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bill cook

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How do I bring my 1980's vintage equipment into the 21st century? 

 

Finally the kids are gone....I've been a responsible adult. I've driven the minivan, paid taxes, changed diapers, painted the picket fence and mowed the lawn. I've listened to my wife tell me she wants me to get rid of my La Scala's and my guitars and such for twenty years now, but somehow still have everything.  Now it's time to listen to the music again.

 

My problem is everything is so different now...Does anyone actually own music anymore? How do I get the digital music into my analog amp? Would love to use blue tooth but my receiver doesn't support it....I'm also suspicious about how the sound will be affected. How do I connect to streaming services like Amazon or I tunes? Whats the best thing to do?

 

 

Edited by bill cook
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Welcome to the madness, and remember this:  Depending on what you have from the 80s little if any improvement in perceived sound quality may be needed unless you're just wanting to throw some money at it.

 

As to digital, Bluetooth remains a medium requiring transcoding and is therefore potentially problematic.  Best digital sources are the most pure. Really first rate recordings down direct to disk can be had and even though I am an analog lover my opinion is that they equal or exceed the very finest analog. 

 

Download them the old fashioned way and play them directly with a high quality DAC. On DACs, read the user reviews as IMHO this is another area where price and performance aren't linked.  It's just a computer sub system interpreting code until it becomes an analog signal subject to the same issues all analog systems are.  Therefore a reasonable cost/performance can be made to phono preamps.  First rate phono preamps can be had in the 200.00 range that will satisfy the vast majority of us and as they are analog beginning to end more problematic than a DAC.  So, 200.00 or less for a Klipsch worthy DAC.

Suggestion:  Follow the above FIRST before messing with mp3 or any compression or transcoding, then experiment for what floats your boat. 

 

Dave

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Threw out/gave away my cassette deck and turntable....kind of as a sacrifice to keep the rest of the stuff.

 

As far as the stereo is concerned, all that remains are the La Scalas and my Pioneer SX-1250. There are plenty of computers/tablets/laptops and such along with 150mBps internet.

 

If anyone still needs pictures, I'll have to get them when I get home tonight.

 

 

 

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That info helps.  That Pioneer is first rate.  Love the look and feel of those things!  Most late model PCs have DACs on board more than adequate to experiment with as I mentioned above.  Start with the very best source material and if you are happy, great.  If not, then experiment with DACs until you are happy.  I am partial to Audioengine's DAC at the moment for build quality and cost effectiveness.

 

Dave

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Hi Bill, welcome to the forum.  :emotion-21::emotion-19:

 

I was in your exact place place in 2014.  After raising 3 kids for 25 years, my wife and are were then childless. 

 

I got rid of all my separates with 2.0, turntable, records and cassette decks when we had the kids.  Now it was time for me to get into the 21st century in terms of audio.

 

I no longer wanted to have cables all over the place.  I love the idea of HDMI so I picked up anew Onkyo AVR for use with the HDTV.  A lot of my music now comes from Youtube so I needed a second decent system for use with the computer.

 

Your La Scalas could use a crossover (XO) refresh but on the pre-owed market LS's are still highly sought after.  No speaker change is needed.

 

I suggest an AVR for you and a sub.  If you watch movies then adding a center speaker and a couple of side speakers will bring you right up to date.  I have enough horsepower and speakers to run a full 11.2 setup if I want.  I prefer 3.1.

 

You are going to get some great recommendations for the very knowledgeable people here.  Consider everything, go with what makes sense for you, in your living room, with your listening needs.

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I would pick up an Oppo BDP-103 or ideally a 105.  You can connect an AppleTV, Amazon FireTV, etc. as an external source via HDMI or a Hard drive for local files.

The Oppo can also be used to down mix any multi channel audio to stereo or 2.1, if you want to add a sub.

The Oppo has analog outputs to send in the AUX input on the Pioneer.


The other advantage is that the Oppo remote can be used to control the volume which is great for an analog receiver, especially with the variation of recording levels.

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This old guy (circa '48) welcomes you and offers some suggestions based upon personal experience.

 

While not ideal, you can sample streamed digital music from Spotify, Pandora, etc. using an iPad, phone, laptop, etc.  You'll need a cable with 1/8 TRS plug going into stereo RCA connectors to connect your device to your SX-1250.  

 

As far as Bluetooth, you can get a Bluetooth receiver for less than $30 and use your Bluetooth enabled iPad, phone, tablet, etc. to connect to the Bluetooth receiver that connects to your SX-1250 by RCA cables.  I've had good luck with Bluetooth receivers from Logitech, Harman Kardon, and SURE (requires DIY).  Feel free to send a PM and we can talk, hearing aid to hearing aid.  Actually, I don't have hearing aids and I hope you don't need them either.  

 

It'll cost you less than $50 to try the above suggestions.

trs-RCA.jpg

Bluetooth_.jpg

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2 hours ago, bill cook said:

How do I bring my 1980's vintage equipment into the 21st century? 

 

Finally the kids are gone....I've been a responsible adult. I've driven the minivan, paid taxes, changed diapers, painted the picket fence and mowed the lawn. I've listened to my wife tell me she wants me to get rid of my La Scala's and my guitars and such for twenty years now, but somehow still have everything.  Now it's time to listen to the music again.

 

My problem is everything is so different now...Does anyone actually own music anymore? How do I get the digital music into my analog amp? Would love to use blue tooth but my receiver doesn't support it....I'm also suspicious about how the sound will be affected. How do I connect to streaming services like Amazon or I tunes? Whats the best thing to do?

 

 

why bother history is repeating it's self...people are still spinning vinyl ,

r2r , cassette , 8 track..cds...

 

but for convenience..find a the latest OPPO for your cds ,dvds , and blu 

rays..and streaming....

 

just check out the 2 threads above..

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@bill cook I just looked over all the suggestions others gave you.  They are different from mine (new AVR) but all first rate suggestions consistent with utilizing your current Pio, which is still highly regarded audio-wise even compared to modern offerings.

 

When I moved from stereo 2.0 into the modern world I was amazed to find out how my previous knowledge and experience dealing with stereo did not translate into the 5.1 world.

 

One thing I might suggest if you keep the Pio is add a sub.  In the old days I hated subs because I thought of them as boomy and bloated, not at all suited to high quality music. After owning a couple of modern subs including a 12" Klipsch sub I now have the opposite opinion.  I think every system can benefit from a sub.

 

If you decide to go for one it can be easily adapted to your Pio SX-1250 by using the high level inputs of some subs.  You don't need a new AVR to use a sub.

 

Just something to consider.

 

 

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Will this system be used for music only, or will it also be used for Blu-ray and UHD movies?  (Don’t forget concert videos.)

 

You must decide if you want to try “high-resolution” audio, such as SACD, Pure Audio Blu-ray, and high-resolution FLAC downloads (e.g., 24bit/192kHz).  Or, is the convenience associated with streaming more important to you?  (Garbage in / garbage out.   Your hi-fi system will never sound better than the signal you feed it.)

 

Assuming you want to explore all that new technology offers, I agree with others’ recommendation of Oppo universal disc players.  The newer the better.  The “high-end” models have “audiophile-grade” DACs and analog circuitry.

 

The newer Oppo universal disc players support downloaded high-resolution FLAC files (e.g., 24bit/192kHz from HDTracks), Blu-ray (audio and video), and the newest model plays UHD discs.   They all play SACD (including multi-channel and stereo), CD, and DVD. 

 

The simplest way to handle down-loaded hi-res FLAC files is to copy the files from your computer to a USB drive, carry the USB drive into your listening room (i.e., “sneaker-ware”) and plug it into the USB port on the front of the Oppo.  (If you want to get fancy, use DLNA networking instead of sneaker-ware.)

 

The UDP-205 and BDP-105 can also serve as a DAC.  For example, I connect Chromecast Audio’s (more on Chromecast later) Toslink connection to my UDP-205 and BDP-105, in order to use the Oppo’s DAC.  Or, if you don’t have cable TV, and you want to play broadcast TV audio through your hi-fi, you can connect a Toslink connection from your HDTV into the Oppo’s DAC.

 

The last 4 generations of Oppo universal disc players provide “bass management”, and support 2.1 (i.e., stereo plus sub) in addition to 5.1:  UDP-205, BDP-105, BDP-95, and DV-980H.   Bass management involves a built-in crossover, and an RCA line-level connection for a powered subwoofer.   The newer models have adjustments for the crossover frequency.   The benefit of this implementation is that it does NOT involve running the high-quality stereo line-level output from a DAC through a subwoofer’s plate amp, with the sub’s plate amp connecting to the main power amp.  Rather, the stereo analog line-level output from the Oppo can connect directly to a power amp (or integrated amp or receiver), and the subwoofer line-level output from the Oppo connects directly to the sub.

 

Bottom line, if an Oppo UDP-205 is in your budget, IMO it’s all you’ll probably need for digital music and movies.  It has audiophile-grade DACs built-in, and supports almost any digital format for audio and video.  If you invest in a UDP-205, you have many opportunities to explore “enhancements” such as high-res audio, subwoofer, surround-sound, UHD movies, etc.

 

I’d caution against Bluetooth if you want hi-fidelity sound.

 

If you want to try internet radio (there are countless free internet radio stations), and services such as Spotify Premium, the Chromecast Audio that I mentioned above is a no-brainer.  They retail for $35.  Chromecast Audio can plug into an AUX input on your SX-1250 via an adaptor cable, or it can plug into a DAC (e.g., Oppo UDP205) for arguably better sound quality.   Spotify premium sounds pretty good, but not as good as a top-quality SACD, or Pure Audio Blu-ray, or 24bit/192kHz FLAC download.  The breadth of music available on Spotify Premium is impressive.   Some people use Spotify Premium to explore new music, and then buy hi-res versions of selected recordings.   OTOH, many people are happy listening to all their music via Spotify Premium. 

 

If you want to add surround-sound – and keep your SX-1250 - you can use the Oppo to decode 5.1, and add amps and speakers for the center and rear speaker(s).  Don’t let a salesman at a big-box store tell you that you need to get rid of your SX-1250 and get an AVR.

 

There’s lots of help available with setting up these technologies.  I can provide parameter settings for an Oppo UDP-205 (or BDP-105, or BDP-95) for a 2.1 set-up.

 

Good luck, and keep us posted.

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