[mturkel99]

Hey guys,

Although I have been a devoted follower of Virtue Audio for over a year now - I ordered one of the original Sensation M901s before they went into overhaul - and am an avid reader of the forums; this here will be my first post. I suppose I have been a little reluctant to post because my setup may not be as high-end as many who post regularly; but considering how much I love my Sensation, I feel as much a part of the community as anyone else. I hope you guys will allow me to share my setup with you, and offer some of your thoughts about the hurdles I am facing.

Over the past few years, I have accumulated a few tripath amplifiers, I suppose one might call me a tripathophile: a Trends Audio TA10.1 (modified with Auricaps, Vampire connectors, and ptp wiring, an Audiosource 7t, and, of course, my Sensation. For those of you unfamiliar with the 7t, it is a tripath powerhouse capable of 200wpc into 2ch or 400w bridged. It never made it into mainstream production because of FM interfearance issues. My Sensation is obviously the star of my collection and replaced the other two the day I got it. By way of speakers, I began with small bookshelfs - Polk RtiA1s - and eventually moved up to floorstanding, the A5s. I have a Rega P1, a Rega preamp, a Playstation as a CD Player, and a power conditioner.

However, I just moved into a new apartment and bought a TV. Rather than let my old speakers and amps fall into disuatude I realized that for the small price of a center speaker I could have a 5.1 - for Blu-ray and Streaming. So I got the matching Polk center channel, bought a chinese 5.1 decoder, and used each of the aformentioned amps to power 2 channels of my system: the bridged Audiosource powering the center channel, the sensation handling the left and right, and the tripath taking care of the back two.

To clarify, my two analog sources - the Rega and Sony - are directly pluged into the Sensation, and the 5.1 decoder's left and right outputs are plugged into it as well.

Here are my questions:

1) Is there a audiophile grade 5.1 decoder/dac out there that'll decode TruDolby (lossless) from HDMI and split it into 5 analog channels - something, perhaps, that incorporates the Sabre32 chip? I can't help but feel that the decoder I got off e-bay is the weak link in my chain (http://cgi.ebay.com/HDV-18A-5-1-Digital-Audio-Decoder-Dolby-Digital-AC3-DTS-/260614280058?pt=Video_Games_Accessories&hash=item3cadd2537a).

2) I'm about to add a subwoofer to my system. Should I plug the woofers input into the Sensation or the 5.1 decoder (If the later, I would obviously switch back for analog sources).

Thanks in advance!

[musicophile]

You are certainly as much a part of this community as anyone, and as a fellow lurker I will come out of the dark to try and help with your questions.

1)  Yes there is something like that, with the Sabre32 even, but it's disguised as a Blu-Ray player.    The Oppo BDP-83SE would do an outstanding job of replacing both the Playstation (except for games, of course) and that decoder in your system for less than the price of many high-quality stereo DACs alone ($899).  If you can do without the Sabre chip, you could pay much less even.  Nowadays not many companies are producing separate multichannel decoders because the market has largely disappeared with just about every AVR, DVD player, etc. having them built in.

2)  For movie soundtracks or multichannel recordings you will want the subwoofer to be getting the LFE track from the decoder.  The Sensation's sub output would be derived from the L/R tracks, which more than likely won't have the LFE content at all (though this depends on the setup of the decoder, it's not clear to me if you can change the settings in that box you have).

Enjoy the music (and movies)!

[mturkel99]

Thanks, musicophile. I noticed the Oppo - in fact, that's where I got the idea to use the Sabre DAC. The problem with the Oppo, however, is that it lacks digital in. My TV doubles as a streaming media player - providing me with all sorts of hi-def, lossless content - and I need a way of incorporating it, as well as my blu-ray player, into my system. I would have jumped on the Oppo, otherwise.

Your second recommendation makes good sense. I think I'll have both plugged into my woofer. Thanks again.

If anyone else knows of a standalone player that would serve my purpose, feel free to chime in.

[dvenardos]

You are going to need to go with an AV preamp. Usually they do a good job decoding the digital, however,  the analog inputs are an afterthought hence the popularity of the home theater bypass input on audiophile preamps / integrateds. To use your sensation pick a spot on the dial and calibrate your HT at that spot. Whenever you use the 5.1 feed select the input on Sensation and return it to that position on the dial. For your analog sources just use the Sensation normally.

[musicophile]

I'll second what dvenardos said, though I'd add that you could save money by getting a receiver with pre-outs rather than a dedicated preamp.  Yeah, either option would be a big, heavy component with a lot of video processing and switching hardware you aren't looking for, but when it comes to getting analog out of Dolby TrueHD or DTS-HDMA over HDMI, I believe it's all you'll find.

I noticed today that Onecall.com is selling a "factory renewed"  Marantz SR5004 for $400 with free shipping.  You might want to grab that.

[dvenardos]

Found this decoder, don't know if it is any good or not.
http://www.octavainc.com/HDMI%20switch%204x2_7_1audio.html

[mturkel99]

Believe it or not, I also need an Optical input. What do you guys think of this: http://www.emotiva.com/umc1.shtm

[dvenardos]

They had so many problems with their previous av preamp I would be leery. If it was me I would spend an extra $100 to get this one that Outlaw decided to offer until their next gen pre-amp is ready.
http://www.outlawaudio.com/products/sr5005.html

Believe it or not, I also need an Optical input. What do you guys think of this: http://www.emotiva.com/umc1.shtm

[mturkel99]

I suppose I can just wait. That monstrosity has amplification, which I really don't need.

[mturkel99]

OK, so my needs have changed.

I got a different blu-ray player with the outputs I need and streaming built in. Now, the analog sound is coming directly from there and going into the power amps. My problem now is having to manually adjust each amplifier individually rather than have a single volume control for the three of them. Are there any reasonably priced 6 channel passive or active preamps? I have searched but all of them seem more expensive than some of the AV Processors I was looking at! I am constantly reminded that in the audio world if you want less, you need to pay more.

[mturkel99]

So I have narrowed it down to two devices: the Audio Refinement Pre 5 and the Sony TA-P9000ES. Both devices are priced higher than I would like but I can't find anything cheaper. A couple of questions for you all:

1) Will either of these devices add anything beneficial to my system other than a master volume control? I almost feel like I am spending money to create a longer signal path with more possible interference.

2) Since each of my 3 amplifiers - the Sensation, Trends, and Audiosource 7t, has a volume control on it already would it make more sense for me to simply motorize the volume control on the later two units and have them controlled to respond simultaneously to a single remote? 

[virtue]

Decoding is decoding.  Only the big semiconductor manufacturers are making these chips and everyone is using the same (good enough) parts.

[dvenardos]

Here is a thread I started on the same topic quite some time ago.
http://www.audiocircle.com/index.php?topic=64641.0
I went with the Goldpoint and it has been 95% complete for quite some time.
Currently using my Outlaw 970 av/preamp in analog bypass mode, which isn't bad and can be picked up for dirt cheap.

edit - Oh, I also ran across this at one point. I haven't tried it but it looks interesting.
http://www.sound4sale.com/products/MVC.php

So I have narrowed it down to two devices: the Audio Refinement Pre 5 and the Sony TA-P9000ES. Both devices are priced higher than I would like but I can't find anything cheaper. A couple of questions for you all:

1) Will either of these devices add anything beneficial to my system other than a master volume control? I almost feel like I am spending money to create a longer signal path with more possible interference.

2) Since each of my 3 amplifiers - the Sensation, Trends, and Audiosource 7t, has a volume control on it already would it make more sense for me to simply motorize the volume control on the later two units and have them controlled to respond simultaneously to a single remote?

[mturkel99]

Thanks for the help. I settled with an Audio Refinement Pre 5. I have one final question: how should i control the volume for my Sensation? Should I raise it all the way and control it with my Pre, vice versa, or mix it up? Should I take advantage of the stereo pre inputs on the AR, or stick to the Sensation for stereo preamplification?

[virtue]

Most folks using pre-amps set the volume at full on Sensation.  I imagine that it is possible to blow up Sensation by making the input signal too loud (2v is a "normal" input), but unless your speakers are 85db or less, you'll probably go deaf before that happens.  So give it a try... we trust you

[dba]

Having spent what feels like a lifetime manipulating multichannel systems for a day-job and meeting with producers, technology providers and 'specialists' - there is such a void in technique with respect to managing and laying-down multichannel that i air at the other end of the spectrum to most.
In former times i'd agree whole-heartedly that a pre-amp should be the unit in charge of the overall gain through various amplifiers, being that the distributed amplifiers would be as close to full-volume setting (Power Amplifier) as possible.
Although with the depth of difference between channels, steering, focus I more-so find that individual levelling is required  - not just because of differing amplifier topology and path but more because of the variability in how these channels are not controlled in the industry - its just so difficult to find a 'happy-medium' and if you do setup a system in this way, ultimately you end up with an average compromise, enjoyment shouldn't be compromised, enjoyment benefits from a few minutes of tailoring before the start of a film or multichannel music experience.

In my experience, i'd start with an average setting throughout and then tailor the last 20% on all channels to really get your bang4buck