I think your easiest route is to use your TV’s S/PDIF digital outputs (usually optical?) to a basic 2 channel DAC (see Topping). Just have to tell your TV to only send 2 channel sound. Use that as the input to your integrated and you are done.
is there an (AV receiver) type device that doesn't have amplifier/preamplifiers?
Hi, first post in 20 years.
I have an old, fairly low end AV receiver in my system(marantz NR1403) but I have an outboard integrated stereo amplifier(plinius 9200) which I obviously prefer to handle all the sound amplification. main source is my cable box with HDMI outputs, and my main content is movies.
however I only use two speakers and don’t want or need more, so I have no requirement for surround sound, subs, etc.
therefore the AV receiver still needs to be in the chain to handle the audio decoding and DA functions. as there are no separate video or audio outputs on the back of a tv cable box to be able to go straight to my amp, and projector.
however as I’m presently coming from the L & R preamp outs on the back of the receiver to the processor/power amp inputs of my integrated amplifier, I’m still forced to go through the preamp of the low end receiver instead of the full capacity of my plinius amp.
is anyone aware of a newer more specific unit that allows you to take the signal from a hdmi video/audio source (my cable box) transmit it to my JVC projector and my integrated amplifier without having all the extras of an av receiver that i dont require, like multi channel surround sound and speaker outputs. etc.? also I assume a unit from the past 5 years would have better DA converters than one from 20 years ago?
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yes reubent, everything worked out as you said. i ended up going with the Cambridge Audio dacmagic 200m. i got it on sale for $520 CAD($250 off) at a local audio store. this one actually has two optical inputs so i can add a second digital source if i want. and it has the unit was super simple to set up, worked seamlessly right out of the box, plug and play, zero audio sync issues. if anything the audio seems more in sync.
my HDMI video seems to look almost cleaner and richer. dialogue audio seems more detailed.
it also has bluetooth options which id like to explore as well and I'm trying to think what other digital sources i can incorporate. |
@mainlymusicman - Awesome! Glad it worked out and you have a simplified system. If you want to try another digital source, of course you can stream from your phone or computer via Bluetooth. However, Bluetooth is not a lossless format and you will have somewhat diminished sound quality. Might be good enough for you. You could also stream via a dedicated streamer such as a WIIM Mini, or another higher-end WIIM streaming device. I use a WIIM Mini and stream Spotify. Spotify is also not lossless, but it sounds good enough for me. I also just bought an inexpensive $105 SMSL PL100 CD Player/Transport that I'm going to run through my DAC as a test. If it's as good as my expensive dedicated CD player, I'm going to sell the CD Player. |
thanks I’ll check out the WIIM unit. right now the only way to stream from my phone to the DAC is over bluetooth,.
looks like with the WIIM your phone is just your controller and the audio is actually on the WIIM unit itself and can be wired to the dac?
I see the optical output on the back is labelled SPDIF. i assume optical and SPDIF are interchangeable here? |
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