and 2 chanell non=-processed sources, allowing him to use v good mains + external amps with all sources.

Another viarian used for similar scenario) when one has a pre/pro with 5.1 inputs, but wants to bypass per/pro for 2 chan sources is:

5.1 sources --- pre/pro --- front 2 chan -> unity gain pre-amp--->amp

2 channel source---------------------------------------/

_zjt

 

[Dzung Pham]

Well the Lex has 7.1 outputs so I suppose you would have tosend the two rear surround outputs directly to the amps as opposed to sending them through the Sony. I assume that since the Sony is truly bypassing the input, there should be no level matching problems.

 

[John Tompkins]

Dzung,

Your right the sony would be totally bypassed at the push of a button so no problem with sending 2 back channels directly to amp.

A person could also add the ICBM down the road for base management for sacd.

This setup seems like it would compare favorably to a 2500 stand alone ht processor because it would probably be better at music and you get logic 7 to boot.

 

[Yohan Pamudji]

Wouldn't volume/gain control be a bit tricky with this setup? For SACD or DVD-Audio direct into the TA-P9000ES, the TA-P9000ES controls the gain, whereas with DD/DTS or other sources that pass through the Lex first, the Lex would control the gain because the Sony's gain adjuster knob doesn't work with its Bypass 5.1 input. I mean, I'm sure we would have no trouble keeping track of this, but imagine the logistical nightmare of explaining this to other people who use your system! Am I missing something, and is there a better way to set this up?

 

[Ricky T]

Yohan,

As long as all the source components are hooked up independently to the Lexicon via one digital connection each, other people using the system would only need to use the Lex (and just make sure the Sony is set to "bypass"...or we can make sure we put the Sony back to bypass after using another mode).

 

[Charles Gurganus]

I have the P9000es and on occassion, after I have listened to music and then forgotten about switching the P9000es back to the 5.1 bypass, I have had a family member say something like "hey I don't get any sound for DSS", I have to show them the P9000es switch to get the sound back. However, this is rare as the P9000es goes into sleep mode after a pretty short time (10 min maybe) and then it goes into the auto 5.1 bypass mode. So only when a family member goes to listen to a 5.1 source before it goes into the sleep mode OR they just turn off my music (heaven forbid) without switching to the 5.1 bypass is this ever a problem.

I think I will just put the 5.1 bypass command as part of my macros for the Marantz RC5000 remote when switching to one of the 5.1 devices. This is an easy way to take the guess work out for my family.