Hi,
As discussed earlier on the forum I managed to experiment with a stereo amp based HT set up. The people at Norge Audio in Mumbai (Mr Laxman) were kind enough to let me carry my PC to their workshop. They connected the analog outs of the motherboard to 3 different amps (model 4242). These amps were connected to varying bookshelf speakers. One large book shelf speaker was used as a subwoofer since there wasn't one on hand. For surrounds we used the smallish Norge Nano speaker set.
Once connected we tried multiple sound clips from movies such as- The Book of Eli, Avatar, Star Trek, Bajirao Mastani, Lord of the Rings, THX demo, a demo disc from DTS etc.
Initially all speakers were kept in the front which was causing some muddying of sound but once separated, the surround effects were surprisingly sharp and accurate.
When playing Avatar, i experienced a sound-field which was phenomenally large and loud. The amps were brimming with energy and even minor details in the track such as the rustling of leaves received adequate attention and power.
Bajirao Mastani's initial court scene where Bajirao presents his candidature to the court is my favorite since it offers a lot to test- ample dialogues, followed by silence then the scene where the bow is stretched and then the applause.
The amps gave a feeling that I was watching the movie in a movie hall. Such was the scale and power.
The "mastani" song played phenomenally well.
However while playing a demo from pirates of the carribean, the experience wasn't so immersive and felt a bit disjointed.
The Norge people attributed this to three things- one is the lack of proper matching of speakers, their placement and the absence of a certain mpc or mpx circuit which it seems is present in AVRs which gives it the ability to deliver crystal clear sound. However they mentioned that the sound could be improved with software or proper placement of speakers.
Barring the above I was tempted to buy the 4242 amps to build my HT with Wharfedale speakers.
Some of the pros and cons:
+ Ample power and headroom for all channels
+ plenty of flexibility
+ no headaches of HDMI board replacement/ repairs (quite common these days)
+ price
+ ability to swap amps as per liking
+ cheap repairs if required
- Not a neat solution (one box types)
- No audyssey/ YPAO/ MCACC
- all amps were running at 12 o clock volume (weak pc signal ?)
- no remote
- lack of whatever filter that these ppl were talking about
- slightly accentuated higher frequencies
Can some of you with technical/ engineering background shed some light on this ? Can the sound signature be improved with software adjustments?
Thanks
As discussed earlier on the forum I managed to experiment with a stereo amp based HT set up. The people at Norge Audio in Mumbai (Mr Laxman) were kind enough to let me carry my PC to their workshop. They connected the analog outs of the motherboard to 3 different amps (model 4242). These amps were connected to varying bookshelf speakers. One large book shelf speaker was used as a subwoofer since there wasn't one on hand. For surrounds we used the smallish Norge Nano speaker set.
Once connected we tried multiple sound clips from movies such as- The Book of Eli, Avatar, Star Trek, Bajirao Mastani, Lord of the Rings, THX demo, a demo disc from DTS etc.
Initially all speakers were kept in the front which was causing some muddying of sound but once separated, the surround effects were surprisingly sharp and accurate.
When playing Avatar, i experienced a sound-field which was phenomenally large and loud. The amps were brimming with energy and even minor details in the track such as the rustling of leaves received adequate attention and power.
Bajirao Mastani's initial court scene where Bajirao presents his candidature to the court is my favorite since it offers a lot to test- ample dialogues, followed by silence then the scene where the bow is stretched and then the applause.
The amps gave a feeling that I was watching the movie in a movie hall. Such was the scale and power.
The "mastani" song played phenomenally well.
However while playing a demo from pirates of the carribean, the experience wasn't so immersive and felt a bit disjointed.
The Norge people attributed this to three things- one is the lack of proper matching of speakers, their placement and the absence of a certain mpc or mpx circuit which it seems is present in AVRs which gives it the ability to deliver crystal clear sound. However they mentioned that the sound could be improved with software or proper placement of speakers.
Barring the above I was tempted to buy the 4242 amps to build my HT with Wharfedale speakers.
Some of the pros and cons:
+ Ample power and headroom for all channels
+ plenty of flexibility
+ no headaches of HDMI board replacement/ repairs (quite common these days)
+ price
+ ability to swap amps as per liking
+ cheap repairs if required
- Not a neat solution (one box types)
- No audyssey/ YPAO/ MCACC
- all amps were running at 12 o clock volume (weak pc signal ?)
- no remote
- lack of whatever filter that these ppl were talking about
- slightly accentuated higher frequencies
Can some of you with technical/ engineering background shed some light on this ? Can the sound signature be improved with software adjustments?
Thanks