Post Your Audio Front-End Gear

[djg]

Re: Post Your Audio Front-End Gear

Yamaha RX-V663 A/V receiver
A couple of Class D Audio amps
Sony PS3
Scientific Atlanta cable TV receiver/DVR

5.1 system, Class D amps power L/C/R and sub, surrounds powered by Yamaha.

[Brewski]

Re: Post Your Audio Front-End Gear

Main HT system
HK 635 receiver, PS3, LG progressive DVD player

Upstairs stereo
HK 3390 receiver, PS2, JVC DVD player

I've been really happy with the 635 for home theater and or music the past 4 years so I'll wait for it to die before upgrading to an HDMI receiver. In general I've really been pleased with HK's refurbished receivers and would recommend them to anyone in the market for a receiver.

Take it easy
Jay

[kornphlake]

Re: Post Your Audio Front-End Gear

HK3385 receiver (looks suspiciously similar to the AVR 335 pictured above) attached to my media server/desktop computer's integrated sound.

I'm trying to decide what speakers to build for an Aiwa bookshelf stereo that has damaged speakers from being attached to the previously mentioned HK3385 and played way too loud. The little stereo might put out 15 watts, but it's always been plenty loud, it should be better than whatever is built into the television.

[Wolf]

Re: Post Your Audio Front-End Gear

Sony BD-S550 BD/DVD/CD(+burns) player.
Technics SH-AC500D Digital Processor/DAC
Technics SA-EX810 100Wx5 (120Wx2) Class H+ receiver
...and an older Pioneer 100-cd disc-file- I keep it because it's never refused to play a disc of any sort of audio type. It will play dual-discs, and even some my Sony and older Panny rejected, as well as CD-R's- even for as old as it is.

Later,
Wolf

[Taterworks]

So, what's everybody here using for their audio front end? Whether you're listening to a T-Amp, a receiver, pro audio stuff, or separates, with all the speaker-talk that goes on around here, I figured it was time for a thread to put the focus on the other gear in our systems, so this is that thread.

Post pictures, descriptions, or just a list - it doesn't matter. I'm just curious to know what everyone else here is using.

Here's some of my gack, at least the part that's seeing regular use these days:

Dayton APA150 Stereo Integrated Amp



For as many dollars as watts (75 per channel into 4 ohms), this amp was a no-brainer, and is still an amazing value. It's got a solid toroidal power transformer and a large internal heatsink with a temperature-activated fan at the rear that's only run once - when I wired the dual 2-ohm coils of a bass driver in parallel for a brief excursion test, presenting one channel of the amp with a 1-ohm load. It stayed stable into the load, though I wouldn't try driving anything at super-high volume that way. It can definitely take a pair of 4-ohm nominal speakers without issue. I generally drive this from the headphone output of an el-cheapo 5-disc changer and it does well.

Harman/Kardon AVR 335 7.1-channel Receiver



This receiver delivers 55W RMS into all 7 channels at once, or 75W from the front two channels in stereo mode. It's got a great, relaxed sound that's not 'warm' or 'cool' - just very nicely in the middle. The ability to route the three optical and three coaxial digital inputs to any of the selectable sources is a great feature, but the receiver lacks HDMI switching, which could leave me with some upgraditis soon. This receiver takes optical digital inputs from a home theater PC (Asus Xonar DX), the aforementioned el-cheapo CD changer, a PlayStation 3, and a 40" Samsung LCD HDTV (550-series).

Silverstone EB 02



After using my second-gen SI T-Amp for two months driving my Whetstones speakers in a hotel room in Connecticut, I took a chance on this amp from a company that's better known for their elegant aluminum PC cases than for audio equipment. With its 60-watt power supply, it's definitely a step up from the SI T-Amp (and the Dayton DTA), but for a step up in price ($139). I plan to experiment with an input-cap swap fairly soon. The first amp I bought had a sketchy channel that revealed itself within the first 30 minutes of playing, so I bought a second (rather than fool with any warranty that might have existed), since even for the elevated price the sound quality has been incredible. The internal circuit board is an off-the-shelf T-amp board, with a TA2021B chip-amp under a blue aluminum heatsink that keeps the impossibly tiny chip plenty cool. It sounds great driving the Whetstones, and it's made me want to pursue a high-efficiency two-way design using the Tang Band W6-789E, so that's on the horizon. The amp is currently used at my PC, where it takes analog input from an Asus Xonar D2 sound card via an AudioQuest 3.5mm-stereo RCA cable.