Trying to hook up perfect wave dac to amps directly without my parasound p7 and also hook up oppo 103d to amps to use on same system. Trying to get rid of p7, Amps are emotiva xpa1ls 2x front channels and emotive xpa3 for the rest of channels any ideas how to intergrate all this and also need trigger controls, and dont know what kind of bass control perfectwave dac provides.
Hate to point this out but This is a bit backward. This is what preamps are for.
If you don’t want to use the Parasound then consider a used Emotiva XMC-1.
While I use mine strictly for home theater, it sounds so good (particularly with power conditioning) that you’ll be in good shape for HT and stereo listening.
The PWD has no bass management, and will sounds it’s best run at 100. Leave the preamp to control the volume.
And lastly if you have the money (and if they are still being sold) I suggest you get the DS upgrade kit for the PWD chassis. Massive upgrade.
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I agree with emailists… A preamp usually does several functions, the two core ones are switching sources and volume control.
Other functions that your P7 provides are; tone control, surround processing, remote functions, remote power switching etc. If you get rid of your P7, what will do the surround processing?
It sounds like you should look into a better preamp/processor as emailists suggests, there are some good ones out there, but quality costs $.
The Perfectwave can give you volume control to two channels (left & right) but nothing else that you mention. Simply assembling a group of switches to do what you want will probably not sound as good as your P7. Everytime you make a connection with a cable you run the risk of loosing something that might affect sound quality.
By the time you invest in the proper quality cables and connectors you can spend as much as getting a better preamp/processor and maintaining all the functions you mention.
From what we understand the dac already has a really good analougue stage the best preamp with the functiuons the p7 offers that we could find is a MC45 or bel canto pre6 and a krell forget what model, any ideas on better preamp than p7 with similiar functionality.
The following are in my opinion an upgrade;
McIntosh MX 121, 122, 123, 150, 160, 170
Anthem D2v 3D or AVM 60
Datasat
Lexicon
JBL
This is an incomplete list, the p7 is in the entry level of what I would consider an audiophile oriented AV processor.
Another option is to run through an audiophile preamp with a home theatre bypass function. Then you are running you PS Audio directly through the audio preamp.
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Definitely looking for a Pre amp that compliments the dac And we have only heard of few through the grapevine but definitely looking for one with a bypass then, We only need to hook up the oppo and use the rcas it comes with mostly care more about 2ch audio
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Would the Aesthetix Audio Calypso be a good candidate, currently running B&W 703 but before retirement thinking of doing something along the 800 line. Will keep max 7.1 setup for a long while as we only running 1080p and if we upgrade to 4k would then want dolby atmos set up and would be a totally different story.
Tip from paul, use Dacs volume control for most preamps rather than the pot from preamp system sounds amazing and so far only have it at volume 5 on dac. Awesome Dac Ps audio and also loving the upgrades from the same chasis appreciate a whole bunch. Is there a way to adjust attenuation on the perfectwave mk2 version or is that only on the directstream.
Then look at the PS Audio BHK, it has home theater bypass. Keep your p7, and do the rest as you said.
I think we could give up tone controls, and just have the pixie dust from the dac as is but somewhere someone was saying the aesthethix calypso sounded better in pauls system which is way different than mine. Would the calypso be a better match for the dac and just use the bypass on it and hook up the oppo player to the calypso and leave 2ch hooked up.
Does anybody make amps with theater bypass functions and use no preamp.
MC1.25KW would this be able to run input from dac and input from oppo player. MAybe unbalanced out also to subwoofer cahnnel.
I beleive this might be good solution Just get rid of the p7 hook up the dac to two monoblocks and get a 5ch or 7 ch amp all seperates and keep it that way,would we be able to use the sub in the dac functions or is that not possible. Also is there a device to remotely control all trigger outputs that is compatible with logitechs newest remote i forget model.
You would need to speak with a McIntosh dealer to see if the functions will work as you think. I do not think they will. The amps have balanced and single ended inputs to insure wide system comparability. they are not designed to be a substitute for a preamp.
Also you would lose your surround sound capability, The p7 provides processing to get 5 to 7 channels, it does not just send a left or right signal to each amp. If you just want to run your Oppo player in two channel you can feed the digital out into one of the inputs on the Perfectwave and eliminate the preamp issue altogether.
By mentioning the McIntosh MC 1.25Ks you are now talking about a $25,000 pair of amps. You could by a BHK preamp and two BHK 300 mono amps and spend $4,000 less at retail. To me you are getting a bit ridiculous in your efforts to work around a preamp. I believe it would be best to seek out a professional audio retailer or consultant to answer all your questions. You have not mentioned your speakers or any other variables that will affect your system set up.
Gentlemen, Opinions on this route would be appreciated, Aesthetix calypso with ht bypass and denon receiver hot ht processing and perfectwave connected to calypso and hope to complinent in the long run with some b&ws in the 800 line but for now running the b&w 703
Your p7 is higher quality that a Denon receiver.
I needed the higher output the balanced output of the DSD allows to get my 3 watt per channel mono blocks to come to full power, so at first I was using a 1:1 transformer device (in a Decware ZBIT) to convert the balanced to single-ended and that gave me great sound. But later I added a Decware ZTPRE preamp and I prefer to listen with that after the DSD now. I’m a tube nut and this preamp is the best I’ve heard and adds to the quality of the sound but almost “invisibly” (i.e. without adding a heavy signature of its own).
The darned DSD just sounds great however you utilize it, and system synergy and personal taste will further augment that great sound.