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  1. #1
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    Thoughts on home theater

    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.

  2. #2
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    i would be very interested in hearing how your tube amp fared in h/t mode,i have been interested in trying tube amps to drive my jm labs theater set up.

    thanks
    bill

  3. #3
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    Tubes would be an expensive way to go. The only way I know to get tubes on all 5 channels would be to use monoblocks. And tube maintenance on all those.... The C-J is very musical without having the negative characteristics or stereotypes associated with tubes. The C-J done a better job of making the speakers disappear which I think is a plus for HT but I think I still prefer the faster and heavier impact of solid state for HT. To my ears the tubes and solid state did not mix in a 5.1 set up. Another plus the tubes had is that it made the music part of the soundtrack very lush. It would be interesting to hear tubes on all 5 channels and if you set the speaker settings to "small" and had a sledge hammer sub, it could work maybe with the right tube gear. It's just when listening to gun shots and crashes, do you really want that to sound lush? Then again, the presence tubes give human voices and certain other sounds would be good. I think we are looking at the same pros and cons that tubes and solid state have with music. How's that for straddling the fence?

  4. #4
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    Home Theater magazine in Feb gave a glowing review to a 5 channel tube amp that has a solid state output stage,made by Butler Audio.It is a little expensive for my budget but i would love to hear what it sounds like.Your observations make much sense,but my system is in a somewhat small room and volumn levels are usually well below ear splitting,and i do have a good sub,so i think it might work well.only one way to find out.

    thanks
    bill

  5. #5
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    Do you have a link or site to see the Butler amp? I'm actually quasi looking for a 5 channel.

  6. #6
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    butleraudio.com

    looks really interesting.

    bill

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