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Est-ce que vous voyez ceci? http://images.klipsch.com/Stadium_-_Manual_635186367104516000.pdf

Interested in your feedback because I am in the same boat. I have a 17 year old Yamaha AVR that I use as a pre-amp for HT only. It just won't die although I do think it is starting to go now finally. Anthem is interesting not only because of ARC but because it is one of the few AVR manufacturers that offers a true analog signal path with their 'analog direct' mode. However, in their FAQ, they basically say it's not really needed because analog-digital-analog conversion is transparent and offers all the benefits of ARC, bass management, and signal processing.

Agreed. The internet (aka the cloud) and your computer would not work if lossless compression did not return bit-perfect results. Almost everything you access on the internet (Amazon, bank statements, brokerage accounts, Apple, utility companies, this website) is stored on devices that use lossless compression. Google even invented their own lossless compression method and made it open-source - see Google Snappy. The only resource lossless compression requires is CPU horsepower which is plentiful in modern computers. For long term archiving, choose whatever lossless format is most convenient for your needs - ALAC, FLAC doesn't matter - and don't lose any sleep over it.

Use the main-out on the 6450 to send the full range signal to the sub, then dial in the low-pass filter frequency on the sub to blend well with the speakers. maybe somewhere around 60hz.

Sounds complicated. At this price point, I would sell the 8100 and use the proceeds to get a Japanese AVR with all the current features and power you need. They tend to get all the specs, standards, and HDMI switching right. This interoperability, along with updated SQ features and a simpler audio path, are more than enough to overcome any minute SQ advantage the 8100 amp section may or may not have over the one native to the Japanese AVR.

Give it a little time. I'm still messing with metadata, genres, tags etc. Roon syncs with in my iTunes content plus another "hi-res" folder containing music downloaded or created outside of iTunes. Both of these sources are on a NAS device. I also had Roon import my iTunes playlists. Roon's powerful meta-data features - Focus, genres, radio, play-similar, favorites, tags etc - have really opened up musical possibilities for me. You can spend a lot of time reading up on obscure facts on your favorite artists. I am about half way through a free trial of Tidal. The integration with Roon is awesome but I'm on the fence about keeping due to its content. As far as sound output goes, I've been impressed with its sound quality and features. For SRC, I just use 'minimum phase and smooth' and compares favorably to what I was using in Audirvana - to my ears at least. I also used REW to create convolution filters for my various Roon zones that basically do room correction to my liking. The sound is awesome. I have an older Dragonfly 1.1 or 1.2 DAC that I connected to my MacBook. Roon found it right away and it seemed to work fine but I didn't play with it too much.

Yes, been using it for a couple months now. Very impressive product IMHO. I'm still figuring stuff out too - it's a bit of a mind-set change from vanilla iTunes or Audirvana.

I'm also in the camp that thinks it is tough to beat a well-mastered CD (or its digital equivalent ALAC/FLAC 44.1/16). The quality of the source and mastering is much more important than the digital container it is packaged in. I've read that most DSD downloads were mastered in PCM format before being converted back to DSD to sell to the consumer. Differences heard between PCM and DSD are real, but most likely due to the consumer's DAC favoring one format over the other (or the consumer playing different sources/masters of the same song). If MQA takes off (taking off means companies with real money get behind it like Apple and Amazon) then you can park your DSD DAC right up there on the shelf next to your Sony DAT player.

Is the source and mastering identical between the two? If you take the CD and rip an AAC copy in iTunes, and then play both, can you tell the difference?

You would need an external DAC to go with the A-S500. Schiit has some nice ones for the money.

Make sure your computer isn't trying to send the speakers multi-channel dolby digital or some other incompatible digital stream - the R-15PMs can handle 2-channel 24/96 PCM max on the optical or USB inputs.

Another vote for Roon. After you set up your sources (iTunes DB, music folder on a NAS share, Tidal, internet radio etc) and destinations (local Audioquest Dragonfly, Airport/Airplay, Sonos...) its interface is very intuitive and inviting - powered by a great metadata DB. You can start out playing an album then start clicking on similar artists - it really sucks you in. Sound quality is outstanding. Yesterday's release added language localization so it may help you with your English/French situation.

Your receiver is from 1999 before YPAO. I have a similar model from 2001. Check the output settings on page 22 of your manual. If it is just 2-channel (or even a full HT setup), I'd try setting your mains to 'large' and setting bass-out to 'both' (make sure your main level is not -10), and then use the low-pass filter on the SW to blend in with the mains to your liking - start out around 50hz. Adjust the volume control on your SW accordingly too. This setup is telling your AVR to send the full-range signal to your RP-160M's (which can play down to about 45hz or so) PLUS send all-bass below 80hz to your SW (which you will blend in using the low-pass knob on the SW to avoid boomy overlap with the mains.) Beyond this, search the internet for a room node/null calculator and input the dimensions of your room. REW is free software that has a room modeling module, but there are others out there that you can just run from your browser. You may find that you have a node at something like 30hz and a null at 55hz depending on the dimensions of your room. Or you can do the subwoofer crawl mentioned above.

Sorry to hear about your dad.

The coax input on the DAC supports up to 210khz so maybe those files are hi-res 176 or 192 khz.

It's not the cable. Are the files that don't play some sort of multi-channel format? How are they different from the ones that play fine? Your DAC only supports 2-channel 24/96khz (max) PCM stereo on the optical input. My guess is the TGIII was able to play these files because it is an AVR able to decode multi-channel formats that the TV is sending it. Your TV assumes it's connected to an AVR that can decode just about anything. One way to check is to hook up the TGII again and play a couple of files through your TV. Look at the display on the TGII and see if it tells you what it is receiving/decoding.

Agreed. The quality of the recording, mastering and mixing is much more important than the digital bucket the content is delivered in. I like HDTRACKs for a lot of albums that are important to me. However, if there is a difference versus the CD or iTunes, it's because they are different mixes not because one format is better than the other. Many times, I'll make AAC files from the hi-res HDTRACKs downloads and I can't tell a difference.

etc6849: I'm sure your system sounds awesome but I submit it isn't because of the DAC - it's because of all the other high-end digital processing going on prior to the stream hitting the DAC. The OP asked if adding a standalone DAC in front of an AVR, and then piping the analog sound directly back into that same AVR, would make a difference. I still think the answer is 'probably not.'

That's possible! My hearing is 48 years old and most things this age don't work as well as they once did. It could also be your HK is doing some additional DSP in the chain that sort of nullifies any small differences in the DAC. Regardless, I think differences in DACs are pretty fair down the chain in terms of making an audible "wow factor." I just ran a test since it is a rainy Saturday up here in Chicago. I recruited my daughter for 10 minutes - she's got 16 year old hearing and a classically trained ear from playing the viola. I played the first 30 seconds of a well recorded hi-res track several times. Path A was Airplay --> AE --> Schiit Bifrost 4490 DAC --> McIntosh MA6500 --> H3. Path B eliminated the Schiit. She asked me to switch several times A B A, then A and B. It was close with subtle differences. However she did prefer Path A (Schiit)- more open, natural, with distinct separation of instruments against a black background. The AE was good but the vocals were more front-and-center with the instruments more bunched up behind the vocals. I could hear the difference too BTW but I just wanted to make sure it wasn't a placebo, and my daughter acted as the neutral referee.

The DAC inside the AE is surprisingly decent. Some generations of AE have a better reputation than others too. With today's advanced digital technology, I don't think there is ever a "wow" moment swapping around DACs - more like 'subtle differences' due to one integrating into your system slightly better than the other. At least this has been my experience in the sub-$600-ish range of DACs.

Well said. I would wager the OP will probably not hear any improvement going through an outboard DAC and then piping that output right back through the same DAC inside the AVR he's currently directly connected to via HDMI.

Unfortunately, it is one of the "it depends" answers. You have a very simple (and good) audio path right now. If you add an outboard DAC, it may be better than the one inside your AVR on paper, but would you be able to tell the difference? Not sure. Keep in mind that if you go with an outboard DAC and feed its analog outputs to analog inputs on the AVR, the AVR will convert it back to digital, run it through its internal DSP and bass management logic, then convert back to analog again...ADA conversion. There are very few AVRs out there with a pure internal analog path, and Denon is not one of them AFAIK despite what marketing says about 'Pure Direct' or whatever.

The answer is no, Airplay and your AE are not the bottleneck here - they stream at 16/44.1 compressed lossless (Apple calls this ALAC) which is CD quality. This is also the limit of your iPhone. Pretty darn good to my ears if I may say so. Hook up your AE via Toslink optical to your HK and you should hear a nice improvement. The weak link in this chain is Spotify Premium (MP3 320) and probably the files stored on your iPhone are AAC-256 format, the standard for the iTunes store. Both MP3 and AAC are compressed lossy formats. When the Spotify app on your iPhone streams MP3 or the Music app plays an AAC file out via Airplay to your AE, Airplay actually rehydrates it to 16/44.1 ALAC. But, as others have pointed out, there is no getting back the missing bits that were discarded when the music was saved as MP3/AAC. You can save music in 16/44.1 ALAC format (from CD rips or HDTRACKS for example) to your iPhone for maximum quality (matching what Airplay is capable of) at the expense of chewing through disk space on your iPhone. There is no point in looking at higher-resolution streaming solutions if your sources are all compressed and lossy. Save your money.

Agreed - the R-15PM supports Bluetooth Apt-X which is the latest and greatest AFAIK. When you look at your Bluetooth connection on your MAC, you can see it is using APT-X.

On a physical CD, yes all tracks are 44.1Khz sample rate @ 16 bit depth. 16bits x 44.1khz x 2 channels (stereo) = 1.411Mbits per sec = 176KB per second = about 74 minutes of music on a CD which meets the CEO of Sony's requirement to fit Beethoven's 9th Symphony on a single side. If you download an album from iTunes, all tracks are also 44.1Khz sample rate @ 16 bit depth but Apple uses a lossy compression technique called AAC to "package" the music so it uses much less disk space. Websites like HDTRACKS have "hi-res" music at 96/24 and higher. If you right-click (or two-finger click) on the iTunes library column bar, you can select additional columns include bit depth and sample rate. I think iTunes does a great job if you set it up like I mention above. The main downside to iTunes is it doesn't do automatic sample-rate-switching / conversion. What you have set in Audio Midi is what gets sent to the DAC in your R-15PM, regardless of its capabilities. I use a program called "Audirvana" that syncs up with my iTunes library and does a great job - sometimes I even convince myself I can hear a difference ;-) I have no affiliation with Audirvana but I think it's worth a try. There are others as well. I'm glad I didn't get you fired searching for boutique-streamers! Search youtube for "digital audio 101" - there's lots of info out there.