Budget Stereo Setup

[Marclau]

@Marclau:

I can completely understand being upset when one reads negative comments about one's kit. Choice of speakers being such a subjective affair this tends to happen. While I agree that I could have voiced my opinion more diplomatically I stand by my comments given the context of the discussion.

While the Xarus may not be terrible speakers in absolute terms they simply do not fit the bill in this scenario. It is no doubt a powerful speaker with a pronounced bass response. However it is clearly outdone by its own cousins, the Diamond 8 and 9 series. Especially in terms of musicality and presentation. After all, the Diamonds are such brilliant performers that they eclipse even speakers above their price range. Consider also the intended function of the speakers: Wharfedale themselves position it as part of the "Home DJ" series. Its job is to provide that loud, visceral performance that suits movies and parties very well. If it falls short on accurate and tuneful music presentation, it cannot be faulted - it was never meant to.

That you enjoy the sound of the Xarus and are satisfied with them should be all that matters. Each of us look to a speaker to serve a different purpose and to do it well. That it serves your purpose suitably is the most important thing of all.

Fair comment and one I partly agree with.

However, when I went to listen to the various speakers, I brought a friend with me who is an audio specialist. I mean, he has speakers and equipment I can only dream of owning. Well in access of $120K U.S.

He brought along several CD's for testing including classical,rock and vocal.
Sure the rock sounded good as you would expect, but he was amazed just how well the classical sounded on the Xarus 4000. Vocal was slightly different however with mixed results, some vocal CD's were good, whilst other were simply bad. His experience was that the recording quality simply did not match the speaker pure and simple. Now when I mean vocal, these were CD's with a male or female singer and a guitar or paino. No other instrument.

After nearly 3 hours, it was clear that although the Dali Concept 8's were the leader speaker, over the Mordaunts and several other, we both agreed that at nearly 3 times the price, the Xarus was the better value speaker (for what I intend to use them for Music and Movies)....

Also I have a very big room to fill the sound with 5 X 8 meters.....so these as they are reasonably loud and good quality, they fill my purpose........

I admit that the best way is to go and listen to speakers before you buy. It really does make a difference. I went there to purchase the Dali Concept 8's and in the end, could'nt justify the money spend....

Hope this clarifies it from my perspective.

cheers
Marclau

 

[smedhavi]

Marclau,

What you have heard on this forum is a general perception. If the speakers work for the music you play in your room, and makes you (and your friends) happy, that is all that counts! Why bother?

In the case of audio it is very difficult to make an absolute judgment. We all have different requirements, and even hear the same sound differently.
Video is much easier to discuss. But then >7% males have some kind of color blindness
Color Blindness: More Prevalent Among Males

--------------
unleash_me,

I know that connecting SPDIF out from a computer to a receiver would work, but I was looking for someone who could throw more light comparing the DAC for PCM found in receivers such as Denon 3808 or Onkyo TX-SR 875, with a rededicated CD player.

Thanks,
Sharad

 

[Marclau]

Marclau,

What you have heard on this forum is a general perception. If the speakers work for the music you play in your room, and makes you (and your friends) happy, that is all that counts! Why bother?

In the case of audio it is very difficult to make an absolute judgment. We all have different requirements, and even hear the same sound differently.
Video is much easier to discuss. But then >7% males have some kind of color blindness
Color Blindness: More Prevalent Among Males

--------------
unleash_me,

I know that connecting SPDIF out from a computer to a receiver would work, but I was looking for someone who could throw more light comparing the DAC for PCM found in receivers such as Denon 3808 or Onkyo TX-SR 875, with a rededicated CD player.

Thanks,
Sharad

Sharad,

I could'nt agree more....!!!!

Now why is my font green??!!

HAHAHAH LOL

 

[unleash_me]

... I know that connecting SPDIF out from a computer to a receiver would work, but I was looking for someone who could throw more light comparing the DAC for PCM found in receivers such as Denon 3808 or Onkyo TX-SR 875, with a rededicated CD player...

The simple answer would be NO, an AVR is not an ideal substitute for a dedicated CDP/AMP. I can talk about my experience with Denon 4306.

Mainly because, AVRs in principle are made for cinema duties with ample importance given to bass management, while a stereo amp is a dedicated machine for 2 channel audio with rich and full sound, eliminating the complexities of bass management altogether.

AVRs could sound really good in stereo mode, am not contradicting myself, just mentioning that you could always do better with a dedicated 2 channel setup. I'm sure you know how to work around this and optimize the AVR for the best stereo performance. . Enable only the fronts, set them to large floor-standers, disable the bass management etc... you know the drill

All the best.

 

[smedhavi]

Thanks unleash_me. I value your words.
I do have a separate stereo setup, and have no plans to replace it with a receiver. I was wondering if we could use a hard disk as source anytime in the near future, without a serious compromise on quality. The receiver in this configuration would have worked only as a DAC.
So the answer seems to be 'no, not yet'.

Thanks,
Sharad

 

[skt]

Sharad,
With your next upgrade consider a CDP/DVDP with USB input, the latest players have this option and you can attach an external HDD with USB port to it and play all your music archive without any serious compromise on quality. Now external Hard disk drives are very cheap. think of such an upgrade. same time music servers are a costly affair CA has one with around 69k.

I am also thinking of HDD based HD player which is not found in market. Idea is I can do a Soft convert of DVDs to HD movie format in a disk and play in the TV. in the TV show rooms you can find one similar Samsung use to play with LCDs but it?s not available on sale now. any better ideas welcome.

-sk

 

[smedhavi]

Any recommendations for CDP with USB input?
I don't think I have encountered any.

Thanks,
Sharad

 

[unleash_me]

HDCD1 Dual CD Player with Hard Drive and USB

Jan, 2004 that was.

 

[smedhavi]

This CD player is not an USB server, it is a USB storage device. Some budget DVD players and latest AV receivers work like USB servers and accept other USB storage devices, MP3 players and phones. That is what you were suggesting.
This player itself has a hard disk and connects to a computer like a USB device (like an iPod).

Thanks,
Sharad

 

[unleash_me]

Thatz true.