Bought Denon 2105 on Spec, Fiber Optics Question

[N. Abstentia]

You may be totally right. I relied on the salesman at the store and as I heard the system on that DVD player so I went with it.

The problem I'm beginning to perceive, is that maybe there is no universal right and wrong answers in regards to (some) audio matters & people hear things differently. For instance, Lensman & some other people seem to feel that for digital connections, its not really the DVD player that's affecting the sound but the receiver, a salesman at Shelly's a very high end store in LA says the opposite, you don't like Denon DVD players, etc., God I'm going mad!

Well, Lensman is right..when you're using a digital connection you're bypassing the DAC's in your player and you are relying completely on your receiver to do the decoding.

[kexodusc]

Hershon: It's clear to me you are looking to upgrade your system....why not upgrade the one area you can be sure will make a huge difference...SPEAKERS...If you can buy a $200 cable and a DVD player and a receiver, it sounds to me like you should have no problem at all buying speakers that suit you.
I'm sure the Orbs are fine, but to me, buying cables and players and receivers to improve a system's sound is the least effective way to do it. Live with what you've got or make a meaningful upgrade.

[markw]

Hershon: It's clear to me you are looking to upgrade your system....why not upgrade the one area you can be sure will make a huge difference...SPEAKERS...If you can buy a $200 cable and a DVD player and a receiver, it sounds to me like you should have no problem at all buying speakers that suit you.
I'm sure the Orbs are fine, but to me, buying cables and players and receivers to improve a system's sound is the least effective way to do it. Live with what you've got or make a meaningful upgrade.

He doesn't want to hear this. Trust me...

Denon Receivers 1905, 2105, 2805 Further questions

[hershon]

He doesn't want to hear this. Trust me...

Denon Receivers 1905, 2105, 2805 Further questions

Again, all I can say is, if you in fact heard Orb Audio speakers and weren't impressed with them, then I welcome your comments telling me that to improve my sound, I need to replace them & then the rest of my sound system. I don't have a problem with that.

But it appears that you haven't actually heard the Orb speakers and therefore can't relate to why I love the sound of them and have no desire to replace them as the mainstay of my system.

[hershon]

Hershon: It's clear to me you are looking to upgrade your system....why not upgrade the one area you can be sure will make a huge difference...SPEAKERS...If you can buy a $200 cable and a DVD player and a receiver, it sounds to me like you should have no problem at all buying speakers that suit you.
I'm sure the Orbs are fine, but to me, buying cables and players and receivers to improve a system's sound is the least effective way to do it. Live with what you've got or make a meaningful upgrade.

The thing is I love the sound of my Orb Speakers. Have you ever listened to Orb? If so, and you'd still make the suggestion, fine. But if you haven't, you wouldn't understand why I'm in love with them.

[kexodusc]

The thing is I love the sound of my Orb Speakers. Have you ever listened to Orb? If so, and you'd still make the suggestion, fine. But if you haven't, you wouldn't understand why I'm in love with them.

Let me ask you now, how can you be sure what you hear (or what you don't hear but want to hear) is not the cause of your speakers? You love your speakers but you want to improve your sound. You feel something is lacking. You've tried other components with no success. Are your ears capable of assigning every attribute in a system to each individual component? Doubtful.

Try to understand that nobody is attacking you personally. Your speakers are fine. I'm not bashing them. I like Orb, but that's not the point here. There comes a time when you have to learn to accept criticism when it is offered constructively.

You've tried several upgrade options, and to date you always seem to come back to where you started. Fine. Every speaker is limited, it's possible the Orb's are a fantastic value, but your tastes have just outgrown them. This happens to everyone sooner or later. Maybe there's another higher model of Orb's out there for you?

To date you've replaced several other components and keep arriving at the same conclusion. Why not at least try the one component you are avoiding? When you start dropping $80 on isolation pads or $200 on a digital cable to fine tune your system, well, it's hard not to interpret this as patch work. What level of performance are you trying to achieve? How much are you willing to spend?

A person doesn't need to have heard your speakers to politely suggest that when you start replacing every other component in your system in an attempt to improve performance, well, maybe you're going about it the wrong way. Speakers influence sound more than everyother component put together. Sounds like the cheapest, most efficient way to upgrade to me.

As a good friend of mine recently reminded me, do you know what the definition of insanity is? Repeating the same process over and over and expecting different results.
You don't want to fall into that trap.

Just trying to help. You can't deny it's alot easier to upgrade one are of your system all at once than trying to mix and match a dozen others...

Maybe you should start a poll, and see what others think. It's very possible to like your speakers, but like another pair of speakers even more.

It's your money...

[hershon]

Even though it may seem that I am personally insulted by criticism, I'm not & welcome it if it will help me improve things, I just get a little bit upset when a person makes criticism like they're the definitive end all be all, without giving the impression they've actually heard the system they're criticising.

In my case, my problem is I'm greedy and always wanting more if I can afford it & never just happy with what I have. I'm very content with my sound system, but when I read posts on this board praising other systems so elaborately, I admit I''m curious & when I see more than one person saying the same thing, I think maybe they've got something there. Based on another audio website's forum, that's how I got into Orb Audio. From a psychological/technical point of view, there is no way I can rationalize/comprehend that for my ears I get the best sound from a $250- $450 500 watts DVD receiver, with my speaker set up, than name, Rolls Royce type receivers costing a huge amount more, yet they do. I keep thinking there must be another sound threshold that I haven't reached & will keep trying, yet I can't seem to find it. Maybe it doesn't exist in the first place.

Let me ask you now, how can you be sure what you hear (or what you don't hear but want to hear) is not the cause of your speakers? You love your speakers but you want to improve your sound. You feel something is lacking. You've tried other components with no success. Are your ears capable of assigning every attribute in a system to each individual component? Doubtful.

Try to understand that nobody is attacking you personally. Your speakers are fine. I'm not bashing them. I like Orb, but that's not the point here. There comes a time when you have to learn to accept criticism when it is offered constructively.

You've tried several upgrade options, and to date you always seem to come back to where you started. Fine. Every speaker is limited, it's possible the Orb's are a fantastic value, but your tastes have just outgrown them. This happens to everyone sooner or later. Maybe there's another higher model of Orb's out there for you?

To date you've replaced several other components and keep arriving at the same conclusion. Why not at least try the one component you are avoiding? When you start dropping $80 on isolation pads or $200 on a digital cable to fine tune your system, well, it's hard not to interpret this as patch work. What level of performance are you trying to achieve? How much are you willing to spend?

A person doesn't need to have heard your speakers to politely suggest that when you start replacing every other component in your system in an attempt to improve performance, well, maybe you're going about it the wrong way. Speakers influence sound more than everyother component put together. Sounds like the cheapest, most efficient way to upgrade to me.

As a good friend of mine recently reminded me, do you know what the definition of insanity is? Repeating the same process over and over and expecting different results.
You don't want to fall into that trap.

Just trying to help. You can't deny it's alot easier to upgrade one are of your system all at once than trying to mix and match a dozen others...

Maybe you should start a poll, and see what others think. It's very possible to like your speakers, but like another pair of speakers even more.

It's your money...

[kexodusc]

Even though it may seem that I am personally insulted by criticism, I'm not & welcome it if it will help me improve things, I just get a little bit upset when a person makes criticism like they're the definitive end all be all, without giving the impression they've actually heard the system they're criticising.

There's nothing wrong with wanting more...you're only human. But I don't see where anyone attacked you maliciously. Only reasonable suggestions from experienced people.
Does this mean you'll take a shot at upgrading your speakers now? Or will you just be content with what you have?

[hershon]

Unless one day, I magically encounter a system where I'm in love at first hearing with a sound system that I could duplicate myself & had the money for, I'm going to stick with my Orb Speakers as the foundation to my sound. I have yet to hear a system in any of the high end stores I visited in LA such as Ken Crane's and Shelly's, that the sound on their very expensive name systems/speakers, was better than my Orb Mod 1 system with a JVC DVD RX DV31SL receiver for rock/blues music. Also note that I live in an apartment and my sound system is in my normal sized carpeted living room, so for my ears the volume/power is more than enough.

One thing I recommend is, if someone is looking for a great second system under $1500, to try the Orb Mod 1 Set Up (5 satellites and a sub) & this specific JVC receiver. Orb has a 30 day return policy so you're losing nothing & the receiver is easy to resell for close to
your purchase price (Orb will also sell you that receiver at retail- I'm not sure if the 30 day return policy applies to that) & see for yourself.

There's nothing wrong with wanting more...you're only human. But I don't see where anyone attacked you maliciously. Only reasonable suggestions from experienced people.
Does this mean you'll take a shot at upgrading your speakers now? Or will you just be content with what you have?