Mr Peabody
03-17-2006, 08:05 PM
As my HT system has evolved I have found the basic principles of HT are so very true. You should have voice/timbre matched speakers and matching amplification for optimum performance. The operative word here is "optimum". The world will not come to an end if you are mismatched but my experience is that you can definitely hear the difference when things match.
I started with Krell amp on the mains and Arcam FMJ driving center and rears. I had Dynaudio Contour mains and Audience center and rears. The set up sounded great to me. I upgraded to the same Contour series center and realized a big improvement in coherency or seamlessness between front imaging. I thought the Krell and Arcam matched great, they had some what similar sonic signatures, wide frequency response, quick and detailed. I recently switched to Conrad Johnson tube gear for my two channel portion. I had my systems tied together through my Krell's preamp. However, when tieing the HT through the C-J, to my ears the tube and SS mixed like oil and water. The C-J does a much better job of making the speakers disappear amongst other sonic differences which we will leave for another day. So I then separated my 2 channel and HT putting the 3 channel Arcam along the front and moving an Adcom from a 2nd system to the rears. I was amazed at how good the 3 matching channels of amplification sounded on the matching speakers. The Krell naturally sounded better than the Arcam but the coherency I heard when everything matched had never been experienced there before. This has prompted me to keep my eye out for a good 5 channel amp although I may draw the line there, Contours for the rear could be more costly than I want to go.
So those with a receiver and all matching speakers may have a special something in that set up we all need. And I have to wonder if the craze of adding a power amp to the mains is a good thing. It may be for 2 channel but for HT it's not. So think which is your primary interest before jumping.
I started with Krell amp on the mains and Arcam FMJ driving center and rears. I had Dynaudio Contour mains and Audience center and rears. The set up sounded great to me. I upgraded to the same Contour series center and realized a big improvement in coherency or seamlessness between front imaging. I thought the Krell and Arcam matched great, they had some what similar sonic signatures, wide frequency response, quick and detailed. I recently switched to Conrad Johnson tube gear for my two channel portion. I had my systems tied together through my Krell's preamp. However, when tieing the HT through the C-J, to my ears the tube and SS mixed like oil and water. The C-J does a much better job of making the speakers disappear amongst other sonic differences which we will leave for another day. So I then separated my 2 channel and HT putting the 3 channel Arcam along the front and moving an Adcom from a 2nd system to the rears. I was amazed at how good the 3 matching channels of amplification sounded on the matching speakers. The Krell naturally sounded better than the Arcam but the coherency I heard when everything matched had never been experienced there before. This has prompted me to keep my eye out for a good 5 channel amp although I may draw the line there, Contours for the rear could be more costly than I want to go.
So those with a receiver and all matching speakers may have a special something in that set up we all need. And I have to wonder if the craze of adding a power amp to the mains is a good thing. It may be for 2 channel but for HT it's not. So think which is your primary interest before jumping.