Potential Setup Advice

Tommy B

Tommy B

Tommy B

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Will this work?

X-Fi Sound Card (via Jack) >>>> Amp >>>> Floor Standers
* (Via? )>>>>® 7.1 Logitech Z680s
*
*
DVD Player (via Optical Output)
(Running 5.1 DD or DTS to the the X-fi)

------------------------------------

(OR) can you buy a kickass amp/AV unit that handles everything. So all my speakers would be connected to that, and then perhaps an optical lead inbetween it and the sound card. [SEE BELOW]

In which case...

Xi Fi >>>>>> (Digital) >>>>> AV Reveiver >>>>> 6.1 setup AND floorstanders
DVD Player (Digital) >>>>> AV Receiver etc
 
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Cambridge Audio AZUR 540R
http://www.cambridgeaudio.com/summary.php?PID=1&Title=Azur+540R
540r-rear.jpg


Wouldn't one of these be useful?

Does it double as an AMP?
 
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The CA540R is an excellent AV amp. My flatmate has one and it's nice. Get rid of the Z680's and you'll have a good system. The CA amp can do multichannel audio input so you'll be able to have surround in games as well as a digital cable for DVD.

I'm still not quite sure what you want to do. Do you want to have a hi-fi setup? Do you want a surround sound setup? How much do you have to spend?
 
At present, I want my X-Fi, a damn good AMP and my 2 floorstanders.

In the future, I'll be adding an HDTV TV and a 7.1 setup for it. I basically want it to have full compatability with the PC also. I was thinking of getting a top-of-the-range Creative/Logitech job and either connecting it to the X-fi, or a fancy AV amp that can do EVERYTHING. I'd also want my new TV to use the 2 floorstanders.
 
Leave the PC speakers out, they'll just eat up budget. For gaming and DVD I think you'll need to have both the digital and analogue connections connected up, for reasons of speakers positioning amongst other things.

What does your current setup look like? Include kit and room layout. I basically have my whole room centred around a Dell 2405 with a full hi-fi surround setup. I have an AV amp for surround and a normal stereo amp connected to 'pre outs' to drive my front speakers better. An AV amp will not give as good a sound as a stereo only amp for the same money.
 
If you're just looking for a stereo amp to drive your floorstanders, you want to get looking on ebay. No point in spending £250 for something new when hi-fi gear is so reliable and usually well looked after.

I paid £85 (delivered) for a used Marantz PM66-SE off ebay, which is highly regarded and used to be £270 new when they made them. It was immaculate too with instructions, remote and original box and packaging and not a single mark on it.

Given your plan you obviously are going to need an AV receiver at some point, but you could get a stereo amp for now and sell it on when it's no longer needed, probably getting all your money back.

Don't quite see where the Logitech/Creative stuff comes into this plan. Would that be for your PC after the floorstanders have been moved to your TV?
 
The logitech/creative stuff is a surround sound solution. I can't afford to buy another 2 Hi-Fi speakers to play the "rear" role of the setup, and I don't think many AMPS can drive 2 sets of speakers on 2 different channels simultaneously.

My current setup (as of tomorrow) is simple:

X-fi >>> (Jack > Dual Phono) >>> Kenwood Amp >>> 2xFloorstanders.

My challenge is to somehow fit a 5.1 solution along with a DVD player and an HD TV into this system.

Perhaps this is a bad idea? Maybe I should keep the two systems isolated, bar perhaps having an optical lead from the DVD player to the PC so that I can use my floorstanders as front speakers.

Anyways, the NAD C320BEE AMPLIFIER looks immense.
 
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But wouldn't 2 hi-fi speakers to be the rear speakers be miles cheaper than the top-end creative/logitech sets? PC stuff is nowhere near hi-fi quality.

I think you should be looking at an AV receiver, 2 bookshelf speakers to be the rears, and a centre (leave the sub for later) and forget the stereo amp and PC speakers. Whatever make your floorstanders are, see if the same company do rears (basically just a bookshelf version of the same speaker) and a centre to match.

You'd probably get all that used for £250 with a bit of luck, maybe a bit more if you need stands for the rears. Then you can add a sub later when funds allow. A good AV receiver will connect to everything you have.

As tom says though, 5.1 isn't ideal for music.
 
With the £200 that you would be spending on the logitech/creative system you could make some real improvements to your hi-fi that will far outweigh the benefits of buying a PC surround sound setup.

I'm not sure what make your floorstanders are, but if they're half decent they would benefit from an amp upgrade (if they're not think again). A second hand Cyrus 3 amp can be bought of the bay for between £150 and £200 which would be superior to the NAD amp that you mention.

Saying that though, I'd be looking heavily into a second hand AV amp and rear and centre speakers. As fish said leave the sub til later. £100 should get you a good AV amp second hand. Look for one with 'pre outs'. This will mean that you can use your current stereo kenwood amp to drive your floorstanders producing a much better sound and taking the load off the AV amp so it can concentrate on the centre and rears. Rear speakers don't have to match the fronts at all really, and any cheap pair of bookshelf speakers would do the trick. The centre is more important to match with your front speakers. Choose this carefully. Spending another £75-100 will give you the correct speakers that you need, leaving some money for cables.
 
tom_nieto said:
I'm not sure what make your floorstanders are, but if they're half decent they would benefit from an amp upgrade (if they're not think again). A second hand Cyrus 3 amp can be bought of the bay for between £150 and £200 which would be superior to the NAD amp that you mention
Click to expand...

from my experience the Cyrus 3 amp without the PSX-R psu sounds pretty much on par with the new Nad C320 BEE amp running a decent pair of floorstanders (PMC's), for 180 bux new the nad amp fairs really well to much much more expensive solid state amps, just because of it price it souldnt be underestimated.
 
I'm confused. Is there an AMP/AV Unit that will do 5.1 (ie 6 channels at the same time)

How would that work? Can you buy amps that decode 5.1 from an opitcal lead, or do you need an extra external device to do that?

To simplify, is there an AV Unit/AMP that will connect to my X-fi and do full 5.1?
 
Did you bother to read the spec of the Cambridge Audio receiver?

Hesky, I was under the impression that the cyrus would be cheaper, but it seems I'm wrong. I've read so many arguments for buying the PSX-R or a separate power amp, but I was left totally stuck on the fence and undecided. I don't have the cash to try them both out really, nor do I know anyone with suitable units to borrow to test. So I just decided that my setup sounds pretty good and that I should stick with what I have until I've got the cash for a more serious upgrade.
 
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tom_nieto said:
Did you bother to read the spec of the Cambridge Audio receiver?

Hesky, I was under the impression that the cyrus would be cheaper, but it seems I'm wrong. I've read so many arguments for buying the PSX-R or a separate power amp, but I was left totally stuck on the fence and undecided. I don't have the cash to try them both out really, nor do I know anyone with suitable units to borrow to test. So I just decided that my setup sounds pretty good and that I should stick with what I have until I've got the cash for a more serious upgrade.
Click to expand...

That thing has more controls than a stealth bomber.

I'm not an audio expert by any means, so I've no idea if you can simply plug an opitcal lead to the unit from the X-fi and expect to have 5.1 surround sound ready.
 
AV receivers are both amps and Dolby Digital/DTS decoders, so yes they will decode a 5.1 signal from an digital optical (or coaxial) lead, that's exactly what they're designed to do.

*BUT* and it's a big but, the X-Fi doesn't output 5.1 through it's optical output for anything other than movies. If a film has 5.1 DD, then the X-Fi will pass it on to your receiver, but if you're playing a game with DirectSound surround sound, the X-Fi will only output stereo through the optical output.

So you have to use the tripple analogue outputs on the X-Fi, using three 3.5mm to phono leads, so you need to make sure the receiver can take this input. Most of them can but some of the cheaper non-hi-fi ones (Sony etc) can't.

To be specific, the receiver needs to have seperate phono analogue inputs for all six channels.
 
Fish, why don't I just buy a normal "Home Cinema System" audio kit to go with my TV.

The audio quality I'm getting from my current Hi-Fi speakers is immense (thanks to the X-fi) so why don't I use those for the sole purpose of listening to music on?

I was thinking about this...

- X-fi outputs the 3 jacks to the AV receiver.
- DVD player/TV outputs to AV receiver via whatever.

- My 2 Hi-Fi speakers are connected to the AV receiver's outputs (what are the old fasioned wire Hi-Fi outputs called)
- My home cinema system kit (or whatever I buy) is also connected to the AV receiver.

Is this possible?

With that setup, surely I can use any of the speakers for anything?
Also, I can't seem to find any "Home Cinema Systems" that are just speakers. They all seem to have an integrated DVD player.
 
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hifi.jpg


This is what I'm looking at.

Are you telling me the ONLY reason I need to the AV receiver is because the X-fi can't output a 5.1 digital signal to Home Cinema System via Digital Optical. If it did that, then as you can see, the receiver wouldn't be necessary as I could just use Digital Output >>> Optical >>> Home Cinema System. [SHOWN BELOW]

hifi2.jpg


The latter option would save me a LOT, and it would mean I could spend the money on a Sub for the Hi-Fi instead. Is there any gadget that will let me do Option 2 where a 5.1 signal can be sent from the Sound Card to the Home Cinema System via DIGITAL ONLY.
 
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