Receiver/Amp suggestions for 2.2 setup? AVR?

[Luke]

I have 1961 towers on order and will likely run a single or dual sub setup with them in my living room. I’m pre-wired for multi-channel throughout, but I will very likely not add surrounds or height speakers in the foreseeable future to keep the aesthetic nice, unless I come up with something in-wall and super clean.

That said, what are some suggestions for powering these for TV and music if I am streaming everything from an Nvidia Shield TV Pro and would like to have quality room correction? An AVR? I’ve been told a DDRC-24 MiniDSP with Dirac might be a good idea, but I’m not exactly sure how that setup would work starting from scratch (but open to it).

I’ve seen the Denon DRA-900H 2-Channel Stereo Network Receiver, but there is no room correction, the subwoofer outputs appear to not be discreet, and its unclear if its rated for 4 ohm.

The X3800H seems to be the lowest model from Denon with Audyssey XT32.

Others have recommended the Marantz Cinema 50s in another thread, but that is out of the price point I’d like to be in. The Cinema 70s looks underpowered.

Ideally, I’d like to keep this under a street price of say, $1,500, unless there’s a convincing argument in favor of another option (like higher level Dirac DLBC).

[Lukas]

Hi Luke,

If you want to stay in Stereo and a good room correction you could go with an miniDSP Flex with DIRAC and add a nice power amp to it. (Monoprice, Emotive, Rotel, etc).
Definitely an alternative to an AVR.

An AVR is just simple and convenient. Denon and Marantz are heavily discounting their AVRs so maybe something to look out for.

 

 

[Luke]

I appreciate the suggestion. miniDSP gets suggested a lot, and I like the idea, but it seems insufficient for a TV and Nvidia Shield source because it would need to integrate HDMI, right? Or in this scenario are you saying the Nvidia Shield connects to the TV through HDMI and the TV sends the audio to the miniDSP through SPDIF or Toslink?

[Lukas]

Yes, that is the only downside (or advantage depending on your view) that HDMI is not included. You would need to convert the signal to SPDIF either on the TV or with a converter.

Alternatives are also from NAD and Lyngdorf. They also have room correction in their Stereo models.

[Luis]

Hmm… it all depends on what your end goal is.  IF and it seems like a big IF… home theater is indeed in your future, then an AVR may make sense; however, that all depends on timing.  If you’re years away before being ready for Home Theater, then an AVR may not make sense as models, features, surround formats, etc. will more than likely change and your year or two AVR may not provide the feature set you want.  As Lukas indicated… a nice preamp or integrated amp might be the best solution for today.  A Bluesound Node has HDMI in and can act as a preamp, so you certainly have options…. all depends on budget.

 

 

[Luke]

I mentioned roughly $1,500 for the budget. It’s not fixed, but it seems that beyond that – at least with the AVR setup – it’s mostly adding speaker outputs I don’t need or power beyond what is sufficient for the 1961s. I suppose there’s no such thing as too much power. All I can say is my current older Denon I used with my HSU Research speakers is not cutting it after running the basic Audyssey it comes with. These 1961 towers sound very lifeless, there is little imaging and detail with music, and dialogue with TV/movies is not great. I’m hoping it’s just an inadequate electronics setup.

[Lukas]

What is your current AVR? Did you try it without Audyssey?

[Luke]

It’s a Denon AVR-S910W and is insufficient for these speakers. I want to replace it. I just hope it’s the reason the speakers do not sound good in terms of detail and sound stage. I don’t have measurement equipment to see how they are performing in room. I suppose I should get a decent setup for that and learn how to take measurements rather that just relying on room correction.

You asked about Audyssey vs off. I’ve tried both. I cycle through auto/direct/pure direct to see if one jumps out. Audyssey did not sound appreciably better. I might have even preferred “direct.” I realize this is the lowest version of Audyssey and maybe worthless.

While in my 60-day period, I’d like to get new electronics and learn to take measurements. Researching on a good AVR or other setup right now.

[Lukas]

Automatic room corrections are hit or miss. In my experience with Audyssey, it is 50/50.
It does not matter which version.
If you are serious about home cinema, measuring equipment, and a bit of time spent learning how to use it, goes a long way.

Sure the Denon is on the lower side, but in stereo, it should have more than enough power to drive the 1961 Towers.
Especially when set to small and subwoofer to handle the low bass.
It could be that you have an issue with placement and room acoustics rather than the AVR.

Maybe you want to share some photos of your setup?

 

 

[Luke]

I’ve attached a couple of photos of my living room setup. I tried the inline photo add, but it wouldn’t take my URLs from imgbb.com.

One photo is 1x and the other is wide angle 0.5x to give more perspective at the risk of making the room look larger than it is. It is a big room, but only because we opened the ceiling to the roof line and the living room opens to the left to the dining and kitchen area. Essentially, it’s a great room situation because of that. The house is not large. The electronics are in the closet there on the right side.

 

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[Lukas]

Hi Luke,

sorry for the late response.
Thank you for seeing the photos and it pretty much confirmed my suspicions.

I am sure you are experiencing room acoustic problems and not problems with the AVR.
You have an open space with a lot of flat and hard surfaces. The sound will reflect a lot and create a diffuse and masked sound. That is what you are experiencing with the lack of detail and soundstage.
You could look into acoustical treatment or try a better room correction to minimize those effects.