- Joined
- Nov 4, 2021
- Messages
- 34
- Likes
- 25
Hi to all,
Like many of you, probably, I've been wandering through ASR for quite a time without posting, being no engineer nor pure audiophile. Hours and hours of reading , and now i need your advice !
But first of all, I would like to thank all the people around, Amir being the first, obviously. Even if i don't understand everything you guys say (so few women here... but the why is a whole other topic, albeit a very good one imo ), the knowledge and opinions I've found on ASR are priceless. And this, when you dig into the "audiophile world", becomes literal...
Anyway, here is my first (very long) post, so time for a little introduction, some of my requirements and questions :
The expected goals :
- to be able to listen to music from my laptop and iTunes through a wired connection and, sometimes through Airplay
- to be able to listen to music from my iPhone through Airplay
- to be able to watch videos/movies from a TV box, my laptop, a Blu-Ray Player (so at least 3 HDMI inputs + 1 out).
- to be able to listen to music at average level, and, sometimes, to be able to throw a party for 30-40 people
- ease of use
- good looking devices
1. I'm a male, 50, European, white, (sorry, enough), and I'm lucky to have the opportunity to design my own house, so, as you can imagine, there's a lot to think and plan. My future HiFi setup is one of these tasks, and I'm starting from scratch. My budget is 11K € (12K $). It's a very nice budget, but, still, a lot of money (for me), so i don't want to screw this. I said in the title that I'm at "a crossroad" because i soon will have to finalize the setup (at least in the principles, as the construction process will soon begin), and i stand before two different paths: all in one or separate setup.
2. Like some of you, I'm a 50% music/50% video guy (I know, that sucks), and I've decided not to have a dedicated room for HT (see point 4).
3. I'm not an audiophile but consider myself as a "serious" music lover; I'm listening a lot to all kind of music, and the 80.000+ songs of my library are mostly 256 AAC or 320 MP3 (don't smile : they come from an not so ancient time when i digitized my entire cds collection and got ride of it because of lack of space and ease of use; maybe i will one day embark for the "high rez" world, but a lot of albums i got aren't available on streaming platforms, so for now it's a no go. And to be honest, i almost don't hear the differences (I know, THAT sucks big time, maybe because I'm old, or because I've currently a sh***y AVR and 5.1 Bose speakers , but I'm one of those who now believes it depends mostly on the master quality. Ok, poor argument, but...). What I mean is : even if subscribing to a streaming platform, I'll be totally fine with 16/44.1 files.
4. I go very often to theaters, I don't watch TV often (don't have any) but TV shows and sometimes sports from a tv box, movies from laptop or Blu-ray player, all through a video projector. So, on the video side, i don't care of a 15.8.2 solution or whatever new will come; I don't need huge subwoofers for shattering walls blockbusters movies. For this, i consider myself lucky to be able to go to an actual theater. So, a 4.2 setup would be more than enough for me. I will probably start at 2.2 or even 2.1. At the end you could tell me your opinion about that. The sub(s) will be mostly for the musical part (See point 7)
5. I want the Airplay 1.0 feature, as i'm in the Apple ecosystem
6. I'm convinced of the importance of this different parameters, in the following order : Speakers, Room, Amp, Dac, so i plan to adjust my budget accordingly.
7. In October 2021, i went to the Paris Audio Show and fell in love with the Diptyque DP 107. For me, it was an instant feeling of immersive and precise sound, different from all I've already heard. It's quite expensive, but I think it's worth it (see point 9). I've heard them a second time in a store, and I got the same feeling.
8. The Naked Room: as you can see, that's an almost square room (length 6.2m X width 5.8M, not very good ratio) with a big opening towards the kitchen; side walls are brick walls, front and rear are plaster, 4 windows (2 big ones on the rear, but they all will have roller shades), and the wooden slates ceiling has a double slope with a horizontal part in the middle (highest point : 3.6m).
I probably will need a Room Correction Software to get the most of it.
8. Below, the living room with furniture and a dirty simulation of the DP 107: as you can see, we've decided to go the Phantom Center's Way for HT. The screen will be above the opening. Due to the room setup, i will need looooong cables from amp to speakers and subs (around 8 meters); i plan to have them in the concrete slab through a tube, and have them out by a plate "strategically" placed in the wood floor.
9. Pre AV Amps are ridiculously expensive to me, and in budget AV Amps seem to be a little underpowered for my room and my needs, so I think I'll go with the following setup:
Speakers : Diptyque DP107---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------6.500€
AV Amp as Pre Amp : Anthem MRX 540-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------2.000€
*Front & Right output ---> RCA to XLR ---> AMP Boxem ARTHUR PURIFI 4215/E2 with gain setting adjusted ---> Speakers -----------------------1.700€
*Sub(s) output ---> RCA to XLR adaptor ---> XLR cable ---> 2X Monoprice Monolith 10'--------------------------------------------------------------1.200€
Cables: generic, basics -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------400€ ?
Dac USB for wired connection; Lossless/HiRes: MacBook--->USB--->TOPPING D10S DAC --->SPDIF optical--->Anthem MRX 540 --------------------100€
TOTAL ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------11.400€
Overall, I'm quite in budget, but any cheaper suggestion is welcome (but the speakers); I'm not looking for SOTA devices, but very good ones.
Links:
Diptyque DP107 : https://diptyqueaudio.com/en/products/hifi/dp107
Boxem ARTHUR PURIFI 4215/E2 : https://boxem-audio.eu/en/stereo-amplifiers/10-arthur-4215e2.html
Anthem MRX 540 : https://www.anthemav.com/products-current/type=av-receiver/model=mrx-540/page=specs
And at last but not least, questions for you !!!!!
A : Do you see anything f****d up in this setup? (I'm concerned by the rca-xlr connection; what do I loose, if I loose anything, especially regarding the power?)
B : I ruled out an all-in-one solution, e.g an Anthem MRX 740 or Denon AVR-X6700H (both 140W), cause I thought it would be short of power regarding my room size and my requirements. Correct?
C : I ruled out Denon x3700 as pre amp, because it seems all the channels have to be filled to be used indeed like a pre amp: correct?
D : ARC seems a little better than Audyssey : correct?
E : Use of an AVR as a preamp (allowing me to upgrade for Surround Speakers later) or miniDSP SHD+HDMI switch+ Boxem ARTHUR (more or less the same price, but HDMI switch is a pain, and ARC seems a little more friendly than DIRAC) ?
F : One or two subs, for a total budget of 1.200€? I want to cover the 20-25Hz/80-100Hz zone to unload the Arthur and expand the DP 107 Bandwidth. I'm concerned by a long cable connection from the RCA output of the Anthem 540; I don't want wireless connection with sub.
F' : Based on my requirements and profile, do I even need a sub (the speakers are very good down to 40Hz)? Do you think it's really a gamer changer ?
I know there's a lot to unpack, but feel free to comment or help me, any opinion welcome ! Cheers. ASR rules.
Like many of you, probably, I've been wandering through ASR for quite a time without posting, being no engineer nor pure audiophile. Hours and hours of reading , and now i need your advice !
But first of all, I would like to thank all the people around, Amir being the first, obviously. Even if i don't understand everything you guys say (so few women here... but the why is a whole other topic, albeit a very good one imo ), the knowledge and opinions I've found on ASR are priceless. And this, when you dig into the "audiophile world", becomes literal...
Anyway, here is my first (very long) post, so time for a little introduction, some of my requirements and questions :
The expected goals :
- to be able to listen to music from my laptop and iTunes through a wired connection and, sometimes through Airplay
- to be able to listen to music from my iPhone through Airplay
- to be able to watch videos/movies from a TV box, my laptop, a Blu-Ray Player (so at least 3 HDMI inputs + 1 out).
- to be able to listen to music at average level, and, sometimes, to be able to throw a party for 30-40 people
- ease of use
- good looking devices
1. I'm a male, 50, European, white, (sorry, enough), and I'm lucky to have the opportunity to design my own house, so, as you can imagine, there's a lot to think and plan. My future HiFi setup is one of these tasks, and I'm starting from scratch. My budget is 11K € (12K $). It's a very nice budget, but, still, a lot of money (for me), so i don't want to screw this. I said in the title that I'm at "a crossroad" because i soon will have to finalize the setup (at least in the principles, as the construction process will soon begin), and i stand before two different paths: all in one or separate setup.
2. Like some of you, I'm a 50% music/50% video guy (I know, that sucks), and I've decided not to have a dedicated room for HT (see point 4).
3. I'm not an audiophile but consider myself as a "serious" music lover; I'm listening a lot to all kind of music, and the 80.000+ songs of my library are mostly 256 AAC or 320 MP3 (don't smile : they come from an not so ancient time when i digitized my entire cds collection and got ride of it because of lack of space and ease of use; maybe i will one day embark for the "high rez" world, but a lot of albums i got aren't available on streaming platforms, so for now it's a no go. And to be honest, i almost don't hear the differences (I know, THAT sucks big time, maybe because I'm old, or because I've currently a sh***y AVR and 5.1 Bose speakers , but I'm one of those who now believes it depends mostly on the master quality. Ok, poor argument, but...). What I mean is : even if subscribing to a streaming platform, I'll be totally fine with 16/44.1 files.
4. I go very often to theaters, I don't watch TV often (don't have any) but TV shows and sometimes sports from a tv box, movies from laptop or Blu-ray player, all through a video projector. So, on the video side, i don't care of a 15.8.2 solution or whatever new will come; I don't need huge subwoofers for shattering walls blockbusters movies. For this, i consider myself lucky to be able to go to an actual theater. So, a 4.2 setup would be more than enough for me. I will probably start at 2.2 or even 2.1. At the end you could tell me your opinion about that. The sub(s) will be mostly for the musical part (See point 7)
5. I want the Airplay 1.0 feature, as i'm in the Apple ecosystem
6. I'm convinced of the importance of this different parameters, in the following order : Speakers, Room, Amp, Dac, so i plan to adjust my budget accordingly.
7. In October 2021, i went to the Paris Audio Show and fell in love with the Diptyque DP 107. For me, it was an instant feeling of immersive and precise sound, different from all I've already heard. It's quite expensive, but I think it's worth it (see point 9). I've heard them a second time in a store, and I got the same feeling.
8. The Naked Room: as you can see, that's an almost square room (length 6.2m X width 5.8M, not very good ratio) with a big opening towards the kitchen; side walls are brick walls, front and rear are plaster, 4 windows (2 big ones on the rear, but they all will have roller shades), and the wooden slates ceiling has a double slope with a horizontal part in the middle (highest point : 3.6m).
I probably will need a Room Correction Software to get the most of it.
8. Below, the living room with furniture and a dirty simulation of the DP 107: as you can see, we've decided to go the Phantom Center's Way for HT. The screen will be above the opening. Due to the room setup, i will need looooong cables from amp to speakers and subs (around 8 meters); i plan to have them in the concrete slab through a tube, and have them out by a plate "strategically" placed in the wood floor.
9. Pre AV Amps are ridiculously expensive to me, and in budget AV Amps seem to be a little underpowered for my room and my needs, so I think I'll go with the following setup:
Speakers : Diptyque DP107---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------6.500€
AV Amp as Pre Amp : Anthem MRX 540-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------2.000€
*Front & Right output ---> RCA to XLR ---> AMP Boxem ARTHUR PURIFI 4215/E2 with gain setting adjusted ---> Speakers -----------------------1.700€
*Sub(s) output ---> RCA to XLR adaptor ---> XLR cable ---> 2X Monoprice Monolith 10'--------------------------------------------------------------1.200€
Cables: generic, basics -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------400€ ?
Dac USB for wired connection; Lossless/HiRes: MacBook--->USB--->TOPPING D10S DAC --->SPDIF optical--->Anthem MRX 540 --------------------100€
TOTAL ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------11.400€
Overall, I'm quite in budget, but any cheaper suggestion is welcome (but the speakers); I'm not looking for SOTA devices, but very good ones.
Links:
Diptyque DP107 : https://diptyqueaudio.com/en/products/hifi/dp107
Boxem ARTHUR PURIFI 4215/E2 : https://boxem-audio.eu/en/stereo-amplifiers/10-arthur-4215e2.html
Anthem MRX 540 : https://www.anthemav.com/products-current/type=av-receiver/model=mrx-540/page=specs
And at last but not least, questions for you !!!!!
A : Do you see anything f****d up in this setup? (I'm concerned by the rca-xlr connection; what do I loose, if I loose anything, especially regarding the power?)
B : I ruled out an all-in-one solution, e.g an Anthem MRX 740 or Denon AVR-X6700H (both 140W), cause I thought it would be short of power regarding my room size and my requirements. Correct?
C : I ruled out Denon x3700 as pre amp, because it seems all the channels have to be filled to be used indeed like a pre amp: correct?
D : ARC seems a little better than Audyssey : correct?
E : Use of an AVR as a preamp (allowing me to upgrade for Surround Speakers later) or miniDSP SHD+HDMI switch+ Boxem ARTHUR (more or less the same price, but HDMI switch is a pain, and ARC seems a little more friendly than DIRAC) ?
F : One or two subs, for a total budget of 1.200€? I want to cover the 20-25Hz/80-100Hz zone to unload the Arthur and expand the DP 107 Bandwidth. I'm concerned by a long cable connection from the RCA output of the Anthem 540; I don't want wireless connection with sub.
F' : Based on my requirements and profile, do I even need a sub (the speakers are very good down to 40Hz)? Do you think it's really a gamer changer ?
I know there's a lot to unpack, but feel free to comment or help me, any opinion welcome ! Cheers. ASR rules.
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