I am a bit off subject here but I want to be totally satisfied with my Golden Ear Tritan 3/ Denon X3000 purchase. I am blown away with the sound of a movie on bluray or TV, but musically I am not happy. I have Audassey turned off and am running the Mains large. When I auditioned the speakers I was pleased, but it was presented using a Apple Laptop with Pure Music running through a $3000 DAC into a higher end stereo amp. I can't spend that type of money but I want it sounding better.

My feelings are
CD's- do not sound great though the bluray (Samsung)
Itunes through receivers airport- doesn't sound great
Pandora- Free doesn't sound great through the receiver
ALAC songs that I put on a USB through the receiver doesn't sound great
Itunes- does not sound great through Apple TV.
LP's sound pretty good.

Truthfully, my Dell desktop system with Beats soundcard hooked to an old HK with digital connection, JVC speakers and a cheap Polk sub sound more musical.

My thoughts are the sources I am feeding my receiver. I can't do anything to improve the internal Denon programs so my thoughts of options are:
1) Put a DAC between the Apple TV & Receiver
2) Hook a computer with iTunes directly to the HDMI on the receiver
3) Hook a computer with iTunes and use a DAC

My only issue with adding a computer is I have 30,000+ ALAC files and I like being able to rip my CD's and LP from my desktop.

I know I am off subject, but in the short time I have been following this forum I realized that I am in the presence of price conscious connoisseurs who can provide me with reasonable solutions.

Maybe a little more description of how it sounds other than "not great" would help the forum members troubleshoot with you? Typically, good performance on movies should result in good sound with music (good sound is good sound).

One thing to note is that BluRay movies are a high definition audio source, much higher than your CD standard and Apple lossless encoding of CD's. Based on your comment about LP's sounding pretty good, and presuming you are sending all sources digitally to the Denon, I think you can safely point the finger at the D/A in the Denon. You could try the analog outputs of a high quality disc player (not so sure the Samsung BluRay will have any better D/A's than the Denon), Oppo is an audiophile favorite for this if you want to try something. Perhaps some other Denon owners on the forum have a comment on all this?

If I listen to Jazz or Light music is sounds acceptable. If I rock out with some classic rock or blues it is not as crisp-it seems to be lacking depth

If the bass still sounds good my best guess would be your amp is not up to snuff for your listening. When you push it with more dynamic stuff it sounds like its flattening out. Not sure why, might want to borrow a 2ch power amp from your friendly GoldenEar dealer and see if that helps identify the issue for you. Sorry, we've never used a Denon on the Tritons so we don't know what to expect.

Hi DisplacedHusker,
I am gonna sound like a fan boy here, cheering the speakers we all like here.
But take it from someone who went to college for 2 years in York and one in Kearney, if your Triton 3s are not rockin' you have something wrong, and it is not the speakers. They WILL rock!!!!!!
The Moderator Dude is most likely pointing you in the right direction. I personally use an Oppo 95 which has a really good DAC and it sounds better playing CDs (and even better playing Hi res) than my tube CD player. And it will play SACDs and DVDAs and Hi Res files too.
But, I too suspect it is your amp. IF you can listen to a different (possibly better) source and then through a good amp you will be able to confirm where the problem lies.
Please let us know more, and keep us informed.
God Bless,
Wayne

H,

I just set up Triton Three's in my house and have mixed feelings. I listen to all types of music...jazz, new age,rock , electronica,dance,pop.For jazz, new age and movies , the Tritons sound pretty good but for anything else these speakers sound pretty bad.There is no midrange snap or something. they do not handle volume well. They just dont handle rock or pop music. Everything short of 'The Perfect Recording', they just turns to 2D'ish and harsh sounding. I am kinda kicking myself for giving up my PSB speakers. People talk about break in period but I seriously doubt that will make a huge difference. For me, these speakers DO NOT ROCK OUT !!They make me want to turn it down. So now what am I going to do ???