CoryGillmore

I was and still am considering a tube pre, the Freya+. My system also does home theater duty but with an emphasis on 2-channel stereo, but it has to integrate with TV and movies as well. The Freya+ does home theater passthrough and it has a passive mode that can bypass the tube stage. So it's always been on my short list if I decide to go separates.

My CWIVs continue to impress after about 4 months of ownership. I'm still looking for the perfect integrated or separates combo to power them. But to be honest, they sound fantastic out of my Onkyo TXNR757 A/V receiver. Even with this Onkyo, they responded well to being bi-amped and I also noticed a difference when I upgraded to higher quality 12 gauge speaker cable. Nothing too crazy, but better cabling than what I had. I'm gonna be really pissed if I spend 5 grand on new amp/dac/pre and it sounds the same as this $800 A/V receiver....Really pissed...

VTV Audio certainly has their share of QC horror stories as well, at least over on ASR. I'll likely buy from Amazon if possible. Paducah HT doesn't offer any sort of interest free financing, which I use pretty much exclusively for hifi purchases. What are some other integrateds that use these newer class D modules? The Peachtree has all the features I want, sub pre-outs, home theater bypass, hell you can even plug an iPhone into it. But I'm open to others as well. Up to about $5k.

I’ve been considering one of these Peachtree units to power a pair of Cornwall IVs. Anyone have any experience with the pair? I love the vintage and simplistic look of this unit. Then again, surely class D has come even further nearly 5 years later….

Man I wouldn't want the cat anywhere near that room period lol.

Like Monster Monster? Got a pic of this receiver? I didn't know they ventured into electronics! I had some of their IEMs, which were top class back when they still had money for R&D, before Beats left them. Monster is still just barely hanging on nowadays.

Does that mean it likely wasn't properly volume matched?

Honestly I was surprised he got as many correct as he did even if it wasn't the proper control amount.

I stand corrected..

Because then he wouldn't have been able to tell you he enjoyed the AHB2 more because he wouldn't have been able to discern the two amps. I'm entirely convinced that had he truly removed his own bias from the equation (the only way you can, blind), then he would have surprised himself even further. These amps measure so close to each other there's no way anyone could reliably discern them blindly. You'd never convince me otherwise. I've personally experienced a blind test and let me tell you, everything I thought I knew went out the window as soon as I couldn't see which shiny device was creating sound. Expectation bias is a powerful thing and it WILL affect the way you hear gear.

Wow thanks dude. Pretty much every online seller of this amp has the depth listed at 22 inches. But yeah I saw those drawings in the manual! Thanks again man!

Yep you’re absolutely right. And there’s actually a couple other models that do have it that I thought didn’t have it. Like the Yamaha AS models do have it, even if it isn’t explicitly called “home theater bypass”. my only real quibble with the MA5300 is how massive it is. At 22 inches deep it’s longer than my current entertainment center, which is 19 inches deep. I was thinking maybe it could still fit with some overhang on the front and back but I can’t find a side profile pic of the unit to determine exactly how far apart the feet of the unit are. Obviously if the feet are no more than 19 inches apart it could still work. Regardless, if the MA5300 was something I really wanted I would get it and wouldn’t let trivial details such as my entertainment center dimensions deter me. I would just get it and figure it out when it came. Yep I’ve totally considered that MA352 as an option. It’s just a little out of the range I want to spend though. I do need to check out offerings from PrimaLuna though. I have not looked at anything from them. Yeah you’re correct about my intended setup. But two channel stereo is what’s most important by far. I just need home theater to work.

Yeah I haven’t really considered anything vintage. I kinda want all the modern bells and whistles too. https://www.musicdirect.com/integrated-amp/Cambridge-Audio-Evo-150-All-in-One-Player This Cambridge Evo 150 is a very attractive package. It really has everything I want, it’s just one review (Andrew Robinson) said it was almost cold and clinical. I also feel like 3k is a really nice sweet spot for me. I can stretch to 5k or maybe even 5.5k but I don’t feel good about it. In that price range I’ve been considering the MA5300 or Luxman 507 I think it’s called. I also really like the aesthetics of the Peachtree Audio Nova150 and Nova300. I’ve also strongly considered the two Rega integrateds priced around 3k and 5k. I’ve considered the NAD M33.

Yeah I'm really wanting an integrated amp with the bypass. I'm not opposed to class D either but most of the ones I've seen reviewed are all praised for their neutrality. I don't want neutrality. I want a meaty, thick and rich sound. Hell I could just do a Parasound P6 pre and pair it with a couple Aegir monoblocks from Schiit, or literally anything else. No matter what I end up with it's bound to be an upgrade to my current Onkyo TXNR757 Best Buy A/V receiver.

Damn that's actually cheaper than I thought! And what do you know it actually has home theater pass through haha

That thing looks gorgeous but it also looks waaaaay out of my budget. I didn’t even see a price for it but it looks every bit of 10k. My budget it about half that. Also if I do tubes I’d rather have them in the pre-amp stage.

Yeah I’m kinda in the market for another A/V receiver as well. One with pre-outs. But first I want my two channel sorted. I’m currently powering Cornwall IVs with a mid tier Onkyo 7.2 A/V receiver lol. At one time I was considering a Freya+ pre and two Aegirs in dual mono. But the thought of fiddling with tubes and once again no home theater bypass functionality on the Freya+ kinda turned me off. Even if the tube sound sounds appealing to me. I definitely want an amp that’s described as “meaty”, thick, lush and warm.

Ah home theater pass through I mean. Just allows you to connect an A/V receiver and run your L/R channels with the integrated. Just an easier way to integrate my two channel with my home theater.

I’ve been racking my brain for weeks now scouring the internet seeking out the perfect (for my needs) integrated amp to pair with my Cornwall IV. When I find something that I think will be perfect, upon further inspection it has glaring issues or omissions. Like a lack of home theater bypass. I thought the NAD M33 was the one for me. But nope no home theater bypass. I had the same problem with the McIntosh MA5300. Plus it’s massive. So deep it won’t even fit in or even on top of my current entertainment center. None of the big gorgeous amps with VU meters have home theater bypass….Like the Yamaha AS models. I’ve considered the Parasound HINT 6, which has all the features I want but it’s made in China or similar and just looks cheap as hell to me. Same problem with the Rotel 1592MKII. I do love that the HINT 6 is class A for like the first 5 watts. Plus it’s bass management features. High pass filter, low pass filter, it really has it all. Ugh I don’t even know anymore. I may start looking at preamps and mono blocks again….

I have mine pushed up against the wall regardless of of the position of my entertainment center. My entertainment center is definitely further up than my Corns and yet the Corns still sound their best as close to the wall as possible. I know people say it’s best to have your speakers ahead of the plane that your other wall object are on but in my case and for my preferences, they do just fine “behind” the other objects. I did relocate my subs and I also turned the giant gaming PC to the side. I’ll post another pic when I get home this evening.

Matter of fact I find the bass on Cornwall IVs to be disappointingly inadequate unless shoved up to the wall. But it’s perfect in their current spot.

I like to keep my CWIVs as close to the wall as possible. I've done a lot of trial and error and I've found that the bass is best when the speakers are as close to the wall as possible.

Yes sir. And it’ll sound even better once I get this couch thing sorted. See there’s an HVAC return vent right in the very spot my couch needs to sit. So now I have it pushed back behind the optimum spot so that I don’t cover this vent. So I intend to get a smaller couch that also sits up off the ground a bit and doesn’t have a skirt. So I can place it over the vent without blocking it. If you check that before pic, on the right side you can see a half wall. Well my current seating position is seated directly under that 10 foot wide door frame. But I need to pull my couch forward so that when I lean back by head isn’t technically in the other room. But the floor vent is impeding me from doing so. So it already sounds better than it did but it will only get better.

This is my room from before. It was a giant pain in my *** to swap this all around lol. But we’ll worth it in the end. Now I just need to get rid of this giant leather couch, which is also peeling, in favor of something smaller and covered in fabric.

So I changed my room around for the better. I put my speakers on my long wall. So now they’re about 12 feet apart as opposed to six feet apart. Huge difference in the way the music is presented. Looks much better too imo. Now if I could just figure out what amp to get! 😩