New Separates - sound great! (1 Viewer)

[Philip Hamm]

Well, I got the new separates set up over the weekend and have auditioned them a bit. They sound great, I am very happy. I think they sound better than my old Uber-receiver Onkyo Integra 919 with external decoders.

The set-up is different than I used with the old receiver since I'm now usign the Outlaw ICBM for all my bass management duties betweenthe pre/pro and the power amp. Since my 919 had a preamp out / power amp in loop, I could have done that before, and in fact I should have. I think I have a problem around 70Hz with one or both of my mains, because setting the front L/R pair to 60Hz sound significantly better than setting them at 80, which was the setting on my old receiver.

After setting my levels with Video Essentials, I auditioned some DVD-Audio and DAD (96/24 DVD-Video) material and it sounds very very good. Perhaps better than the 919, but it could be in my head because the 919 sounded fantastic also. I then tried some CD audio and MD stuff. I have a switch between the MD and LD for the coaxial input on my pre/pro.

What really asounded me was the amazing fidelity of MiniDisc. Particularly MiniDiscs that were recorded analog from LPs. I played my MiniDisc of the Strangler's "The Raven" and I was completely astounded at how good it sounded. I then A/Bed my CD of The Beatles' "Abbey Road" with the MD of my LP (recent repressing). The MD of the LP sounded better than the old Capitol CD. Particularly the highs of cymbals and tambourines. I want to A/B a CD and an MD of the same material and see if I can tell the difference. MiniDisc and ATRAC 4.5 is truly amazing technology. This was the single listening experience that really blew me away, even moreso than the 96/24 DVD material, perhaps because I wasn't expecting it to sound so damn good.

Anyway, the Sherwood is nice, but the fit and finish of the AVP-9080 is definitely a big step down from the perfection of the Onkyo TH-SV919THX. The flip down section is unlit and plasticky, whereas the 919's flip-down is lit (a very nice touch) and solid feeling. Also, not all of the buttons on the front of the Sherwood are perfectly aligned with the holes. For instance the "Digital Input" button is a little off to the side compared to the hole it's coming out of. On the 919 everything is absolute perfection. The Sherwood is nicely made, but little things like that are not quite up to snuff with the onld Onkyo flagship.

The sound is fantastic, that's really all that counts. The remote and ergonomics are fairly poor, but easily forgivable when taken with the overall audio quality. My 602s really sing with this front end.

Phil = one happy boy.

 

[Mark Austin]

Philip,
Congrats on your new found revelation. Separates are GREAT! Welcome to the club. The thing that I most noticed besides the improved sound is the importance of chosing the best interconnect to compliment your system. It can take a little time but well worth it. Enjoy!

 

[Philip Hamm]

I'm not a cable/interconnect "believer". I'm using a mismash of the cables that came with the amp, various AudioQuest, AR, and Monster (very few) cables, and some Radio Shack gold series.

 

[Mark Austin]

I can appreciate that, I wasn't either until I got into separates. I just switched out a couple of amps in my system to some smoother sounding Electrocompaniet amps, but with the existing cabling it was almost too much of a good thing. So, I decided to try some silver interconnects to bring in a little more detail, and they sound like completely different components. To each his own I guess, enjoy.

 

[BruceD]

So Phil, tell me about you ICBM setup. Are all your speakers the same distance from your listening seat? What xovers did you set for the other channels besides the 60Hz for main?

 

[Philip Hamm]

My speakers are not equadistant, and my delays are all set to 0 (when I can set them aas such). I don't worry about time alignment, everything sounds fine, even old Quad '70s DTS CDs which rely on side channel imaging.

My front is set to 100Hz and the rears are set to 80. It's so nice to have this kind of flexibility. I'm using the cables that came with the amplifier to go from the pre/pro to the ICBM and my best sets of AudioQuest from the ICBM to the amp.

 

[John Morris]

My speakers are not equadistant, and my delays are all set to 0 (when I can set them aas such). I don't worry about time alignment, everything sounds fine, even old Quad '70s DTS CDs which rely on side channel imaging.

Phil: Congrats on you new setup! I too wonder why so much has been made by some folks about the lack of time alignment for SACD and DVD-A. Although my front channels are equidistant from my head, my rears are 1 foot and 2 feet closer to my head respectively, AND, I have never noticed any degredation of what I hear. Maybe, I just haven't listened to the right SACDs yet? I prefer my music in front of me and buy SACDs which primarily use the rears for ambience, so maybe that is why I haven't yet heard the impact of no time alignment? It just seems to me that time alignment for SACD playback is much ado about nothing? Maybe, someone can recommend an SACD which will help me hear what bad time alignment can do?
PS - I too bought another 9080r to hold me over till the 950, but unfortunately, it arrived DOA and I haven't had it fixed yet... :frowning:

 

[Lewis Besze]

Phil what amp you using?

Regarding time alingment.

Interestingly David Ranada had an article on this,in the latest S&V.

He,"challanges" the reader to do some experiment,to see the possible "ill effects" of the improper time alligment,when speakers aren't equidistant.

All it requires play a multi channel recording[it can be DD or DTS as well],and change the time delay setting on your receiver while listening to some tracks that you familiar with.I haven't try this but he[DR]ensures the reader that he'll hear the difference.

Check it out!

 

[Philip Hamm]

Lewis,

I'm using the Sherwood AM-9080 70 lb behemoth. Sounds great. I'll respectfully decline your challenge to play with time alignment. I don't even know whether it's available or not with my DTS, and know it'snot available with DVD-A so what's the point?

BTW, I got a Cinema 7+ last night to replace my Producer8, what a great remote!

 

[Lewis Besze]

It wasn't my challenge it was David Ranada's.
Dolby mandates the time delay settings so you have it.
The point for that excercise is that once again in the name of high resoulution manufacturers omit features[bass managment time alligment] that can greatly benefit most everyone.
Enjoy your separates!

 

[Jeff Hipps]

...and DTS recommends against it.
Jeff

 

[Lewis Besze]

and DTS recommends against it.

And you know why?

Because they recomend indentical speakers placed at equidistance.In a perfect world that would be just great but we all know this isn't a perfect world.Time alligment is only a compromise,compare to the real thing but it is better then nothing IMO.YMMV!

 

[BruceD]

I must tell you time alignment makes a huge difference.

Just try listening to a movie and adjusting the time alignment for the center channel. All of a sudden you can't understand/hear the dialogue.

Believe me it makes a difference, you only have to try it once to convince yourself.