Prior to this year I had an old-school stereo setup just like my mom had when I was a kid (and she had when she was in high school in the 70s). Big speakers on the side, standalone peripherals (a CD player, a record player, the DVD player and TV and we also had an RCA-to-headphone jack cable to plug in my phone or laptop), and a stereo receiver tying it all together.
But the last few years, the only thing that stereo system did was play music from my phone or amplify the TV. If we wanted to hear music in the other part of the house (like when cleaning the kitchen), we’d turn the speakers in that direction and crank up the volume.
Last fall I had a house fire. We should be expecting the check soon, covering the contents of the house. With that check, there are a lot of things to buy, but I’d really like to upgrade my home sound system. Which route should I go, keeping in mind that we were slightly under-insured and I’m expecting to be disappointed by this check? Figure I can spend one, possibly two grand on this, tops.
I’m thinking some sort of media center PC I can keep my files on and control with my phone (that’d kill the “replace desktop” bird too, but we’re considering forgoing that replacement in the short term)? Or maybe wireless speakers that can play music from my phone, friends’ phones, laptop, etc? Is there anything new in the hardware space? Are ‘home theater’ surround sound systems really that much better for watching videos than a pair of nice stereo speakers? Do home theater systems sound good for recorded music too?
I’d like convenience, integration with my digital devices/network, and whole house coverage if possible, but not at the expense of (too much) sound quality. I listen to lower quality sound on my headphones all the time, and my car stereo probably isn’t the best either – I’d like one place I can go to listen to music with great sound at as high a volume as my ears can stand. Is this possible? Does anybody have any experience or ideas?
Oh, forgot to add, I’d like to incorporate the phonograph, if possible. That seems at odds with “integrate with my digital devices”, but I listen to records occasionally and have quite a few so I’d listen to them more if it were more convenient.
Also, modularity and extensibility are important to me. I don’t want a one box solution. If a speaker goes out I don’t want to have to replace the whole system. And if I get more disposable money in the future I’d like to make my sound system better (add speakers, peripherals, bluetooth capability? – whatever the world comes up with) without starting again from scratch.
Which of all these goals are achievable and which will I have to sacrifice?
I won’t make any specific recommendations on receivers since they all pretty much do the same thing. for multiple rooms, if you don’t mind running wires than most receivers have the ability to switch between stereo speaker sets (usually labeled “A” and “B”.)
as for a turntable, I think the “PHONO” input has been steadily disappearing from modern equipment. No worries, though, you just need a phono pre-amp and you can connect your turntable to any audio line input. Yes, if the receiver/amp doesn’t have a phono input, you do need a pre-amp for both the RIAA de-emphasis and boosting the signal to line level.
A)Yes, watching with surround is better than just a set of speakers. At the very least throwing in a sub (so it’s 2.1) makes a world of difference. The trick is to set it so you don’t notice it. Think it’s not doing anything, turn it off and notice how flat the sound suddenly becomes.
B)I love having a regular receiver. Plug in the TiVo, DVD, TV, Game, Phono, MP3 (feed from your computer) and it’s no problem to switch between them. It’s more than easily handle 5.1, it’ll create ‘fake’ 7.1 if you want to toss in two more speakers for a big room and some may be ready for real 7.1 when it shows up. Some are also set up for zones so you can watch TV in one room and have a different source going to another room.
I’m sure plenty of them now accept bluetooth or at least work with an app so you can send a signal from your phone, into your home network and to it so you don’t even have to hook your phone to it to send music to it (even if it’s Pandora etc).
For recommenations, I’ve been very, very happy with the high end of both Onkyo and Marantz, but you’re looking at somewhere between $800 and $1500 to pick that up (off the top of my head).
Onkyo, Marantz, Denon, Harmon Kardon, Yamaha, or even NAD are the brands I would stay within. Stay away from the poofter stuff cough(sony), cough(JVC), cough(pioneer - yes even the elite).
My sister has a Western Digital device that she plugs a 2 TB USB hard drive into and the WD device plugs into the video/audio ports of the receiver, works somewhat like a satellite tuner but only with the stuff you have on the hard drive; it plays music, video/movie files and the like. You wouldn’t necessarily have to have your PC hooked up to play your media, just take the USB drive and download your new files to it every so often.
Check for sales, some of the big box stores will have a once a year huge sale, likely to get rid of last years inventory but a deal is a deal.
High claims, low delivery. Strictly on topic of audio receivers/amplifiers I’m not aware of any true high current audio equipment coming from Sony unless they’ve come up with something in the last while, in the consumer price range of the other ‘preferred’ brands I mentioned. The quality of the D/A A/D converters is also an issue… If I want to hear screech until my ears bleed I can buy a couple of 5 dollar pocket radios and strap them to my ears.
And, I just like good sounding audio.
While I wouldn’t consider Sony for audio equipment, they do make some pretty decent consumer level video cameras.
Just a note about current nomenclature. What used to by called a receiver* or amplifier (or just an amp) are now referred to as a Home Theater A/V Receiver.
*Strictly speaking it’s only a ‘receiver’ if it includes a radio (though 99.8% of them did/do). Otherwise it’s just an amplifier. A receiver/amplifier is just an amp with a built in radio tuner.
To qualify my statements, If I’m going to listen to music, I want it to sound good. I guess there are a lot of people out there these days that listen to ipods, mp3 players, or otherwise compressed audio and most of what I feel about music won’t apply but if I’m listening to music for leisure or pleasure, it god damned better sound good. IMHO, that’s not going to happen with Sony.
I have a stand alone amp (old school Sony Mosfet), two Richter speakers and a Panasonic blueray player connected to my TV. I also have a sub (Richter) for watching telly.
The amp, speakers cost me about $3,000 and the quality and volume is awesome.
Richter is an Aussie brand.
Have a Linn Sondex Turntable that is about 25 years old, inheritance from an old uncle. Could never justify it other wise.
Like above don’t have too much faith in the newer Sony amps but this is an older mosfet and the sound is smooth.
Surround sound is good but not at the expense of my music, so that’s why I don’t have it.
It also has extra speaker out puts so I have connected some Bose outdoor speakers to it, great for lounging outside and still good quality.
Also have a small PC that I use for MP3 music, personally don’t listen to it much as the sound is not crash hot. Prefer direct from CD or LP. It is good for playing ripped DVDs etc.
If you still want to listen to vinyl, you’ll need to buy a A/V receiver with a phono jack. They still exist but you have to look. I can’t speak from personal experience but I have friends who’ve complained about the crappy sound quality of USB turntables.
Personally, I’m happy with my Denon A/V receiver that has an ethernet jack and a good DAC. That way I can play lossless FLAC audio files from my media server over the LAN. With this setup you could either stream music directly from your phone or tablet (assuming you have wifi) or hook up a PC or hard drive to act as an audio server.
Heathens! How can you contaminate the music with filthy electricity? Only the pure unfiltered acoustic sounds reproduced on a vintage phonograph is good enough for my sensitive ears.
