Can't decide what to do
Discussion
The time has come to make a change to my audio setup and I’m not sure what to do so I’m looking for some help/opinions.
I currently have an old integrated Denon amp (no idea on the model but it’s a big and powerful lump to drive the speakers) driving a pair of old TDL RTL3’s, this is being fed by a Squeezebox (with all the audio on my PC)PS3 for Bluray films and occasionally the Sky HD box if I can be bothered as the amp has no remote and it’s a pain to adjust the volume. I have a 5 year old Panny Plasma and the sound is generally rubbish but for general TV watching I’ve got used to it so I only switch on the hifi for films or the odd program.
There are a few problems I’m trying to address, some you may scoff at, but I’m struggling to work out the best approach.
The Denon amp is showing its age, has the odd crackle now and then and is an ugly beast that was supposed to be a temporary solution several years ago. It really looks out of place where it sits under the TV, has no remote, no optical or digital input. Speaker cables are buried under a wooden floor so no option to relocate the amp elsewhere.
I used to run a Cambridge Audio amp but it couldn’t power the speakers and I managed to blow 2 tweeters through clipping several years ago so picked up the used Denon as it can drive the TDL’s well enough (IIRC it’s 100wpc) The squeezebox allows me to control the volume which is fine for music but no use when watching a film.
The RTL3’s are similarly looking out of place (the house is all white, the Denon and TDL’s are black
) but no complaints about their sound, SWMBO just hates them!
The TV sound is pants, and as the hifi is only 2 channels and the speakers are not directly either side of the TV it’s not the best way to listen to a film or TV but I can live with this.
I’m no audiophile, but on occasion like to get the sound cranked up and feel the music as well as hear, no tinny iPod dock thingy is going to replace the TDL’s, they have good bass but lack a little finesse. I listen to mostly electronic music so like some oommf. Any speaker and amp replacement will have to be done in stages, a couple of hundred pound purchase is no problem but £3/4/500 per item is a bit harder to justify, so will take longer!
A friend suggested some HK soundsticks for the TV and they sound OK, but then I end up with even more clutter, wires and complication, something that won’t help with SWMBO as she already finds the Squeezebox really frustrating as it quite often doesn’t work and something needs a re-boot. I’ve stuck with it for years now and have been looking at separate NAS drives for the PC to keep the files safe and reduce the noise of the PC running all the time (it sits in an office next door/behind where the TV sits)
So after all of that I have been thinking about what to do. I have a couple of options that spring to mind:
AV receiver and new speakers – No point in going for 5.1 or something, I’m not going to start running new cables in the wall as the house was recently redecorated, the position of the TV/Sofa/walls doesn’t lend itself nicely to 5.1 speaker positioning even with wireless speakers (out of budget I expect) I’ve also seen posts where people complain that an AV setup just can’t deliver with music, presumably as the amps just don’t have the power? I guess 3.1 would be OK, anything else is probably impractical.
This option would solve many problems but I guess I need to buy the receiver and speakers together otherwise what I have will be incompatible?
New Receiver and floor standing speakers – I can drop down on power putting an amp into budget if I buy newer speakers. The tricky bit here is I would really like white speakers and a non-black (Silver I assume) amp to be less conspicuous. I’ve only seen one pair of half decent looking white floorstanders at £500 (Q acoustics 2050’s) but this means I keep a decent setup for music and just live with the 2 channel sound for films etc, at least I will get a remote making it more practical for TV watching. Although I’m not sure what sort of amp/receiver I will need to drive speakers like these?
I thought about soundbars as well, does a soundbar fall into the same category as a regular AV receiver for listening to music? A friend has an expensive Bose one that he swears is great, I’ve not heard it but its way out of my budget anyway.
So, what do you think?
I currently have an old integrated Denon amp (no idea on the model but it’s a big and powerful lump to drive the speakers) driving a pair of old TDL RTL3’s, this is being fed by a Squeezebox (with all the audio on my PC)PS3 for Bluray films and occasionally the Sky HD box if I can be bothered as the amp has no remote and it’s a pain to adjust the volume. I have a 5 year old Panny Plasma and the sound is generally rubbish but for general TV watching I’ve got used to it so I only switch on the hifi for films or the odd program.
There are a few problems I’m trying to address, some you may scoff at, but I’m struggling to work out the best approach.
The Denon amp is showing its age, has the odd crackle now and then and is an ugly beast that was supposed to be a temporary solution several years ago. It really looks out of place where it sits under the TV, has no remote, no optical or digital input. Speaker cables are buried under a wooden floor so no option to relocate the amp elsewhere.
I used to run a Cambridge Audio amp but it couldn’t power the speakers and I managed to blow 2 tweeters through clipping several years ago so picked up the used Denon as it can drive the TDL’s well enough (IIRC it’s 100wpc) The squeezebox allows me to control the volume which is fine for music but no use when watching a film.
The RTL3’s are similarly looking out of place (the house is all white, the Denon and TDL’s are black
) but no complaints about their sound, SWMBO just hates them!The TV sound is pants, and as the hifi is only 2 channels and the speakers are not directly either side of the TV it’s not the best way to listen to a film or TV but I can live with this.
I’m no audiophile, but on occasion like to get the sound cranked up and feel the music as well as hear, no tinny iPod dock thingy is going to replace the TDL’s, they have good bass but lack a little finesse. I listen to mostly electronic music so like some oommf. Any speaker and amp replacement will have to be done in stages, a couple of hundred pound purchase is no problem but £3/4/500 per item is a bit harder to justify, so will take longer!
A friend suggested some HK soundsticks for the TV and they sound OK, but then I end up with even more clutter, wires and complication, something that won’t help with SWMBO as she already finds the Squeezebox really frustrating as it quite often doesn’t work and something needs a re-boot. I’ve stuck with it for years now and have been looking at separate NAS drives for the PC to keep the files safe and reduce the noise of the PC running all the time (it sits in an office next door/behind where the TV sits)
So after all of that I have been thinking about what to do. I have a couple of options that spring to mind:
AV receiver and new speakers – No point in going for 5.1 or something, I’m not going to start running new cables in the wall as the house was recently redecorated, the position of the TV/Sofa/walls doesn’t lend itself nicely to 5.1 speaker positioning even with wireless speakers (out of budget I expect) I’ve also seen posts where people complain that an AV setup just can’t deliver with music, presumably as the amps just don’t have the power? I guess 3.1 would be OK, anything else is probably impractical.
This option would solve many problems but I guess I need to buy the receiver and speakers together otherwise what I have will be incompatible?
New Receiver and floor standing speakers – I can drop down on power putting an amp into budget if I buy newer speakers. The tricky bit here is I would really like white speakers and a non-black (Silver I assume) amp to be less conspicuous. I’ve only seen one pair of half decent looking white floorstanders at £500 (Q acoustics 2050’s) but this means I keep a decent setup for music and just live with the 2 channel sound for films etc, at least I will get a remote making it more practical for TV watching. Although I’m not sure what sort of amp/receiver I will need to drive speakers like these?
I thought about soundbars as well, does a soundbar fall into the same category as a regular AV receiver for listening to music? A friend has an expensive Bose one that he swears is great, I’ve not heard it but its way out of my budget anyway.
So, what do you think?
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