Professional Amp vs Home Theater Amp ??

Hi

Im new to this forum,

My question is this. Before i start let me introduce myself real quick.

Years ago, i was doing like everybody. I was listening to music on a gettoblaster... yep, the old days. I was young and not very rich so the gettoblaster was pretty much it for me. :cornut:

As i grew up and i got my first stereo system, you know those kit that have ( tape deck + equalizer + amp + turn table all in one ?) .

Many years later (maybe 8), i made some money and bought a 1000 bucks Home Theater surround prologic amp and a pair of speakers.
The home theater amp was a pioneer (can't remember the model). It my first big purchase i ever made.
Watching movies was really great, first experience of surround sound.
But listening to music however was a pain. Despite that the receiver had all kind of features : Jazz, Accoustic, Theater, Dance floor, stereo mode etc.... Listening to music in surround mode sound wasn't right.... not something i enjoyed to be honnest.
I don't know, there was just something wrong with the sound.. For years i though it was the adaptation curve that i will get used to it or something.

Few sounds were missing when listening to music. Listening to a band was just weird. If there was a guitar it was playing on the left speaker, the singer coming out from the center speaker, the drummer was in the right speaker, it was like each music instrument had its own speaker... know what i mean. :23:
Even the Stereo mode was wrong, If a Singer was playing (let say guitar) his voice was coming from the left speaker while his guitar was coming from the right speaker...

After several years (like maybe 6 yrs) of listening to surround crap, i had enough and decided to dump the home theater setup and to go back to Stereo Amp like the old days.
So i went to a DJ store and bought a QSC professionnal Amp, with a Gemini mixer.

After hooking up everything i was just amazed by the sound quality. Sure, movies aren't surround sound anymore but the music is definately more natural and more real in true stereo.

With this kind of setup, the music give you the impression that you're in a club, lounge or somekind of bistro place. The singer and his instrument now come out from a single invisible point in space. (even if its stereo). That something my prologic amp coud not reproduce with all the features it had.

Maybe it's just me, but i find Professionnal Amp to provide a more natural sounding than my Prologic Amp was providing.

Maybe my prologic amp was badly configured, i don't know.. All i know is that my Stereo QSC Amp is giving me a better sound now.... the difference is so obvious.
Since then i started to think that professional amps are better than those home theater amps.

So for the last 5 years i've been using my QSC Amp for pretty much everything. Movies, Music, computer games, everything.
The only downside is that professional Amps are somehow noisy when you turn them on. I beleive the noise is caused by those small cooler fans inside. If you turn the volume down, you can hear the fans rolling inside... if you put your face near the Amp you can even dry your hair.

Unfortunately those professional Amp are stereo, which mean they have those primitive input/output jacks in the back.

With modern TV and game consoles, it is kinda tricky if not impossible to use those professional Amp.

My game console use HDMI output and so is my TV.
And if i want to watch high definition TV or play video games in high resolution i have to use the HDMI inputs. That means i can't use my QSC Amp to output sound..

Does it mean i will soon have to go back to Surround system ???

My question is this. how good are home theater Amp nowadays ? are they as good as professional amp setup?

Should i stick with Pro Amp setup or should i move back to Home Amp again ?

I don't want to install any additional speakers... I will stick with 2 main speakers. Can modern Home Theater play music in stereo without losing or displacing the soundtracks ?

In other words, Pro Amp vs Home Amp... what do you think is best and why ?


Thanks much

Hi, glad to hear from you here at AR.

I'm probably less expert than some here, but I'll respond with what I know and likely others will fill in the gaps. If the only issue is that your game console is HDMI, let me ask: does it also have stereo outputs via RCA outlets? If so the obvious question is why not connect the console (and/or DVD player) HDMI directly to the TV and RCA outlets to the sound system? If the TV has only one HDMI input, then there is likely a separate, multi-input selector available somewhere for much less than the price of a receiver/prepro.

On the subject of multi-channel sound, Dolby Prologic is a largely obsolete, non-discrete multichannel synthesis process that works from a relevantly encoded stereo signal. The new Prologic II is the same idea but works much better. Much better still are the discrete multi-channel processes, Dolby Digital and DTS and the newer, extended versions of these systems. Discrete digital M/C is huge advance in realism not only for cinema and games, but also for high-end audio delivered in the SACD and DVD-A formats. (Of course, to achieve these results, you must setup your equipment properly.)

On the subject of amplifier quality, it's no surprise that your QSC amp sounds better than a low-cost receiver, however higher quality receivers, including multichannel ones, will narrow or close that gap. Or a strong option for you might be a medium priced, M/C receiver with "pre out" connections to driver at least the front channels via your QSC; (most of these will need RCA/XLR Male hybrid cables to connect the amp: you can get these from Markertek).

A higher end option for you would an M/C preamp/processor with both HDMI and balanced outputs for all channles that can drive a set of professional amps.

welcome to AR, at first.

IMO, surround receivers and stereo sound just don't go together, stereo amps for stereo sound and surround amps for surround sound, but, the game console you are using (which i assume is an xbox 360 should have rca stereo outputs on the rear, and if it doesn't it should have a stereo mini jack, and if that isn't the case (very unlikely) then your tv could still have stereo rca connectors on the back(/side)

your qsc amp will sound better then a low cost surround receivers, (those 5k mcintoshes and stuff will most likely sound way better) but a decent pre+power amp (high end stuff, not 'professional' stuff) like a rotel or so will sound better than your qsc. a decent preamp is the way to start now.


Greetings,
Bert.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by basite

welcome to AR, at first.

IMO, surround receivers and stereo sound just don't go together, stereo amps for stereo sound and surround amps for surround sound, but, the game console you are using (which i assume is an xbox 360 should have rca stereo outputs on the rear, and if it doesn't it should have a stereo mini jack, and if that isn't the case (very unlikely) then your tv could still have stereo rca connectors on the back(/side)

your qsc amp will sound better then a low cost surround receivers, (those 5k mcintoshes and stuff will most likely sound way better) but a decent pre+power amp (high end stuff, not 'professional' stuff) like a rotel or so will sound better than your qsc. a decent preamp is the way to start now.


Greetings,
Bert.

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I agree with Basite on this one...

Don't go back to a surround receiver unless you actually want surround sound... for the same price you can always get a dedicated 2 channel amp/pre-amp combo or integrated amp that will be much better for listening to music...

If you are happy with your pro amp, then stick with it and just try and find the RCA connectors on your game console/tv and hook them to your pro equipment...


And.... Welcome to AR!