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Vinyl listening and surround sound set up suggestions


Novaturient

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In the spring I will be building my new house.  I am looking for ideas/suggestions for a complete surround sound set up that specifically incorporates a turntable so that the sound will be throughout the main living areas - kitchen/living room/dining room.

 

There is a local Klipcsch dealer that I personally know very well who will be installing the system for me but I want some real suggestions from people who love music, use Klipscsh and have incorporated their turntable into their system.

 

I will be purchasing a Rega turntable (undecided on model at this time).  Definitely interested in hearing about your set ups and product choices.

 

**Meant to post this in a different category and can't seem to find out how to delete.  Sorry!**

 

Thanks

J

Edited by Novaturient
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I've no prejudices and love good surround...of which there is precious little in music, though improving slowly.  When it comes to surround for vinyl I've never yet seen a logic based processor that was satisfying.  I use, and have used, the Hafler DynaQuad for this purpose for nearly 40 years and it works to steer out of phase information present on vinyl to the rear without processing. 

 

However, you can't distribute it and, while I have successfully set up a system where I could switch from electronic to passive surround, I found it simply too ungainly and so my main music room is two channel or DynaQuad surround only. 

 

Maybe something new will come up that does a less artificial and unpredictable job on two channel sources.  Let me know if you find one...I am all ears...as it were.

 

Dave

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Surround sound (5.1,  7.1, etc.) is a wonderful thing, great for movies and music. It doesn't however work terribly well with records, at least in my experience

It does sound however that you are less interested in surround sound, and perhaps more interested in have music through out the house?

Surround sound gives a sense of sound all around you, but that is for a stationary listening position. Sounds to me like you are looking to pipe sound into various rooms which is a different proposition.

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Well, as it seems he's looking for a "conventional" solution I didn't mention my own scheme. I use an FM transmitter I kit built. Barely, or possibly illegal, but extraordinarily excellent sound. The PAW loves it as getting music anywhere there is a system or even a radio is simple as tuning the receiver. The quality is better than all but the most fastidious classical or jazz stations. Kit was less than two hundred bucks.

 

Dave

Edited by Mallette
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Probably would be useful to know a bit more information - like how many rooms and their approximate size (W x L x H), how many channels/loudspeakers in each room, and your cost ceiling. Some setups can wind up saving a large amount of money if bought separately through craigslist, ebay, and other sources--depending on your needs/requirements, and your willingness to do some things yourself.  Remember that you can also get a lot more for the same money if you assemble your system in DIY fashion. 

 

In the meantime, if you are really talking about surround sound, I'd recommend 5.1 channels (front left+right, center, surround left+right, and subwoofer) if you are planning to have a flat screen television, and probably stereo if you are not thinking about a television.  Not that you can't have surround sound without flat screen home theater setups (you can), but you seem to constrain the answer to "turntable" and vinyl, when the best recordings can really be found in multi-channel SACD, DVD-A, or downloaded multitrack music from places like HDTracks, etc. - some of it truly spectacular.

 

But to return to specifics of your answer:  I'd plan on using a A/V preprocessor (AVP) that has fairly good DACs (digital-analog converters) in it - and you can find very good units at half price or less that are less than 2-3 years old that will do the trick.  You're looking for multiple HDMI inputs of version 1.4 or later.  You can also use an A/V receiver (AVR) that has amplifiers already integrated, but the problem is that you can't switch out amplifiers or active crossover units later if you go for the AVR--but the overall price will be lower.  I'd actually avoid brand new AVPs or AVRs for price savings alone (about $1K savings on the better units). 

 

If you're thinking about stereo only, then the above two paragraphs are N/A.

Edited by Chris A
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Welcome to the forum Novaturinet. :)    Consider some in-wall speakers around the house and a good avr or prepro that will let you have multiple zones.  Heritage speakers are a strong consideration if you are into two channel music more than movies.  I use an RF 7 system for music and movies and love it.  List a budget and a few more details as mentioned to help give us a better picture of what you wish to accomplish.  Use some towers for the main room.

Edited by derrickdj1
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  • 3 weeks later...

Welcome to the forum Novaturinet. :)    Consider some in-wall speakers around the house and a good avr or prepro that will let you have multiple zones.  Heritage speakers are a strong consideration if you are into two channel music more than movies.  I use an RF 7 system for music and movies and love it.  List a budget and a few more details as mentioned to help give us a better picture of what you wish to accomplish.  Use some towers for the main room.

 

I agree, that way you can run that analogue signal directly to whatever speakers. The problem with running vinyl into 5.1 is you are  taking a pure analogue signal then digitizing it through the surround processors then converting back into analogue wave for the speakers. Also, depending on the size of your house if you turn up a good 2 channel system it will fill your house with music depending also on how open your floor plan is. If you do want a surround system make sure you look around the forum for advice on what speakers that will compliment each other. This forum made me toss my center speaker due to a timber mismatch and I was blown away by how much better my system sounds now with a 4.1 system. If you set up your speaker placement right the phantom center will put the voice right on the screen too. 

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