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Have I fallen down the rabbit hole, or achieved clarity . . .

I started out asking about streamers, versus using HEOS in my fairly new Marantz AV7706. I got a lot of good advice and suggestions, but those led to the conclusion that for listening to music, I really needed new speakers (I have been using four Bose 901 Vs for years in my HT set-up). I purchased new speakers, am waiting for them to arrive, and am back looking at streamers again.

In looking at the EverSolo DMP-A8 (not sold on this, but considering it), it occurs to me that to achieve my goal of being able to switch between 5.1 HT for TV and movies, and my stereo set-up for music listening, I can basically set up two separate systems. For HT, use my AV7706 going into a Parasound A51 powering the Bose 901s, Klipsch RC-64 center channel and a Monolith M-10 sub. If I get the EverSolo (or something similar), I would connect it to my second Parasound A51, bi-amping my Usher Mini-2 Diamonds for music listening. I’d been puzzling over how to run everything through the Marantz, and then today it occured to me "Why?".

Am I wrong?

mbarrett635
soix
9,590 posts
 

I’d say you’ve absolutely achieved clarity. Congrats on the Ushers — they’re on a different planet from the Bose — just make sure you give them at least a couple feet from the back wall so they can breathe and do their thing (keep in mind they’ll need around 200 hours or more of playing time to break in). Why not just run the balanced outs from the DMP-A8 (fixed output — assuming it has that — so you bypass the A8’s preamp) into the front balanced inputs on the Marantz, ditch the 901s completely, and then you’d have 2-channel and HT in the same system? Maybe I’m missing something here, but that’s one option to ponder.

mbarrett635 OP
18 posts
 

I could do that, but for two things. First, I’m assuming the DAC in the A-8 is better than the one in the Marantz. True, or no?  Second, from what I can see from reading the manual, I’d lose the ability to bi-amp the Ushers if I connect them and all four Bose to the Marantz, or else I’d have to use the Ushers as the front channel speakers and two Bose as the rest channel in a 5.1 setup. Not sure how mixing those would sound. 

soix
9,590 posts
 

I’ve only read that the A8 gets good feedback as a DAC, but whether it’s better than the DAC in the Marantz will come down personal taste — my uneducated guess is the A8 may be technically better as Eversolo apparently put some real effort into it.  I wouldn’t worry so much about bi amping the Ushers as it probably won’t make that much difference, and I’d definitely use the Ushers as the front channel speakers for both stereo and HT and maybe use a pair of Bose as rear surrounds where their diffuse sound may actually work in your favor.

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