7.1 ch as good as a 2 ch?

[pwrmx24]

If you had the $$ would you buy a seperate 2 CH preamp to listen to stereo seperately form HT or just buy the one 7.1 pre-amp for both HT and stereo?

example: Is the rotel 1070 just as good for listening to 2 ch as the Rotel 1069?

Thanks

[GMichael]

Hi, welcome to AR.

The "if I had the money" statement can go either way.

My 2 main systems are 7.1 and 6.1 systems. If I had a little more money, I would update my cheapish 2 channel system for just music. But if I had a lot more money I would update my 7.1 system to play SACD's as well as HT. The second would cost much more due to the need for so many HQ speakers & amps.

What means more to you? What kind of budget?

[basite]

I'd get a seperate stereo pre, and a seperate stereo power amp.

and most likely seperate stereo speakers, and if money is no object, I would place them in a seperate room, with seperate dedicated power lines...

surround pre's have a processor to do effects & stuff, you don't need them in a stereo pre, so signal routes will be much shorter and cleaner in the stereo pre and poweramp. Thereby the stereo pre will sound better.

Keep them spinning,
Bert.

[Slippers On]

Normally I would have said Stereo system for Stereo and HT for HT, however I am familiar with one unit.The Pioneer VSA-AX10 is a 7.1 HT processor which will do your job. When you want stereo only from your front speakers it switches out all the other processing circuits and engages a direct stereo path using pretty good components. I have heard it driving B&W 801s and it sounds gorgeous. It also got outstanding reviews. (Its baby brother the AX5 I believe does the same job with less Watts.)

I am not familiar with any other HT units.


Slippers On

[sgt bass08]

hi i would say a 7.1 HT amp as you get a lot more buttons to play with a nice choice of sound fields and with a decent HT amp you will get good music sound aswell with a 2 CH amp you miss out on using dvds and computer games wich need the HT amp to play at its best and the good thing aswell with a HT amp is adding up to 2-4 active subwoofers wich is great with 7 speakers in your room

[basite]

hi i would say a 7.1 HT amp as you get a lot more buttons to play with a nice choice of sound fields and with a decent HT amp you will get good music sound

a HT amp has more buttons to play with, which will then rape the sound.

the amount of buttons and channels does not say 'how good' it will sound. A stereo amp has a much simpler circuit, so less things to mess up the sound, so better sound it will give.


HT kills imaging, the real soundstage, the 'live feeling' and thus the emotion, and thus the music.

[sgt bass08]

a HT amp has more buttons to play with, which will then rape the sound.

the amount of buttons and channels does not say 'how good' it will sound. A stereo amp has a much simpler circuit, so less things to mess up the sound, so better sound it will give.


HT kills imaging, the real soundstage, the 'live feeling' and thus the emotion, and thus the music.

yes but with HT amp to use your 7.1 setup u need to change your sound fields if you dont then you will not be able to use your 7 speakers and again with a dvd player hooked up aswell you need to change your sound fields again for DTS etc.... and if you dont wont to play with the sound fields you can switch back to 2CH wich a good HT amp in 2CH mode will play better than some stereo amps .

[basite]

yes but with HT amp to use your 7.1 setup u need to change your sound fields if you dont then you will not be able to use your 7 speakers and again with a dvd player hooked up aswell you need to change your sound fields again for DTS etc.... and if you dont wont to play with the sound fields you can switch back to 2CH wich a good HT amp in 2CH mode will play better than some stereo amps .

no.

even if you switch to stereo, the signal path is so long, and it meets so much components, the signal will change audible. and the sound fields are crap for music. and for movies we use matrix es here, we don't even touch those silly things like the 'rock' effect or so...

[sgt bass08]

no.

even if you switch to stereo, the signal path is so long, and it meets so much components, the signal will change audible. and the sound fields are crap for music. and for movies we use matrix es here, we don't even touch those silly things like the 'rock' effect or so...

man i went to a hi fi shop to have a look at some HT amps and there was some that were 38kg. it needed two guys two lift it that should tell you how much as gone into it .yes i understand some of the sound fields are crap but trust me watch matrix on dts sound on your HT amp and listen to the bullets wizz pass you its pretty kool man.

[basite]

yes i understand some of the sound fields are crap but trust me watch matrix on dts sound on your HT amp and listen to the bullets wizz pass you its pretty kool man.

for movies it is, yes...

for music, stereo is way better.
btw; my stereo integrated weighs 20kg, for 'just' 2 channels, and it puts out a real 100 watts @ 4 ohm

[sgt bass08]

for movies it is, yes...

for music, stereo is way better.
btw; my stereo integrated weighs 20kg, for 'just' 2 channels, and it puts out real 100 watts @ 4 ohm

i wouldnt say way better. there are plenty of HT amps out there that would sound just as good as a stereo amp. the other thing is look in your room or bedroom and look at your equipment like dvd players pcs ipods etc most of them are going to work well with a HT amps. yes 2 CH amps put out good sound but with a HT amp you can just hook up a subwoofer

[basite]

yes 2 CH amps put out good sound but with a HT amp you can just hook up a subwoofer

I can hook up a subwoofer to my integrated too if I want (even 2 subwoofers...)

I just don't need a sub now...

[Luvin Da Blues]

Congrats on your 2000th Post Basite.

[sgt bass08]

I can hook up a subwoofer to my integrated too if I want (even 2 subwoofers...)

I just don't need a sub now...

thats good. but with HT amp i will be doing to different sounds movies and music.

[sgt bass08]

Congrats on your 2000th Post Basite.

thats alot of posts.

[GMichael]

Congrats on your 2000th Post Basite.

Happy 2k Basite. When's the party?

[Feanor]

...

The "if I had the money" statement can go either way.

My 2 main systems are 7.1 and 6.1 systems. If I had a little more money, I would update my cheapish 2 channel system for just music. But if I had a lot more money I would update my 7.1 system to play SACD's as well as HT. The second would cost much more due to the need for so many HQ speakers & amps.

...

Great point, GM.

Mulit-channel brings to music a sense of reality that stereo can't match even from the finest systems. Listen to well-recorded m/c music to understand this. For classical music, m/c brings you from the back of the hall to front orchestra.

My ideal would be a 5.1 pure music system for SACD playback. This system would have no DSP and would necessarily rely on speaker placement to get the sound right. This isn't an easy thing to achieve in a typical, nor overly large, listening room. BTW, there are a few non-DSP six channels preamps out there, e.g. a tube one from Conrad-Johnson, the MET1, (which would be about ideal, but which I won't be getting any time soon) ...
http://www.conradjohnson.com/It_just...-products.html

[E-Stat]

BTW, there are a few non-DSP six channels preamps out there, e.g. a tube one from Conrad-Johnson, (which would be about ideal, but which I won't be getting any time soon) ...

Speaking of which, that is what HP uses with his MC system along with an EMM Labs front end, Krell processor, Edge amps, Maggies all around, and (naturally) Nordost cabling throughout.

rw

[GMichael]

Speaking of which, that is what HP uses with his MC system along with an EMM Labs front end, Krell processor, Edge amps, Maggies all around, and (naturally) Nordost cabling throughout.

rw

A system well worth drolling over.

I believe that Sound labs makes a nice center channel as well. A couple of Majestic 945's, the Marquee center, and a couple of MiniStat's to round out the system must sound incredable.

[basite]

Happy 2k Basite. When's the party?

Hadn't even noticed

well, let's say we'll have a really big newyear party then, shall we

Keep them spinning,
Bert.

[blackraven]

You dont need multichannel to appreciate SACD. The Marantz SA8001 SACDP does 2ch
SACD playback and it sounds awesome.

If you have the money, pick up a B-stock Adcom GFR 700 AV receiver like mine. Lists for $2200 and I bought it for $1199 from www.onecall.com It sounds great as a 2ch receiver. 125wpc 8ohm and 226wpc 4ohm.

[O'Shag]

For Movies, a good processor/receiver is best. Down-mixing movie soundtracks to two-channel can yield good results, but is not as the director intended. Much of the intended content, impact, and context to the movie is lost. The 'silly' soundfields, such as DTS, Dolby Digital etc are essential for correct decoding. Speaking of silly soundfields, the enhanced surround modes such as the Prologic IIx on my Yamaha RX-Z9 do an amazing job of converting two-channel signals to multi-channel. For this to work properly, the center-channel speaker must not too far from level with the left and right front speakers, otherwise the sound is disjointed. A good processor/receiver will serve multi-channel music well also.

If one has a limited budget, and intends to watch movies and listen to multi-channel more than two-channel stereo, then a good quality processor/receiver is the right choice. One always has the option of running a quality two-channel preamp through the processor/receiver's pre outs to improve front channel performance, which can have a dramatic effect on performance even for multi-channel music.

If you listen mostly to two-channel music on the other hand, then the above will inevitably be a compromise. In such case the best performance is to be had from components dedicated to and designed specifically for two-channel media.

I think the main reason why most two-channel folks are reticent about embracing multi-channel as a primary topology, is the prohibitive cost and complexity in building a multi-channel system that uniformly maintains the integrity of their expensive two channel components, especially speakers. They have a good point! And if your into vinyl, there is only two-channel..

Why not have both - thus spake the crazy audio loon who rarely has enough money to buy exactly what he wants, me.