2. amps-preamps
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Picking an amplifier

I have the following speakers:
NHT 2.1 Front LR 200W @ 6ohms
NHT AC1 Center 150W @ 8 ohms
NHT SW2 Subwoofer 200W @ 8 ohms
The rear speakers are inconsequential (and boxed up) they might come out to play when I move to bigger digs.
I’ve been using NHTs 214s and 216s, (think lightbulbs) but the market is drying up. I remain unconvinced they are worth the shipping & costs to repair.
My (current) short list of replacement amps:
Outlaw Audio model 770 7 (7 channels)
Bryston 9B ST (5 channels) (2 years left on warranty)
Parasound 5125 (5 channels)
The budget is $1000, I have located sources for all three at or below $1000.
Any/all discussion of suitability, repair outlook, and peanut shells welcome. From a listening perspective, I've been fine with the NADs, but am priced out of the newer models. Nuts, I might even repair the NADs if I find the right person with the skills & tools.

shalmaneser
shalmaneser OP
62 posts
 
He's got it on Ebay https://www.ebay.com/itm/Yamaha-CX-A5000-11-2-Channel-Preamplifier-Processor-Black/332420837035?hash...
Its the same one. 
After a couple exchanges, I offered him $825 via Ebay and he didn't get back to me. I might have offended him. Hoping he just left for the day. The market is $600-$850. 
I can always color up the system with the alternate STX chips. 
I visited the Audio Ect where I bought the original stuff. They moved to the Mercedes & BMW neighborhood and tacked a zero onto their inventory. Apparently computers keep getting cheaper and audio equipment keeps getting more expensive. 
shalmaneser OP
62 posts
 
Think this will do anything for PC->(usb)->DAC quality? 
https://www.extremetech.com/computing/257905-start-engines-pci-express-4-0-standard-officially-relea...
auxinput
2,920 posts
 
Naw, the original PCI interface has more than enough bandwidth to support audio.  I have no problems doing 24/192 stereo audio through my old Xonar Essence PCI card.  PCI-Express is just overkill and is likely to introduce jitter issues.  The crystal clocks and power supply have more to do with audio quality than evolutions in PCI Express.  PCI 4.0 will have benefits on graphics cards and stuff like multi-disk RAID controllers where I/O is critical.
shalmaneser OP
62 posts
 
That's what I thought. Audio isn't my specialty. It looks to me like the basic flaw in all these protocols is the failure to embed timing within the protocol. While that would expand the amount of data required & storage requirements at the pit stops, it would put a stop to timing problems. It's an artifact of when data storage was e.x.p.e.n.s.i.v.e.
auxinput
2,920 posts
 

Yeah, the whole evolution of computers is the goal to transfer as much data as possible in the fastest possible way.  Throughput has always been the bottleneck.  This is definitely critical when graphics rendering and GPU processes came into play.  Now it is also pure data I/O when you look at database servers and such.

With audio, we have surpassed the bandwidth limitations a LONG time ago.  Audio quality (even digital transfer from SPDIF) is entirely reliant on accuracy of clock signals and smooth voltage from power supply.  Switching power supplies (such as in computers) will introduce noise into the signal and also cause electrical resonance in the signal (making the audio not as solid sounding).

If you are building a new "audio" computer in the future, these are a couple things you could look at if you chose to:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/TeraDak-350W-Toroidal-transformer-PSU-linear-computer-power-supply-PC-PSU/222531593988?hash=item33cfeaa704:g:VccAAOSwopRYfhhw

https://www.ebay.com/itm/TeraDak-600W-R-type-transformer-PSU-linear-computer-power-supply-PC-PSU/322543529946?hash=item4b1917afda:g:IgEAAOSw9GhYflOv

Teradak has a range, but these are the cheapest and most expensive "full computer power supplies".  You are not there yet.  Still have to get a HT processor, lol.  You may be fine with what you have.

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