capaill

really like the idea of the hdmi out. Great if you have music video mixed in with music, and thus can just send it to the TV Styling, while they call it contemporary, looks a bit fuddy duddy, should be a lot sleeker

sorry for the delay in responding , thanks everyone for you tips, I'm leaning towards the sr7008, from accessoris4less, however now the wife tells me the speakers are too big. Arrrgjh! I noticed the CM8's are quite a bit smaller, anyone have any experience with them?, CM9's also seem a bit smaller, but probably out of my budget. Would a pair if bookshelfs be the alternative if she made me get smaller speakers for about the same price as the 683's which was $1500 thanks again capall

what about the ability to play video, would be great to select a ripped concert DVD to play, possibly with video in the case that a concert DVD does not also have a music only DVD version also released.

thanks anyone know if they'll be any improvement in SQ with the 7008, or will the extra 25watts in the 7008 make much diff to music

Thanks guys, I'm using my system for music and movies, want to prioritize music and these options are potentially a stop gap.. If I stay 2ch for music and movies, I'll eventually upgrade to a Rotel Integrated Amp ($1600), and use its optical inputs for video sources' audio (blu ray/DVR) and my TV to switch video sources. If I want 5.1 for movies and 2ch music OR I need HDMI video switching without 5.1 (with 2ch music) I'll have to upgrade to an AV processor/power Amp, (AV proc. is required for HDMI switching) 2 different upgrade paths but both start with an AVR and while it may seem silly to spend $800 on an AVR and try and sell it a year later, I'd probably break even or close to it as these are well discounted and both should be good options for music right now. hence the comparision

any thoughts on the marantz SR5009 vs SR7008 for music, (using sonos spdif inoutand output to B&W 683 speakers) I can get the SR5009 for $500 and the SR7008 for $800 (7008 has slightly more power,XT32 for auto room correction and a nicer front panel)..but I digress thanks

Hi all, I'm considering getting an Integrated amp for my speakers (RA1570 for B&w 683's), but would also like to run my video sources through my speakers as well. Granted the easiest way to do this is with an AVR or AV processor instead of the integrated amp, but I'd rather have a better 2ch system (especially for music), than a mediocre system for both music and movies, as I can't afford a high end AVR. So I'm trying to understand the different audio codecs that come with Blu rays and DVD's to see what audio types I would use into the Integrated Amp, via optical/coax or Analog and see whats the trade off in quality versus audio available via hdmi. Is my following understanding correct LPCM Uncompressed audio at CD quality up to 24 bits at 48khz, up to 8 channels (7.1), transported over coax or optical up to 2 channels, up to 7.1 over hdmi, and over analog up to 7.1 mandatory on all dvd's and blu rays, Would sound the same as Dolby True HD/ DTS Master for 2ch setups if sampled at the same bit rate, however most Dolby TrueHD/DTS master soundracks will be sampled at a much higher bit rate (up to 24 bits at 96khz for 7.1 or 192khz for 5.1) and hence generally will be of greater quality the the available LPCM soundtrack. so effectively LPCM will be CD quality audio over optical/coax or analog vs Hi resolution audio over hdmi Dolby digital and DTS lossy compressed audio up to 5.1, 24 bits at 48khz sampling transported over coax or optical up to 2 channels, up to 5.1 over hdmi, and over analog up to 5.1 mandatory on all dvd's and blu rays, 2ch LPCM (optical/coax/analog) should sound better since this is compressed lossly, correct? Dolby Digital Plus and DTS HD lossy compressed audio up to 7.1, 24 bits at 48khz sampling transported over up to 7.1 over hdmi, and over analog up to 7.1. NO Optical/Toslink transport available optional on all dvd's and blu rays, Increased bit rate over DD,DTA and LPCM. No coax/optical to compare to but a blu ray player with a good DAC (eg oppo), may equal 2ch LPCM, ?? 2ch LPCM (optical/coax/analog) should sound better since this is compressed lossly, correct? Dolby TrueHD, DTS HD MA "Hi Resolution Audio" Lossless, increased bit rate transported only via hdmi up to 14 channels optional on Blu rays How would this compare to 2ch LPCM over coax/optical/analog? How would analog out via a good Blu Ray player DAC compare to 2ch LPCM over coax/optical Any other disadvantages of coax/optical vs analog? Any other disadvantages of 2ch LPCM vs Hi rez via hdmi Thanks all for any corrections/answers/feedback derek

has any research been done to see if this or a similar system could be modified or redesigned to incorporate multi room audio, with the same song being capable of being synced across multiple rooms. Possibly have a master unit, such as this one for main listing area, and a lower spec unit for around the house. Everyone agrees sonos does this really well, but they don't, as most others also don't, do Hirez or allow us to use our playback software and app of choice, such as Jriver/Jremote.

thanks everyone for the suggestions yip, already have the ipad the iKlip look pretty good, I'll check out the other suggestions as well. Any suggestions on cases that double up as a cover and fold back to prop the ipad up at an angle?. My wife uses one of the cases that folds back behind the ipad and allows you to position it up at an angle, but it tends to flop down flat over time.

Hi all, as the title says, I'm looking for an ipad case or dock that would allow me to place the ipad on a desk, slightly tilted upward maybe about 45 degree angle, so you can scroll through your music with having to pick it up. tks derek

well said, except if you have a single sonos unit and you hard wire your ethernet, (vs using wifi), you don't need the bridge.

somewhat correct. sonos is a playback device, just like a computer. It plays both ripped music, downloaded music, and music from streaming services, and all are searchable through their ipad/android app, and from a single app. If you want to play ripped music and music from streaming services from a computer, then you will need 2 apps on your ipad etc. one for local music, and one for spotify, for example. However, sonos won't play Hi Rez, "just" CD quality. You can also use the optical out from the sonos into an external DAC to improve the sound. My thoughts are that using the same device for playback and ripping/management is going to be messy, just depends on your physical layout but I like the set it and forget it moto and dedicated devices. 5yr old laptop is fine if its even using a core2 duo, or even a P4, it will just take a bit longer on the ripping. Management part of it should also be fine. Synology is for storage. Your laptop will 'see' the files on the synology over you home network, and so you can rip locally on the laptop, fix up any meta data, then transfer the files to the synology. Done. Then just point your play back software to the music folder on the synology. Also, best to keep the network wired, rather than via wifi, but not necessary. You just might get some drop outs via wifi, depending on your house and router. You can easily replace the sonos later with what ever 'better' playback device you choose if you want to play Hi Rez. For Cd , the sonos is more than adequate. This can be either a mac mini with or without a quiet and quick SSD drive, or a caps system, or even a better streamer that will play Hi rez. However beware, one of the big advantages of sonos is a very very good app. Other streamers have possibly better sound quality, but their apps are mostly just Ok. It also allows you to play the same song, in sync around you house.

english210, another possible simple solution is the following, but still allows you to upgrade easily and cheaply.... you could use a networked streamer (eg Sonos), get a small 2 bay NAS from say, synology, add 2x 2Tb drives (or now even 4Tb's +), add a sonos for playback into either a DAC or the Yamaha, and then use whatever computer you want to rip and manage your library. (laptop, mac mini, desktop etc). You could keep it even simpler and use a computer instead of the NAS. Either way, the Sonos just works, has a great app and has spotify, pandora, radio etc stations all readily available in their ipad/iphone/android app. The app now returns search results from you local drives and online services, all from a single interface. If you use a computer you will have 2 interfaces, one for local play back (ie Jriver/A+/itunes) and another for streaming services. You can mirror the drives in the NAS for redundancy (not backup), in case one drive fails. IF you need more space, you can either add bigger drives in the future, or combine the drives with Synologys 'raid' software. This basically creates one drive out of both drives, so the 2x2TB, becomes almost 4T single drive as seen by any computer or sonos on the network.You can then setup a USB drive to the NAS as a backup, and sync your files to it. Keep it onsite or remove offsite for the safest backup practice. You can even rotate 2 offsite USB drives.There's loads more streamers, some also do ho rez, but Sonos's app is one of the best. And it allows you do do multi room in the future if you so wish. Just add a sonos to another room with powered speakers or a receiver. Bluesound is an alternative to sonos, which also does mutiroom, and Hi rez. And many other streamers out there that this forum would be able to talk much more informed about than me. synology DS213j $199 WD red drive 2Tb drives $99 sonos connect $350 (no amp) any laptop/deskpop for ripping , management

Hi all, as the question says, do you have all your docs/photos/misc files on the same drive as your music, or keep them separate? I was just thinking that the far greater amount of reads from you music drive might reduce the lifespan of your drives significant vs that from your docs/photos drive which would be read far less.

so with more research, if I'm correct it seems that the optical out of PCM and Dolby Digital differ from the fact that PCM is a lossless format and dolby digital is a lossy format. Using the Optical out and selecting PCM on the TV settings should produce the best available (and lossless) 2 ch audio from a DVD or Blu Ray. So now sure david, why you say the optical outs are crap, am I missing something?