DVD player to Integrated AMP - How bad would it be?

Hi all sifu,

I have already own a 5.1 home theater set with lx-53 avr. But, I feel that the set up is good for movies and not so good for clasic, jazz or some slow music due to the brightness of both avr and speakers.

So, I am thinking of investing in marantz/NAD integrated amp just for music. But, I do not intend to invest much on this.

My question is how bad is it to play CD from DVD player connected to an integrated amp, compare to a dedicated cd player eg marantz cd6004?

Besides, it is worth playing in this manner or not at all?



Thanks!!

Sir, this might result in a debate. But amps these days do not differ by much. The avr you have may not have the greatest DAC chip that is on offer, so my suggestion is that you invest or borrow a DAC from someone and test it out - you might like the sound after all. Again, these days even a RM2k DAC from the majors like Rega can stand comparison against DCS or those megabuck DACs out there - its all written in tests available on the net.
Lastly, don't knock that blue ray or DVD player out there, they are actually quite good as a transport for your DAC, I tried it before comparing a RM12k CD player against an ancient Marantz CD-63SE and then against my RM500 Blue Ray player. Results? Well the blue Ray player was right between the expensive and the Marantz, differences are small (all players used as transports that is). Try before you buy. Good luck then, I'm waiting for the flak though.

samazzah wrote:Sir, this might result in a debate. But amps these days do not differ by much. The avr you have may not have the greatest DAC chip that is on offer, so my suggestion is that you invest or borrow a DAC from someone and test it out - you might like the sound after all. Again, these days even a RM2k DAC from the majors like Rega can stand comparison against DCS or those megabuck DACs out there - its all written in tests available on the net.
Lastly, don't knock that blue ray or DVD player out there, they are actually quite good as a transport for your DAC, I tried it before comparing a RM12k CD player against an ancient Marantz CD-63SE and then against my RM500 Blue Ray player. Results? Well the blue Ray player was right between the expensive and the Marantz, differences are small (all players used as transports that is). Try before you buy. Good luck then, I'm waiting for the flak though.

Thanks samazzah for the kind reply! I need to clarify the following:

For the test you did between Rm12k cd player, marantz cd63se and bluray player, how was the set up like? Is it XXX player -> DAC -> AMP?

Appreciate if you can clarify what DAC and what AMP being used? (AVR or integrated amp?)

Besides, any DAC that can make my speaker sound warmer? How to bypass the DAC in my pioneer AVR?

Thanks!!

Hi TCK, yup you got the set up right. From the player to the DAC to the amp. The DAC I was using was in the speaker that I have (it has the amp in-built though) but I have tried the DAC in my home theatre system - Musical Fidelity V-DAC and on occasion, when I need to have more clarity in the TV show I'm watching, I will connect the Unifi top box or Astro top box from the optical or coaxial output and into the DAC. From the DAC, you just need to connect with any pair of RCA interconnects to an analog input in your AVR. You will need either a TOSlink for optical or an RCA interconnect (1 needed only, not a pair) to connect to the DAC.
DAC technology has grown by leaps and bounds and as mentioned earlier, today's DACs are giant killers, so it will make your sound much better (more warmth?).
Better RCA cables do give better results but don't go over the top because the differences start to become very small.

Thanks for the clarifications.

Infact, after trying marantz integrated amp, I am quite impressed with the warmness for music.

The sales person also recommended me to use existing DUNE media player and connect directly to the integrated amp. Do not need to purchase a separate cd player.

Is this DUNE DAC good enough?

Hi TCK, PM sent