Couple of stereo questions
 

Putting a system together strictly to listen to stereo audio. The dvd player I was using crapped out and I replaced it with a Yamaha CD formats only player.
Reading around on the net raised a couple questions I have:

1. A 2-channel receiver is superior to multi-channel theater speaker for strictly stereo sound?

2. Using the analog R/L RCA connection is superior to optical because it bypasses a lot of circuity that can interfere with sound quality. Gives "purer" stereo sound?

Thanks

Re: Couple of stereo questions
 

1. Doubtful. The opposite may in fact be true for most products. (exceptions will exist, of course) The amp in a receiver is a single power setup that handles 2 to 11 channels. But they tend to put "as much as needed" into each device. So, a stereo receiver will have a less powerful amp than a 9 channel behemoth. Take that 9 channel amp, use it for only 2 channels, and you have a lot more power reserve.

2. Yes. And No. Digital sources like CD must be converted to analog for you to hear it. So, at some point, the signal has to go through this conversion, usually either in the player or in the receiver. Yes, cheap circuitry could do a poor job of this. The question becomes, which device does a better job? If the receiver is superior, use optical, and vice versa.

What's your price range? And what sources will you use? If you don't need radio, you might want to research integrated amps. They are often a big step up from a receiver's amp, with fewer features, at similar prices.

Re: Couple of stereo questions
 

Spiky, this is what I have now:

Yamaha cd player. Middle of the road. $350 retail. Connected through optical to:
Sony 100w/channel 5.1 receiver. 5 years old. $150 at Best Buy
Pioneer floor speakers. 20 years old. Each size of mini fridge. 10" woofer, 3" tweeter, 2" mid range. 150 watt max capicity.

I've only looked at Yamaha receiver/amps. They have:

Integrated stereo amp 85 watts/channel $449 retail. I figure I could slave the Sony's receiver to it. Concerned whether it could push the speakers dropping from 100/channel to 85.

Stereo receiver 100 watts/channel. $549 retail.

They also have a comparable 100 watt/ channel 5.1 receiver that's lower priced than either of those.

I can get them 25-30% off from local brick mortar dealer. That's my price range.

As for my analog input question. What got me curious is all Yamaha amps/players have this feature called "Pure Direct". When engaged it cuts out the digital connection and processes the sound through the analog connection to give a "cleaner/purer" sound. So they say, that's why I'm asking.

Re: Couple of stereo questions
 

Watts specs are often misleading. The difference between 85 and 100 watts is less than 1db of volume difference. You have to double amp power to have a really noticeable volume difference, which is 3db. And speaker watt ratings are almost completely pointless. Mostly people actually listen at less than 1w of power used, all the time.

If you mean the A-S500, that looks pretty good. That 85w rating is pretty close to properly rated, so it is pretty accurate. With the Sony receiver, I'm betting the actual power is more like 30wpc, less than the integrated Yamaha. Generally speaking, I'd trust a Yamaha amp over a Sony any day.

Check out crutchfield.com for some good shopping and study. The NADs are pretty impressive. (and that isn't some 80s euphemism)

Re: Couple of stereo questions
 

About the Pure Direct....I'll try not to be too circular...It's rather messy to type.

First, if you do any sort of processing in most receivers, that must be done in digital. This includes all the surround modes, it includes the normal "Stereo" mode, it also includes any speaker setup you did (setting distance and individual channel levels or equalizers like Audyssey).

So, if you use analog wires from player to receiver, the player converted to analog, the receiver converts back to digital, processes, then converts back to analog again to go to the speakers. That's a lot of converting. To avoid that, Pure Direct does zero processing and just passes the analog straight thru to the amp/speakers. But, it removes all processing, even the speaker setup.

Another choice to avoid all that converting, yet still be able to have some processing done, is to keep the signal digital all the way from disc to the processor. After the processing, you just have one digital to analog conversion. Simpler. That's why I said yes and no in my first answer about optical vs analog, it all depends on what you want to do.

Although, note that many integrated amps are analog-only, zero digital anything, so they are basically "pure direct" analog as the only choice. That's often what snooty audio people want out of a stereo setup, so that is what this genre caters to.

Re: Couple of stereo questions
 

Think I may go with the Yamaha A-S500 integrated amp. All the reviews are good. Only complaint is the knobs are plastic/cheap looking. Raves about performance. Far as I can tell looks to be analog only. Will check it out in store. Thanks again for replies.

Re: Couple of stereo questions
 

No problem.