A newer preamp/control center?

[70sMac]

Originally Posted by W9TR

You’ve got a great player and an Apple TV and I’m not sure what else so you are on the way to a nice digital setup. We spin a lot of DVD’s and Blu-Rays since streaming is sometimes iffy. Nothing like having the goods in hand, you know?

You’ll get a lot of advice on pre-pros. I can say for sure that they are all very complicated technical marvels that do a lot of amazing things. I don’t think you can go wrong with any of them. They are all good and the competition is fierce. Just try to find one that is no fiddle - one that is, above all false, easy to use.

I’ve had my MX 151 for five years and still haven’t used all its features. I just turn it on and watch movies through it. PITA to set up and a breeze to use. My OppO player spins every disc I have.

I can live with that.

You know, Tom, I have to agree with you. Maybe it's the fact that we spent more than a decade "out of the techno loop" or, perhaps, it's the fact that we don't have bona fide high speed internet...but I still like having the physical goods. Hell, we lugged them from KSC to Patrick AFB to Belle Chasse NAS (NOLA) to the Berkshires, so we better like them...

...and, yes, we might not have the very latest, but we do have an Apple TV unit and a new Oppo 203 to go along with our Mac equipment...so now it's just those finishing touches to enable us to have surround sound in our new entertainment room. A reliable preamp/processor, a center speaker that won't clash with our B&W Nautilus outfit and a suitable subwoofer -- and we'll be up to speed.

[W9TR]

It must seem daunting when you’ve been away for awhile.

The past 10 years have seen an explosion in DAC’s and streaming.

New video and audio standards are obsoleting older Home Theater gear. It seems there is a new format out every other year or so. The latest audio standard from Dolby is called Atmos and adds multiple height speakers to an existing 5.1 or 7.1 setup.

Heck in our lake house we don’t even have 5.1 yet. Because I’m too lazy to install rear speakers. And the wood stove might cook the left speaker anyway.

It will all make more sense as you research some of the stuff out there.

Happy hunting!

Tom

[70sMac]

Originally Posted by W9TR

It must seem daunting when you’ve been away for awhile.

The past 10 years have seen an explosion in DAC’s and streaming.

New video and audio standards are obsoleting older Home Theater gear. It seems there is a new format out every other year or so. The latest audio standard from Dolby is called Atmos and adds multiple height speakers to an existing 5.1 or 7.1 setup.

Heck in our lake house we don’t even have 5.1 yet. Because I’m too lazy to install rear speakers. And the wood stove might cook the left speaker anyway.

It will all make more sense as you research some of the stuff out there.

Happy hunting!

Tom

Tom..... I was just looking at your main system (in your signature). Please let me know, if I'm wrong, but it appears to me that you've got a lot of time and love invested into a high-end surround system in your home.

Would you mind sharing your thoughts on center speakers and subwoofers?

As our signature shows, we use B&W N802s for fronts and N805s for rears. I hate to even bring it up, but the Mrs. likes uniformity in "her" house, so appearance also plays a part in this -- especially when it comes to the center. That's why I've been trying to track down a mint Nautilus HTM-1 or HTM-2 that "matches" the red cherry veneer that all of our B&W speakers came with...but I digress.

The question is: Do you think that moving away from the Nautilus line, for a center, will make a big difference when it comes to a simple 5-channel surround setup? I've read positive reviews about a MartinLogan center called the Motion 30. It seems like a decent speaker -- and it comes with a veneer that won't stand out like a sore thumb in a room full of red cherry Nautilus speakers, which will appease the Mrs.

[W9TR]

Sure - let ‘s talk centers.

Kelly and I love our SF Amati VOX center. It’s a perfect match for our mains. It’s uncanny. I don’t know how they do it. It is creating some crazy good on-screen localization. If the actor is on the left side of the screen their voice appears to come from the left side of the screen. Even height cues are very clear.

So I recommend finding the closest match to your mains that you can find. For home theater the center is king. Since you have a combined 2-channel and HT system it will pay to get a very good center.

A good place to start is to make sure that the individual drivers are made out of the same materials.

For example if your mains have a titanium tweeter then the center should. Doped paper midrange? Match it. Etc. Etc.

Subwoofers - anything less than 12” is not a subwoofer!

Just can’t create enough air movement to make deep powerful bass.

I’ve got a JL Audio Gotham which has 2 13” drivers arranged vertically in a cabinet the size of an under-counter refrigerator and weighing 5 x more.

320 Lbs makes it a three person move. I think it will sell with the house.

I like having a single woofer with two drivers - very smooth but impactful.

But there are a lot of people who like having stereo subs - I just couldn’t accommodate that setup in our room.

I don’t use the sub for music. In
my room the Amati Futuras go down to 25 Hz which is just fine for music.

Anyway those are my thoughts. Happy hunting. Especially for that elusive center - they’re out there, one of them just needs to find you.

Tom

[70sMac]

Originally Posted by damacman

I've been a Mc owner since 1990. I have seen and heard enough stories as Yamaki's on MX theater processors to stay away from them entirely. There are just too many less expensive alternatives which do not have these reliability issues.

That's exactly why I run another brand of pre/pro with my C200.

damacman..... I really appreciate your sticking with me here, but it's been kind of tough getting a read on the direction we should take when it comes to replacing our Mac MX-130. I honestly don't mean to put you on the spot, but you were the one that suggested staying away from the Mac MX-XXX equipment. Due to the money involved, I took that pretty seriously, so now I'm open to alternatives...

If you were looking for a reliable preamp/processor, which one(s) would you be looking at?

[bart]

Originally Posted by 70sMac

damacman..... I really appreciate your sticking with me here, but it's been kind of tough getting a read on the direction we should take when it comes to replacing our Mac MX-130. I honestly don't mean to put you on the spot, but you were the one that suggested staying away from the Mac MX-XXX equipment. Due to the money involved, I took that pretty seriously, so now I'm open to alternatives...

If you were looking for a reliable preamp/processor, which one(s) would you be looking at?

Bill, I had a long search for a good processor.
Looked into seriously expensive options also (like Datasat).
Finally I settled with a Marantz, and it is a really fine pre/DAC/tuner.
It doesn't equal my stereo set-up, but having 5 channels is an absolute plus for some great pop classics (Moody Blues, Genesis, Pink Floyd, The Beatles, and a lot of classical music).

[70sMac]

Originally Posted by bart

Bill, I had a long search for a good processor.
Looked into seriously expensive options also (like Datasat).
Finally I settled with a Marantz, and it is a really fine pre/DAC/tuner.
It doesn't equal my stereo set-up, but having 5 channels is an absolute plus for some great pop classics (Moody Blues, Genesis, Pink Floyd, The Beatles, and a lot of classical music).

Bart..... This why I keep grinding away with the threads and the questions. It's really nice to know that some of my thinking isn't way off. Although we spent well over a decade in a place where we couldn't enjoy our Mac equipment, we still kept adding to our music collection. We started out with a [modest] collection of CDs and have gradually added HDCDs, SACDs and a few DVD-As to the list.

Earlier today, I saw a reference to Bluray Audio, so there's another format that I'd like to learn more about. Considering the lack of high-speed internet availability, here in the mountains, I'm beginning to think that holding onto our physical media isn't such a bad idea.

I'm also very happy to learn that there are decent alternatives to the Mac MX-XXX preamp/processor that we're looking into replacing. Thank you for the specific information.

[Vintage Pete]

When it comes to the processor, if you don't want to spend a pile of money and have a very good and trouble-free processor, you won't go wrong with the MX-120....

Is it AS "up to date" as the newer ones? No. Any of the drawbacks mentioned in this thread, while they may be true, have not proved to be an issue for me. There are workarounds.

So, this is my story, and I'm sticking to it....

[70sMac]

Originally Posted by Vintage Pete

When it comes to the processor, if you don't want to spend a pile of money and have a very good and trouble-free processor, you won't go wrong with the MX-120....

Is it AS "up to date" as the newer ones? No. Any of the drawbacks mentioned in this thread, while they may be true, have not proved to be an issue for me. There are workarounds.

So, this is my story, and I'm sticking to it....

Well, anything coming out of FLA -- including advice -- can't be too bad, aye?

[Vintage Pete]

Originally Posted by 70sMac

Well, anything coming out of FLA -- including advice -- can't be too bad, aye?

Bill...I hope not! I can tell you, the setup of this processor (or any of these processors) can be a bit of a daunting task. But once completed it's sit back and enjoy. I never think about all of those ins and outs anymore....though this thread did have me looking through my manual a little once again.

I did run the HDMI video out directly to my Sony 4K TV directly after a time, because there were those who said the MX120 wasn't "truly 4K compliant" in this respect. So I ran the Oppo video output directly to the TV "just in case' I was maybe losing a bit of quality. But to be very honest, I could tell little, if any difference. I could probably go back to my initial setup and be just fine-it's so good to begin with...

I run my audio signals from the Oppo (Front, Center, Right, Sub, left and right surrounds) directly to the MX120's discrete audio inputs. And once again, the MX120 will support a discrete 7.1 setup.

I too considered buying a cheaper, lesser brand (after all, it's only a bedroom system!); but a voice inside me told me that I'd be sorry down the road if I didn't go with McIntosh.

I'm glad I did.