Where are you located? Currency exchange rates and vagaries of international shipping / surprise duties / brokerage fees, etc can really mess up the final landed cost. I'm on the west coast of Canada, and have placed numerous orders for audio gear, as well as CDs and household goods through Amazon, and have never had any issues. Even without Prime membership, shipping has always been cheap, and deliveries much quicker than their estimates.
I've been quite happy with several pieces of Topping (2 x TP30, and the D30 DAC) - several of their "desktop sized" amps have at least coax / USB inputs, and the internal DACs, while easily surpassed by higher priced separates* are not at all hurtful to my ears. As well I picked up an entry level Yamaha surround receiver for my son's living room system.
*the same could be said for the internal DACs of entry level AV receivers
While even the most basic AV receiver may well have more bells and whistles than you can use - for now
- I think they still offer the greatest bang for the buck in terms of functionality and ease of use. Bear in mind that as they are intended for use in video system, most require a display screen for at least the initial system setup, and few are rated for lower than 6ohms per channel. Of course that latter constraint likely only applies when 5 or more channels are in use -I've never used mine any other way - and that some offer assignment of unused front channel amps for passive bi-amping, which would negate that problem.
I'd never say no to well implemented bass support when using a wide-band driver such as the A7.3 - even with 2 per side as in the Castles. You'll garner even better results if you high-pass the mains - a function that is built into the initial set up with AV receivers.
edit: PS FWIW this looks like a pretty nice piece, and being stereo receiver, would have a less complicated set-up.
Stereo Receiver | Preamplifier | s | A/V Receiver | AVR | TX-8140 | Onkyo USA
I've been quite happy with several pieces of Topping (2 x TP30, and the D30 DAC) - several of their "desktop sized" amps have at least coax / USB inputs, and the internal DACs, while easily surpassed by higher priced separates* are not at all hurtful to my ears. As well I picked up an entry level Yamaha surround receiver for my son's living room system.
*the same could be said for the internal DACs of entry level AV receivers
While even the most basic AV receiver may well have more bells and whistles than you can use - for now
- I think they still offer the greatest bang for the buck in terms of functionality and ease of use. Bear in mind that as they are intended for use in video system, most require a display screen for at least the initial system setup, and few are rated for lower than 6ohms per channel. Of course that latter constraint likely only applies when 5 or more channels are in use -I've never used mine any other way - and that some offer assignment of unused front channel amps for passive bi-amping, which would negate that problem. I'd never say no to well implemented bass support when using a wide-band driver such as the A7.3 - even with 2 per side as in the Castles. You'll garner even better results if you high-pass the mains - a function that is built into the initial set up with AV receivers.
edit: PS FWIW this looks like a pretty nice piece, and being stereo receiver, would have a less complicated set-up.
Stereo Receiver | Preamplifier | s | A/V Receiver | AVR | TX-8140 | Onkyo USA
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You should have sufficient quaity of source that it is possible to detect the differences of which we speak. Training will help to hear them.
dave
I’d concur with Dave that unless bracketed by very low resolution program sources and speakers, the differences between amps can be audible. I certainly found that to be the case between my two prior Denon AVRs and current Onkyo TX NR818, as well as Hypex UCD180 and Neurochrome Modulus 686. Chalk and cheese, the latter two.
Prolle, to be more clear, we your quoted budget for total system - with, or without cost of building enclosures - or just the electronics?
The TX8140 looks to be a nicely thought out little piece - it even has phono input and sub-woofer line out. Where I in the market for a simple one box piece for a second system, my mom, etc., it’d definitely be on my short list for trial.
Prolle, to be more clear, we your quoted budget for total system - with, or without cost of building enclosures - or just the electronics?
The TX8140 looks to be a nicely thought out little piece - it even has phono input and sub-woofer line out. Where I in the market for a simple one box piece for a second system, my mom, etc., it’d definitely be on my short list for trial.
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Future-proof - that's a good one. While you can certainly still find a multichannel receiver with more features than you might currently want to use for close to the same entry level budget, I think you'll find that the sonic quality at the low end will suffer. Until the audio industry can achieve the equivalent to over the air OS updates as Tesla can do with their autos, we're probably stuck with planned obsolescence.
I guess for me the next questions would be:
- Just how serious would you be with emulating the full surround experience?
- Can the room even accommodate the acoustic requirements of the ever increasing number of channels that entails - i.e. up to 9.1.2 with Atmos in a huge room. Just the reconfiguring of wiring in a finished room boggles the mind.
I know a lot of guys - Dave included - who happily consolidate their movie/TV viewing and music listening in a single 2.1 system. I happen to have separate systems, and very much enjoy the enhanced experience of 7.1 for movies - even though the rig would be considered pedestrian by advanced cinephile standards.
I've rebuilt my home theatre system at least 5 times in the past 10 years, and would suggest- baby steps
I guess for me the next questions would be:
- Just how serious would you be with emulating the full surround experience?
- Can the room even accommodate the acoustic requirements of the ever increasing number of channels that entails - i.e. up to 9.1.2 with Atmos in a huge room. Just the reconfiguring of wiring in a finished room boggles the mind.
I know a lot of guys - Dave included - who happily consolidate their movie/TV viewing and music listening in a single 2.1 system. I happen to have separate systems, and very much enjoy the enhanced experience of 7.1 for movies - even though the rig would be considered pedestrian by advanced cinephile standards.
I've rebuilt my home theatre system at least 5 times in the past 10 years, and would suggest- baby steps
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