Integra DHC-80.3 - Page 10

I do. Coming off a D2v and loving the 80.3. No regrets whatsoever.

Wondering if that Audyssey upgrade is going to be a firmware update. Was that part of the discussion ddingle? Any specifics?

We are new to the Integra line. I love Audyssey XT32 however! That drove our decision to become Integra dealers. The 80.3 seems to have a ton of features for the money.Balanced outputs are a nice touch as well. Our second Integra installation is feeding 5 ATC powered speakers with balanced inputs.That should sound great. Too bad about the delay in using full blown Audyssey
I am sure a NAD M15HD sounds better,but is twice as expensive and they havent integrated XT32 yet. Glad to have a forum like this to refer to!

That would be an upgrade to the Pro software so it will work with the 80.3 and other new units, not the 80.3 itself.

So actually emailing my AV guy about this purchase as we speak. Any info on what I should bargain down to......

It will be a new Audyssey software release. It seems Integra is slow in getting things correct.

Try setting it to "direct" and see if you get the issue. I have not been able to replicate it yet on "direct"

why would the NAD sound better?

These seem to be conflicting thoughts. I'm not sure I understand. I'm somewhat new to Audyssey. If you could spell it out like I'm a 4 year old. That'd be awesome.

I recently upgraded to 80.3 from Denon 4308CI.

I don't know if it's because XT32 or because I now have separates... but playing with it for the first time yesterday... I can tell you that it definitely sounds different.

I'm not going to say that it sounds better right now because I have to sit down and listen to music/movies... but I know it definitely sounds different.

I'm not an audiophile... so it's a bit hard to describe the difference but my initial impression is that it sounds clearer.... But again... I don't want to say it sound better until I play with it more.

Note: I'm also aware that this is a new processor and some people say that there is a perception that because you have a new device you automatically percieve that you are getting better sound.... Because of this... I'm not saying outright it sounds better... But as I mentioned, I do know it sounds different from my Denon... I'll just take some time and listen and then I'll be in a better position to make an educated opinion

It will be a new Audyssey software release for the Pro Kit.

Sorry about the confusion. Audyssey needs to update their"pro" software to include the 80.3. Luke indicated it was not their fault the update was late in coming. Integra seems to be slow in providing Audyssey with whatever pertinent information needed to put them in the new software version.

Then I stand corrected and have edited my post.

Jeff

You can't find prices for them being sold online, and especially for any discounted prices, because Integra does not allow their authorized Integra dealers to sell products online. So if you ever do find someone selling Integra products online, they are almost certainly not a authorized Integra dealer. And that has a potentially huge impact on having a valid factory warranty.

... which is why I buy the Onkyo versions which are sold online.

Have any of you DHC-80.3 owners previously owned the Emotiva DMC-1? I'm sure the 80.3 blows the doors off the Emo in surround sound, but I am most concerned about preserving my current stereo+sub music listening experience (fed from a uncompressed CD quality digital source). I want to avoid adding any additional brightness or harshness.

Thanks.

-james

There are ways to get around the lack of online Integra sales, such as a simple phone call to a authorized dealer. Plus if they don't release the 5509 in the US, then you pretty much have to look for buying a 80.3 from somewhere, if you were initially looking to get a 5509.

I owned the Emotiva DMC-1 a few years ago. Although the DMC-1 was long gone by the time I got the DHC-80.3, my recollection is that the DMC-1 was very good in stereo and somewhat mediocre (by today's standards) surround-sound processor. The DHC-80.3 is outstanding in any mode, including stereo or 2.1; no extra brightness or harshness in my system. For main speakers I use Magnepan MMG's without any tweeter attenuation powered by a Pass Labs XA30.5 Class A amp. It is truly an outstanding preamp/processor fit for the finest audiophile system. Simply having Audyssey XT32 room correction is going to make your 2.1 sound reproduction sound much better, and surround-sound will give you a higher level of realism.

It has been 5-6 years but I did have the DMC-1. It was a very nice unit and was replaced by an Integra 9.8 that was replaced by an Integra 80.1 that was just replaced by a DHC-80.3. There has been an improvement in SQ with each upgrade although none of them were huge.

I have had a few other products sprinkled in over the last 10 years (Lexicon, Marantz, Denon, HK) but have locked onto the Integra line. Great bang for the buck products and I have never had a single problem with any of them.

Thanks guys... appreciate the info...

Maybe sometime in the future I'll look into the Pro sorftware, but as it sits right now - Pretty darn happy with XT32 as it is...

Thank you RMK! and Beto3645. That eases my concerns!

-james

Hi all,

Somewhere in this thread there was a discussion about cables used to connect the DHC-80.3 to external amps. I thought I would weigh in with my experience...

I first connected my DHC-80.3 to my Halo amps via the RCA ports. The RCA cables I was using were decidedly cheap as they were the only ones I had. I remember buying them many years ago to connect some low end components to a low end receiver in my garage. For that setup, they sounded fine.

The next weekend, a friend came over to my house and brought with him all sorts of RCA cables. I previously told him what I was using for an interim connection to my amps. In his box of cables were 2 cables of 3 conductor, gold plated RCA terminated cables, for use with component video (I think that's how to describe them). I decided to use these cables until I could get the "right" cables. Anyway, my friend said he thought these cables were good cables, they were matched and would better than the cables I was using. Hooking these cables into the Integra and the Halos, there was a definite improvement in sound. Whoa! What a difference, I thought. My friend is a retired Physics/EE oil company engineer, who is also a big proponent of XLR cables. He can talk for hours about balanced cables and he did. Hearing the difference these no name RCA cables made and listening to his arguments for XLR cables, I decided to order some XLR cables. After much reading of reviews and such, I chose Kimber Kable Hero cables with XLR termination, in 1.5 meter lengths.

Yep, the Kimbers are stupid expensive, but I justified it this way... What the heck, this is a critical connection in the sound equation and I am going to amortize this cost over a bunch of years, keeping and using them forever. Typical argument, eh? The Kimber's arrived and I hooked them up. The result? I could NOT tell a bit of difference in the sound quality over those video, no name, gold plated RCA terminated cables. I'm telling you, I heard NO difference at all. I am not sure what I expected, but if you read anyone's justification for these expensive cables like the Kimber Hero's, surely something should have sounded different, sounded better. Heck, the sound stage should have been "wider and more expansive". The difference Miraculous! Magic should have happened! But no, I couldn't tell the difference in going from the RCA ports to the XLR ports and changing the cable material to a "highly rated/highly recommended" cable. Tell me again who is rating these cables!!

I had that awful feeling I wasted my money. So, after two weeks, I decided to RMA the Kimber Kables and order some Blue Jean Balanced XLR cables. This is the link for the Blue Jean Cables I ordered: http://www.bluejeanscable.com/store/...udio/index.htm The Blue Jean Balanced cables have a huge price advantage over the Kimbers and I was praying the Blue Jeans Balanced cables were not any worst than the Kimbers. I really didn't want to go back to my friend's RCA cables.

When the Blue Jean Balanced cables arrived, I decided to play some music I like before I made the change to the Blue Jean cables. After several songs of several artist, I swapped out the Kimbers for the Blue Jean cables and then played the same music. This is where it gets weird... there was an unexpected, yet definite difference in the sound quality that was a real improvement to my ears. It just sounded better. Not a night and day difference; rather, a richer, fuller sound is the best I can describe the difference I heard. Even now when I play music or listen to a BD movies' audio track, I am still amazed that there is this difference in sound. A difference I like better. Crank it up or leave it down low, it all sounds better now. So much better than with those so much more expensive Kimber Hero XLR cables. Weird.

This has to be the checkbook syndrome...

FYI... I am not associated with Blue Jeans Cable. In fact, it was while I was reading a thread elsewhere on AVS Forums that I "discovered" Blue Jean Cable. Honestly, if I didn't like the Blue Jean cable performance, I felt I could throw them away and not feel the pain of an ignorant purchase.

Oh yeah, I haven't compared my friend's RCA cables to the Blue Jean Balanced XLR cables. I am really happy with the Blue Jean cables, cost and performance wise. And since it is a real pain in the arse to swap out cables in my physical setup, I am happy to move on to other issues.

Just to let you know, we also have an ONKYO pre-pro coupled with two PARASOUND power amps: PARASOUND 5 channel Halo A51 and the PARASOUND 2 channel Halo A23 (powers our front height ambient speakers).

We ended up going with these EMOTIVA X-Series Balanced XLR Cables:

http://emotiva.com/interconnects.shtm

Exceptional cables, exceptional sound and one of the best investments we made. Like you we descovered that the XLR's are the way to go. Surprisingly, we also found that Banana Plugs also made a tremendous difference as well. Who knew how much of a difference the "little things" can make

Enjoy your new audio set up... your going to LOVE how good it sounds. The ONKYO pre-pro and PARASOUNDS are outstanding together.

I really do like the sound that comes out my system. My system is a bit different than yours in that I have the A52 instead of the A51. I couldn't justify the cost of the A51 and the power requirements. With a true 125 WATTs RMS per channel that the A52 gives, I just didn't think I needed any more. Truth be told, I really didn't want to taste the heroin of 250 WATTs as I was afraid I might eventually go deaf with 250 WATTs.

Its quite amazing, especially watching a well done surround sound BD film. One film had me leave the room, looking for a faint "knocking/tapping sound" in another room. It was when I realized what was happening, the sound was in the film in the background, that I thought to myself - Very Cool. Got snookered by watching a movie in my house.

My motivation for my post about my experience with the Kimber Kable Hero XLR cables is simple. I think for any given system, once the quality threshold is crossed, any additional attempts at improvement is pure folly and a waste of money. I don't know why the Blue Jean XLR cables (@$30+) sound so much better than the Kimbers (@$260+).

Funny thing... When I was getting the RMA for the Kimbers, they asked why I didn't want the Kimbers. I explained that I couldn't detect ANY difference in the Kimbers versus the RCA video component cables (probably costing a total of $70 or less). The response I got was... the accoustics in your room must be off and can't take advantage of the Kimbers. When I heard that, I thought... You're so full of BS. And you don't even know what kind of audio equipment I have.

sparcs

The mopnoprice xlr's will also work for even less than the bluejeans xlr's.
Nice comment by kimber though. The whole cable business is snake oil at it's finest anyways and with garbage like that, it just throws more fuel on the fire.

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showp...&postcount=266

You could have saved 50% over the Blue Jean balanced cables with these:
http://www.markertek.com/Cables/Audi...SC100XXJ.xhtml

These cables use Canare Star Quad cable with Neutrik XLR connectors.

I use Mogami pro audio cables and buy locally at a very reasonable price. But I found monoprice and blue jeans cables are quite good as well.

I'm not any sort of expert on US law, but this seems unlikely to me to stand up in court. It requires that the consumer have a deep understanding of Onkyo/Integra's distribution chain and policies prior to purchase, which is not only putting an unrealistic onus on the consumer, but I cannot see any court expecting it in a warranty dispute. I'd bet that this 'buy from an authorised dealer or you have no warranty of any kind' issue has never been tested in court and that if it was it would likely fail. I'd further bet that anyone who has bought a unit and required warranty service has received it, so long as they can prove the purchase date of the unit. It just seems incredibly unlikely to me that a manufacturer can wriggle out of a warranty claim by requiring a consumer to know the dealer status of the place of purchase, prior to purchase.

I could be wrong of course

I am not a lawyer either. The real point is you will not find Integra prices online because of the contract between Integra and their officially franchised dealers. The dealers are not permitted to do so under that contract. This is also the case for many other high end brands. There is nothing illegal about that. Onkyo, is of course, entirely different, and apparently does not restrict online price ads by their dealers.

I do not know how an online dealer would even obtain an Integra product for resale if he is not contractually franchised by Integra USA. The only likely possibility is as "gray goods", sourcing a potentially non-US spec product from overseas, i.e., not from Integra USA. I do not think there is anything illegal about Integra USA denying warranty priviledges for non-Integra USA distributed products.

Its the same with cars or other products. If you are overseas and buy a new BMW directly from, say, a German dealer, there is no obligation legally for BMW USA or their US dealers to honor any warranties if you bring it back into the US. It would not be US spec, anyway.