Looking for an upgrade in sound and decided

ethan

ethan

ethan

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to purchase a Merantz HD-AMP1 integrated amplifier to connect to my PC and LG C1 which will give me the option to use a subwoofer.

I'm hoping this will lead to an overall improvement in the quality of sound with most reviews indicate an improvement from verified purchasers.

I'm a complete novice/ignoramus when it comes to Hifi but does anybody know if I could link my current Mdac to the Merantz should I not prefer the Dac part of the amp? Thank you.

Edit: I just realised both the Audiolab Mdac I'm currently using and the Merantz use a Sabre ESS dac chipset. Though I am not aware of the model type-hopefully this won't be an issue.
 
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Connect the Analogue Out from the Mdac to the Analogue In on the Marantz. Switching between the Analogue and Digital inputs will allow you to compare the Marantz DAC to the Audiolab.

You don't need a dedicated subwoofer out on your amp in order to be able to use a subwoofer. I'm aware of two subwoofer manufacturers that have "high level" inputs which connect to the left & right speaker terminals on your amp - BK Electronics and REL.

The high level connection is ideal if your mainly listening to music - i.e stereo/2 channel audio - as it receives the same signals that are sent to your speakers. This allows you to blend the sub in with your speakers by fine tuning the cross over control on the sub.

I bought a REL T7/x last year and use both the high level connection to the speaker terminals and the low level sub woofer out on my av receiver. This gives me the best overall performance as the sub woofer out on an av receiver is mainly used for low frequency effects in dolby/dts surround soundtracks and doesnt usually do a great job for music. The controls on the REL allow me to blend both connections so when I'm watching tv/films with good surround sound effects I dial more towards the low level side to increase the impact of effects. When I'm listening to music I dial more towards the high level connection so that the bass frequencies get properly reinforced, at times to the point where the walls are rattling (bliss!!).

A good subwoofer, set up in the right way, can transform the way your system sounds. It did for me and I would recommend getting a home demo to anyone so you can decide for yourself.
 
drichardb said:
Connect the Analogue Out from the Mdac to the Analogue In on the Marantz. Switching between the Analogue and Digital inputs will allow you to compare the Marantz DAC to the Audiolab.

You don't need a dedicated subwoofer out on your amp in order to be able to use a subwoofer. I'm aware of two subwoofer manufacturers that have "high level" inputs which connect to the left & right speaker terminals on your amp - BK Electronics and REL.

The high level connection is ideal if your mainly listening to music - i.e stereo/2 channel audio - as it receives the same signals that are sent to your speakers. This allows you to blend the sub in with your speakers by fine tuning the cross over control on the sub.

I bought a REL T7/x last year and use both the high level connection to the speaker terminals and the low level sub woofer out on my av receiver. This gives me the best overall performance as the sub woofer out on an av receiver is mainly used for low frequency effects in dolby/dts surround soundtracks and doesnt usually do a great job for music. The controls on the REL allow me to blend both connections so when I'm watching tv/films with good surround sound effects I dial more towards the low level side to increase the impact of effects. When I'm listening to music I dial more towards the high level connection so that the bass frequencies get properly reinforced, at times to the point where the walls are rattling (bliss!!).

A good subwoofer, set up in the right way, can transform the way your system sounds. It did for me and I would recommend getting a home demo to anyone so you can decide for yourself.
Click to expand...


If you've followed Rels "advice" in setting up a sub with a AVR, you've done it wrong.

With AVR setup, use bass management, use speakers set to small, typically 80hz.

Do NOT set speakers to large then using high or low level from left/right pre outs or speaker level left/right into sub. Only use low level
 
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ethan said:
to purchase a Merantz HD-AMP1 integrated amplifier to connect to my PC and LG C1 which will give me the option to use a subwoofer.

I'm hoping this will lead to an overall improvement in the quality of sound with most reviews indicate an improvement from verified purchasers.

I'm a complete novice/ignoramus when it comes to Hifi but does anybody know if I could link my current Mdac to the Merantz should I not prefer the Dac part of the amp? Thank you.

Edit: I just realised both the Audiolab Mdac I'm currently using and the Merantz use a Sabre ESS dac chipset. Though I am not aware of the model type-hopefully this won't be an issue.
Click to expand...

With that Marantz you can either use low level or high level. It doesn't make any difference which one you use.
 
hornetstinger said:
If you've followed Rels "advice" in setting up a sub with a AVR, you've done it wrong.

With AVR setup, use bass management, use speakers set to small, typically 80hz.

Do NOT set speakers to large then using high or low level from left/right pre outs or speaker level left/right into sub. Only use low level
Click to expand...

Already got my receiver configured small/80hz cutoff :cool:

High/low level combination is delivering what I wanted so I'll stick with that for now but thanks for the advice.
 
hornetstinger said:
Is this yours?

https://rel.net/uk/shop/powered-subwoofers/serie-tx/t-7x/

£1000 for that? 8" with 10" passive rad and low power 200w? Lol . That won't be great for home theatre way to feeble. And very poor 30hz at -6db.
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Yup thats the one.
20% black Friday deal. No way was I paying full price.

200 watts is enough to shake the walls when I turn it up so plenty loud enough for me, not that I get to turn it up that loud very often. Any more and I think it would overpower the rest of my speakers. If my room and speakers were bigger I probably would have looked at something else but for now its doing just fine.

Out of inyerest what would you have recommended instead?
 
Something with bigger drivers, more power. Depending on room size. Also dual subs.

Checkout monoprice monolith 10" ported. You could buy two for that and for movies outclass the little rel

Rel will be ok in small room, hifi.
 
As for high and low with avr.

The avr sends pulse to sub via low level and reports back 4m this is correct in actual timing (typically sub delay is greater than actual due to sub plate DSP)

Even at £800 rel is overpriced, I'd pay £300 max.


The avr sends pulse to high level left and right, the speakers are 3m which is correct but the pulse goes to the sub via high level so the speakers and sub play the pulse and they won't be in sync there is no way for the avr to correct this as you've wired it up incorrectly, the avr will then be correcting sub and/or speakers that are not in phase and most likely room eq make it worse.

Check response via your avr if it has it or rew/umik1 with sub on and off how it effects left and right response, also remove high level to sub and plot response.

Even if the sub is physically next to you mains it's likely it won't be same delay. And even if it is the same delay it'll be correctting left and right response which should just be the actual speakers but it's correcting a complete output signal which shouldn't be there (correcting left and right when sub is also playing)

Follow your avr guide on sub setup, not Rel. They're still in the 80's when it comes to subwoofer integration.
 
My room is far to small to accommodate a monster like the monolith let alone two of them. Maybe one day I'll have the space to indulge myself in that way but I'll need my inheritance or a lottery win before that's possible ;)

Useful information on room correction for those that need it but wasted on me I'm afraid. The vast majority of my usage is through analogue multi channel inputs with room correction turned off. I much prefer the sound from my PC this way, it just sounds dull and lifeless via digital connection. When I do use my Blu-Ray player for streaming or spinning disc's I roll off the high level, like I said in my reply to the OP, for the reasons you give.

Ultimately my setup gives me the flexibility and control that I was looking for so I'll say it more clearly, I am 100% happy with the REL's capability/performance and don't feel the need to tweak it any further at present. Trust me, it sounds great from where I'm sat and thanks again for the input.
 
drichardb said:
My room is far to small to accommodate a monster like the monolith let alone two of them. Maybe one day I'll have the space to indulge myself in that way but I'll need my inheritance or a lottery win before that's possible ;)

Useful information on room correction for those that need it but wasted on me I'm afraid. The vast majority of my usage is through analogue multi channel inputs with room correction turned off. I much prefer the sound from my PC this way, it just sounds dull and lifeless via digital connection. When I do use my Blu-Ray player for streaming or spinning disc's I roll off the high level, like I said in my reply to the OP, for the reasons you give.

Ultimately my setup gives me the flexibility and control that I was looking for so I'll say it more clearly, I am 100% happy with the REL's capability/performance and don't feel the need to tweak it any further at present. Trust me, it sounds great from where I'm sat and thanks again for the input.
Click to expand...

How about two of these

https://www.monoprice.com/product?p_id=38543

Or these
https://www.monoprice.com/product?p_id=42031
 
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