Whiskeyjack
New member
Hi Guys,
I am new to the forum. This will be my first post.
I am currently in the process of slowly upgrading most of my A/V setup. The bug really began to bite, once I decided to step into the world of vinyl. I have always been a big music fan and have a big digital library (CD / mp3). Any way - my current setup in short is as follow:
(1) New Pro-ject Xpression 3 hooked to my dad's old vintage Sansui 1000a receiver and Akai 120SW speakers. (Both excellently restored for me by Bill van Zyl)
(2) 6-7 year old 37" Sansui LCD (only one HDMI not USB) with 6-7 Sony AV Receiver ST 885 (2/1 hdmi passthrough only) and bundled speakers (6.1 system), Xbox and DSTV HD PVR. Because of the limitation of the HDMI on the TV and AV Receiver I actually need to physically exchange cables. (yes, I know you get HDMI switches).
Priorities:
- I am happy with the Sony for movies and gaming.
- I would like to play all my music through the Sansui/Akai setup. (I already tried the cheap stereo cable solution and it stinks - very soft sound. I only tried aux1 / aux 2 but not the tape in lines)
- I know I will benefit from upgrading the home theater bundled speakers (or even just going with a pair of decent speakers for a stereo setup) - but would kinda like to work with vintage stuff I got in the speaker department.
- I stay in a townhouse complex - so space and noise levels are a consideration - I don't need extra volume.
- I would like a solution to stream FLAC. I see my future library growing mostly in terms of vinyl and FLAC downloads.
Budget under 10k (and hopefully even be able to squeeze a 40" 1080p TV upgrade into it - but I can wait a bit on the TV front)
Options/Questions:
Initially, my first impulse was just to upgrade the receiver and TV. But, with a 4-6K receiver - I am still stuck playing through the sony speakers and missing the warm sound of the Sansui/Akai combination.
So:
(1) What is the best way of integrating digital into my Sansui setup?
- An ipod dock is probably the cheapest solution. I would not be able to bypass the ipod DAC and would not be able to play FLAC files on the system. Something like the Cambridge ID50 at 2.5K or if I must bypass the DAC (which doesn't help going into the Sansui) the ID100 dock.
http://www.cambridgeaudio.com/products/id50-premium-docking-station
http://www.cambridgeaudio.com/products/id100-digital-dock-for-ipad-iphone
- I could go for a DAC. That solves a lot of my problems and I could also plug in a flac and CD source (PC or Xbox). However, they also seem to be in the 4k range for a basic dac unit like the Cambrigde Magic 100. It still wouldn't bypass the ipod DAC, but this is not really a problem if I hook it up with another source (Xbox/PC) that streams the music. If I understand correctly, I am going to need a SPDIF/optical digital connection to stream at the best rate (of course depending on recording quality) and will downscale a bit if I use the USB. (Xbox got the optical link and PC SPDIF out)
I am leaning in this direction!
http://www.cambridgeaudio.com/products/dacmagic-100-digital-to-analogue-converter
- I could go for a mini-system or network streamer.
http://www.cambridgeaudio.com/products/np30-network-music-player
http://www.eu.onkyo.com/en/products/cr-n755-90333.html
These options look really nice. Both have decent DAC in them and should be able to hook up through their phono outs to my vintage amp? It also adds a few extra functions vs the pure dac solution. I really like the N755 and the idea of having it as a backup system or second system eventually. I could however wait and see what the new PS4/Xbox one can do and use those as streaming centres with the external dac for music.
These options are really tempting...
- Could get a good CD player with a good DAC and direct usb connection. 4-5K.
- Similar to the network players/mini systems (decent DAC/phon out) - but I have get a decent CD player for my older CD collection (not crucial since I can always rip the stuff).
*So whatever solution I choose here would probably mean upgrading the TV to at least 2 HDMI ports and still using the old Sony AVR for surround sound/TV, but just relying on the optical and non-HDMI HD digital inputs. (As I do currently). Adding a PS4/Xbox One in the future will also give me a lot of streaming options.
(2) Upgrade to a "decent" 5-6K AV receiver. It will have streaming abilities that I can use if I need to and fix the HDMI issues. Its DAC will probably be ok and I can through the phono outs feed it into the Sansui system if I want. Although I am not sure how this will effect quality or if it will work?
So, very long story short - what would be the best bang for my buck - option 1 or two? If (1) which is the best route - DAC, streamer/mini, CD or dock...
I am new to the forum. This will be my first post.
I am currently in the process of slowly upgrading most of my A/V setup. The bug really began to bite, once I decided to step into the world of vinyl. I have always been a big music fan and have a big digital library (CD / mp3). Any way - my current setup in short is as follow:
(1) New Pro-ject Xpression 3 hooked to my dad's old vintage Sansui 1000a receiver and Akai 120SW speakers. (Both excellently restored for me by Bill van Zyl)
(2) 6-7 year old 37" Sansui LCD (only one HDMI not USB) with 6-7 Sony AV Receiver ST 885 (2/1 hdmi passthrough only) and bundled speakers (6.1 system), Xbox and DSTV HD PVR. Because of the limitation of the HDMI on the TV and AV Receiver I actually need to physically exchange cables. (yes, I know you get HDMI switches).
Priorities:
- I am happy with the Sony for movies and gaming.
- I would like to play all my music through the Sansui/Akai setup. (I already tried the cheap stereo cable solution and it stinks - very soft sound. I only tried aux1 / aux 2 but not the tape in lines)
- I know I will benefit from upgrading the home theater bundled speakers (or even just going with a pair of decent speakers for a stereo setup) - but would kinda like to work with vintage stuff I got in the speaker department.
- I stay in a townhouse complex - so space and noise levels are a consideration - I don't need extra volume.
- I would like a solution to stream FLAC. I see my future library growing mostly in terms of vinyl and FLAC downloads.
Budget under 10k (and hopefully even be able to squeeze a 40" 1080p TV upgrade into it - but I can wait a bit on the TV front)
Options/Questions:
Initially, my first impulse was just to upgrade the receiver and TV. But, with a 4-6K receiver - I am still stuck playing through the sony speakers and missing the warm sound of the Sansui/Akai combination.
So:
(1) What is the best way of integrating digital into my Sansui setup?
- An ipod dock is probably the cheapest solution. I would not be able to bypass the ipod DAC and would not be able to play FLAC files on the system. Something like the Cambridge ID50 at 2.5K or if I must bypass the DAC (which doesn't help going into the Sansui) the ID100 dock.
http://www.cambridgeaudio.com/products/id50-premium-docking-station
http://www.cambridgeaudio.com/products/id100-digital-dock-for-ipad-iphone
- I could go for a DAC. That solves a lot of my problems and I could also plug in a flac and CD source (PC or Xbox). However, they also seem to be in the 4k range for a basic dac unit like the Cambrigde Magic 100. It still wouldn't bypass the ipod DAC, but this is not really a problem if I hook it up with another source (Xbox/PC) that streams the music. If I understand correctly, I am going to need a SPDIF/optical digital connection to stream at the best rate (of course depending on recording quality) and will downscale a bit if I use the USB. (Xbox got the optical link and PC SPDIF out)
I am leaning in this direction!
http://www.cambridgeaudio.com/products/dacmagic-100-digital-to-analogue-converter
- I could go for a mini-system or network streamer.
http://www.cambridgeaudio.com/products/np30-network-music-player
http://www.eu.onkyo.com/en/products/cr-n755-90333.html
These options look really nice. Both have decent DAC in them and should be able to hook up through their phono outs to my vintage amp? It also adds a few extra functions vs the pure dac solution. I really like the N755 and the idea of having it as a backup system or second system eventually. I could however wait and see what the new PS4/Xbox one can do and use those as streaming centres with the external dac for music.
These options are really tempting...
- Could get a good CD player with a good DAC and direct usb connection. 4-5K.
- Similar to the network players/mini systems (decent DAC/phon out) - but I have get a decent CD player for my older CD collection (not crucial since I can always rip the stuff).
*So whatever solution I choose here would probably mean upgrading the TV to at least 2 HDMI ports and still using the old Sony AVR for surround sound/TV, but just relying on the optical and non-HDMI HD digital inputs. (As I do currently). Adding a PS4/Xbox One in the future will also give me a lot of streaming options.
(2) Upgrade to a "decent" 5-6K AV receiver. It will have streaming abilities that I can use if I need to and fix the HDMI issues. Its DAC will probably be ok and I can through the phono outs feed it into the Sansui system if I want. Although I am not sure how this will effect quality or if it will work?
So, very long story short - what would be the best bang for my buck - option 1 or two? If (1) which is the best route - DAC, streamer/mini, CD or dock...
