TX-8050; Stereo fun!

[Binnatics]

Since long I had the desire of putting together a good sound system for my home entertainment; TV/DVD and audio. Inspired by Arts crib I decided to go for quality. My living room is kind of weird shaped; long and relatively narrow. That makes it hard to set up a surround system. Our house is also not quite isolating so with a bit too much noise my neighbors get pissed. Given situation limited my freedom of choice, which is a good thing in a way because damn you can spend loads of $$$ on sound systems :o
I decided to go for a stereo set with some descent speakers, the KEF Q300, and a quality stereo receiver with the newest abilities aboard; the Onkyo TX-8050 with an Onkyo BD player to be able to play whatever kind of disc.

I was impressed by the amazing sound these stereo speakers produce. It's far better than anything I've had before. The technology used for the speakers is amazing as well; they managed to produce a tweeter and normal loudspeaker in one single object. It doesn't only sound great, it also has its visual appearance :-D
I chose the Onkyo receiver because of its internet options. I have it connected to my home network now and I can listen to both my shared folder on my computer and Onkyo's selected internet radio. I can expand my 'shared folder' as much as I like, so I can practically upload my entire CD collection and listen to it with a few button presses of my remote :-()
Onkyo's "vTuner Internet Radio" is amazing!  I can listen to thousands of radio stations from all over the world. They can be found by selecting the genre or location of interest. An example; I can listen to no less than 650 Dutch radio stations and my wife checked if the local radio station of Trujillo (City in Peru) was available; it was! Not all listed stations are accessible due to connectivity issues or otherwise, but most radio stations give a clear and nice sound!

Connection and set up of the system wasn't too hard. I had an annoying issue with the BDdisc player, who somehow auto-powered on my TV. Nice if you want to watch a movie, but not if you just want to listen to a compact disc. Anyway, after reading some in the manuals I found out I could un-check that option in the on-screen menu ::)

It is so great to have this new set and listen to all my music again; I'd lost interest in enjoying nice music, except for some surfing on youtube, digging up memories. Now I'm listening to new and old CD's all day  :)
I hope my neighbors aren't bothered; sometimes when I go upstairs and hear the bass through the floor, I wonder how that will sound next-doors :-D  >:D

I'll upload a picture once I found the best way to put speakers, receiver and TV together; I'm afraid I have to make a custom TV furniture for this to fully enjoy it ::)

[PZ]

Looks great, Binn  :-X  I recall in my youth that just about everyone was an audiophile with the best equipment they could afford (me included).  However, at the time the player of choice was a turn table rather than a CD player.  We had cleaning fluids, brushes or pads to clean the vinyl, and diamond needles that could be cheap or expensive... ah, the memories.

[fragger]

You got that right PZ, the memories :-() Cleaning pads, styluses (or should that be styli?), being careful not to bump whatever table or shelf the turntable was on so as not to make the needle jump. I remember the excitement of getting my first brand-new sound system home (Yamaha, couldn't tell you the model number or anything at this remove, but it kicked butt) and then considering myself as being right on the cutting edge of things as I dialed in the counterweight at the bum end of the stylus arm to get it balanced just right ;D

Binn, I'm really happy for you, enjoy your new toys mate :-X Technology is amazing, regarding what you were saying about radio. I haven't kept up regarding developments in broadcast radio technology and I had no idea that anything like what you described existed. Not being much of a radio guy these days I never gave any thought to whether internet technology had influenced the radio world at all. I used to get into "ham" radio a little as a kid and I remember getting all excited when I picked up a crackly "Voice of America" signal on my old shortwave radio after it had bounced between the ground and the ionosphere all the way around the curve of the Earth to reach me in Oz (the only satellite back then was the Moon). What you're talking about is a tad more advanced :-D

[Art Blade]

Very nice indeed, Binnatics :) Hehe, it is probably the first time my sound system inspires other people  :-() but then again, I had never spent that much money on it before 8-X

Onkyo is a solid brand with decent equipment; I used to have Onkyo as well for tape decks, amplifiers and loud speakers when I was young. My current system, however.. I could have bought a second hand car instead but hell no, it had to be just a massive sound system (home theatre) >:D

[Binnatics]

Nice replies guys; that makes me think of something; all these loudspeaker creating companies like Canton, B&W, Jamo, Quadral, KEF, they keep innovating and inventing new technologies making sound better and better evermore.... :-D
That makes me think of washing powder commercials, promising an even brighter white every time :-D

Whatever, we're talking about serious equipment here, don't we gents? ^-^

[Art Blade]

I very much like to think so, yes  :-()

The ultimate test I had for my equipment was to invite a friend over who is fond of classical music and as such prefers to listen to live performances in opera houses and occasionally to philharmonic orchestras. He has of course a kit of favourite CDs which I asked him to bring along and test with my equipment.

He was pleased.  :-D

[fragger]

 :-X :)

[Binnatics]

You found the right test-subject GLaDOS  >:D

[Art Blade]

 :-D

[Binnatics]

After a year of experience with my new equipment I'm still very pleased with it. I found the right set up for my system; I've attached both speakers to the wall on +/- 120 cm hight on both sides of the front end of the living room. Gives excellent sound in the entire living room. I still hear new sounds in my favourite music from time to time, and I love the moments when I just dream away on the sofa listening to some nice music ^-^

One of the most surprising things after all is the volume of the system. Somehow, the whole idea of pumping up the volume, has gotten a new dimension. I no longer have the feeling that I put the music 'hard', it's more like making the music more on top, more present. I never have the feeling that the music is actually 'loud'. With my former equipment music sounded loud and banging when putting the volume higher, now it's just more there without losing its brilliance.
I hope you guys can relate, it's a bit hard to explain. Anyway, I'm very happy with the sound in my living room. Although I have to remember to think about the neighbours from time to time :-D

[Art Blade]

sounds like a nice dynamic system that is responsive both on high and low volume settings.  :)

[fragger]

I hope you guys can relate, it's a bit hard to explain.

I know exactly what you mean Binn 8)

Kind of reminds me of when I went to a Deep Purple concert back in 1984. They were loud, but their sound system was so good that I could hear every little nuance, every single note, with no distortion or noise whatsoever. A month later I got dragged kicking and screaming to a ZZ Top concert at the very same venue, and sat in almost the exact same seat, and the distortion was so oppressive that I couldn't tell what they were playing. I might have well have been listening to a malfunctioning car crusher through a stethoscope. Just deafening white noise. I think they do that to cover up their mistakes

Quality tells.

[mandru]

I never have the feeling that the music is actually 'loud'. With my former equipment music sounded loud and banging when putting the volume higher, now it's just more there without losing its brilliance.
I hope you guys can relate, it's a bit hard to explain.

Glad to hear you've acquired a gem of a system like that and yes, I get you.  :-X

You can take almost any off the shelf 100 watt per/channel amp and set it to a specific Sound Pressure Level (SPL) where it sounds good but as you raise or lower the SPL it will distort the dynamics of different parts of the audio signal.  That will cause harshness at some points of the sound spectrum and muddiness in others.  A 500 watt per/channel amp can easily meet the same SPL where the lesser amp sounds good but the 500 watt amp may not be running at a deep enough power cycle to properly drive the more powerful speakers that would need to be mated to it to handle the larger amp's wattage load.

Admittedly the more powerful amp by default will usually sound better at the benchmark SPL because it's not straining or distorting through being pushed but it's still not a perfect balance of its potential resources.

Binn, it sounds like you've been wise enough to select an Audiophile System consisting of an amp & tuner balanced to the speaker set and room size (yes, it all matters in the final equation) that has the ability in its electronics to attenuate its balance of a flat response over the entire audio signal as the SPL is adjusted up or down. 

Congrats!  That really is a difficult balancing act to get right on the first go.  ;)

[Art Blade]

I can relate to what you said, mandru. I've got a rather massive 5.1 (including bi-amped front speakers) system touching the lower specs of high end and I had two friends give it a go at my place, individually. The first used a variety of pop music and was impressed with the crisp, clean and distortion-free sound even at teeth-rattling volumes while my other friend tested it with a set of classical music that had very silent passages and he praised the clear, warm and natural sound even at low levels. Both were stunned when watching samples of select movies. Needless to say that a blue ray video with dynamic range sound does make a bit more use of the 350 Watts active subwoofer than most music would. Watching (and listening to) a war movie with my system is quite an experience  :-()

Nevertheless, Binnatics's system seems to be just perfect for his environment and a good one, too.  :) :-X

[Binnatics]

Nevertheless, Binnatics's system seems to be just perfect for his environment and a good one, too.  :) :-X

Indeed, and I'm very pleased to find out that my plan worked out. I wanted indeed to have a system that delivers good audio for my relatively small living room with bad walls (and hot-tempered neighbours) and I seem to have found the perfect solution. I can tell you that in the beginning I was kind of disappointed when cranking up the volume a bit, without hearing incredible blasts and vibrations. Curiosity though made me compare different types of music and different volumes, realising that it was just crisp and clear all the time, no matter what kind of sound at what volume.

This system gave a boost to my music collection, since it made me curious for more sound and what artists can do with it; sound!!! Magnificent  8) ^-^ :-X