[dekaliber]

I was hoping to get some opinions on what people's thoughts were on whether I should consider an integrated amp for the speakers I'm looking to buy. The opinions I've gotten from dealers are obviously going to be pretty different from the opinions I'm hoping to receive from users.


After doing a number of auditions in various shops I think I'm going to buy the PSB Synchrony Twos (maybe the Ones if an in-home audition finds that they are worth the price difference). I visited two PSB over two weekends and both times I found myself very reluctant to leave. They are rated at 90dB sensitivity (88dB anechoic) and have a nominal & minimum impedeance of 4 ohms.


I've heard some good things about the NAD C372 and it is a bit more powerful in terms of both continuous and dynamic power. I've read that there is some possible advantage to a pure stereo solution over a "compromised" do-it-all receiver. I will be listening to music on the system most of the time, so having solid 2-channel performance is much more important.


Also, I'm not quite sure how to connect everything up in this situation if I want to use the front speakers for both 2-channel music and home theater, so any advice on this would be appreciated. I'd like to have the music source connected directly to the integrated and bypass the A/V receiver entirely.


I plan to do some listening tests once I get all this equipment in my home for the final litmus test, but I was hoping to get an idea of what the consensus was.

 

[Filthy McNasty]

What are your source devices?

 

[dekaliber]



Quote:
Originally Posted by Filthy McNasty /forum/post/14191142


What are your source devices?

Will be using a Squeezebox primarily, possibly upgrading to a Transporter down the road. DVD source is an OPPO player.

 

[Southern Spy]

If you have a Cambridge Audio dealer in your area, it mat be worth a visit.

 

[Filthy McNasty]

The C372 would be the best choice, at that price, to power the Synchrony Twos or Ones. The limiting SQ factor with your input devices would be the lack of a built in DAC in the C372. An outboard DAC would be required to get the most from the Synchrony speakers.


As for HT setup, this is easy as the C372 has preamp to amp jumper pins. Just use an RCA plug selector switch and run cables from the AVR preamp + C372 preamp outputs to it and connect to the amp in inputs on the 372.


When you add the cost of a C372 to an AVR with preamp outputs, you are getting close to the cost of a NAD T955 - which will give you better preamp in your HT setup with almost the same dbw output in stereo at 4 ohms as the 372.

 

[dekaliber]



Quote:
Originally Posted by Filthy McNasty /forum/post/14196703


The C372 would be the best choice, at that price, to power the Synchrony Twos or Ones. The limiting SQ factor with your input devices would be the lack of a built in DAC in the C372. An outboard DAC would be required to get the most from the Synchrony speakers.


As for HT setup, this is easy as the C372 has preamp to amp jumper pins. Just use an RCA plug selector switch and run cables from the AVR preamp + C372 preamp outputs to it and connect to the amp in inputs on the 372.


When you add the cost of a C372 to an AVR with preamp outputs, you are getting close to the cost of a NAD T955 - which will give you better preamp in your HT setup with almost the same dbw output in stereo at 4 ohms as the 372.

The Squeezebox is said to have a pretty HQ Burr-Brown DAC. I may upgrade to a Transporter down the road once more of my collection is in lossless.


So, plugging the cables from the receiver pre outs into the amp in inputs (I think the ones labeled "main in") won't turn off the preamp section of the NAD?


I'll check out some Cambridge Audio equipment as well as I've heard good things about their Azur series.

 

[Filthy McNasty]

When the jumper pins are pulled on the back of the 372; the preamp and amp signals are separated. Run a RCA cable from the preamp outputs of the 372 + preamp outputs of the AVR to a selector switch. The output of this switch is connected to the amp in on 372.


The Cambridge Audio 540R V3 and 640R are worth auditions. They could give you the audio SQ + the HT flexibility you want in a 1 box solution.

 

[DougWinsor]



Quote:
The Cambridge Audio 540R V3 and 640R are worth auditions. They could give you the audio SQ + the HT flexibility you want in a 1 box solution.

They are out of date and can not do audio over HDMI.