Steveo,

Although we are on opposite ends of the earth we think alike. I have the Opportunity 103-D and I run my cable box and Apple TV through the Oppo and then the Oppo to my receiver so that I have Darbee for all
Of my viewing sources. I have played some SACD and flacs through the Oppo and it sounds great. I did not try hooking up my Oppo straight to my amp via RCa (Oppo can act as a preamp), I will get around to it one of these days.

Good luck with the source material. I have iTunes Match and now Apple Music (looking forward to the Apple TV update for that ). I really like the playlists Apple Music has and using Siri to play the top songs from any Year or Month.

You could also get an Oppo and a Networked HD to serve your flac files to the Oppo. That would solve your "dying PS3 issue too".

Steveo,

Since the Krell is an integrated amp, my guess is the biggest gains in sound are going to come from the signal processing portion. Krell is certainly a top notch brand and I certainly wouldn't argue against that upgrade, but certainly don't let a salesman pull the wool over your eyes... Or ears.

I contemplating a good tube pre-amp by rogue audio or another brand to feed a pair of XPA-1Ls for stereo listening. The signal feeding the amp is critical. I'm ad dealers are starting to carry Emotiva so that consumers can do side by side comparisons to make informed decisions and put their hard earned money to work in a way that best suits their needs.

Cheers,

T Cobe

Steveo, I agree about the Oppo being a great source. I have two of them and have never been disappointed.
I even told someone else that, ha ha, getting threads confused.
OUCH,
God Bless,
Wayne

Hi all, it is a good to get input from a dealer, but as others have said be careful and don't let them intimidate you into buying only equipment they sell. The Emotiva XPA-3 and 5s are A/B. Your Yamaha is a good pre-amp. Don't throw it away just yet. Analog cables make a huge difference(RCA and speaker).

I have run the Yamaha's internal amps for my T1's and it was good. I switched to external amps and it was worth the money. The ROI was positive. I added Emotivia XPA-2's in mono for the T1's and a XPA-1L for the center XXL. I plan to migrate to XPA-1's for the T1's and move the XPA-2s back to stereo mode and run the SS and rears.

Anyway I also use an Oppo 103 as a source for CD,SACD, Blue Ray. I source all my FLAC files from a network server. The Yamaha will also stream from a network drive. It is better than the Oppo as the user interface on the Oppo is very basic. The Yamaha has a feature that does not have gaps between tracks like the Oppo does.

I am not trying to sell you Emotiva amps although it looks that way I just want you to know there is a less expensive and very high quality alternative. Also the XPA1 and 1L have a class A mode in 60 and 30watts respectively. Have a look at the Emotiva WEB site. The summer sale ends tomorrow, but there is usually a winter sale in November 10% off.

Enjoy the ride!!!

DT

Splash51 wrote: Hi all, it is a good to get input from a dealer, but as others have said be careful and don't let them intimidate you into buying only equipment they sell. The Emotiva XPA-3 and 5s are A/B. Your Yamaha is a good pre-amp. Don't throw it away just yet. Analog cables make a huge difference(RCA and speaker).

I have run the Yamaha's internal amps for my T1's and it was good. I switched to external amps and it was worth the money. The ROI was positive. I added Emotivia XPA-2's in mono for the T1's and a XPA-1L for the center XXL. I plan to migrate to XPA-1's for the T1's and move the XPA-2s back to stereo mode and run the SS and rears.

Anyway I also use an Oppo 103 as a source for CD,SACD, Blue Ray. I source all my FLAC files from a network server. The Yamaha will also stream from a network drive. It is better than the Oppo as the user interface on the Oppo is very basic. The Yamaha has a feature that does not have gaps between tracks like the Oppo does.

I am not trying to sell you Emotiva amps although it looks that way I just want you to know there is a less expensive and very high quality alternative. Also the XPA1 and 1L have a class A mode in 60 and 30watts respectively. Have a look at the Emotiva WEB site. The summer sale ends tomorrow, but there is usually a winter sale in November 10% off.

Enjoy the ride!!!

DT

DT/Others,

To continue the analog connection discussion (which I agree is more important than digital (just 1's and 0's that don't degrade easily). I currently have 14 gauge speaker wire running to all 9 speakers (amazon link below). Would I really get such an increase in quality if I switch to the Emotiva 14 gauge speaker cable (emotiva.com/products/interconnects/uss-speaker-cable ) or the Emotiva XSS 10 gauge speaker cable (emotiva.com/products/interconnects/x-ss )?

I was thinking of maybe just getting those speaker cables for my L/C/R channels coming from my XPA-3. I already ordered the XRCA cables (Emotiva's higher end RCA cables) to see how they are from my Denon to the XPA-3 for my L/C/R channels. I hope it makes a difference from my MonoPrice RCA cables.

All Thoughts are Welcome,
Ari


www.amazon.com/gp/product/B002ZO0S60?psc...ui_search_detailpage

Airbraun,

Speaker wire gauge needs depend somewhat on the length of the run. With a 30 foot run, I can hear a modest difference with 12-gauge versus 14-gauge but it is subtle. I should probably be running 10-gauge and plan to upgrade eventually. See the link below for a general recommendation.

www.audioholics.com/audio-video-cables/speaker-cable-gauge

Regarding RCAs, I would expect a modest gain at best in the RCA upgrade if you are using the premium Monoprice RCAs. I have the same cables and recently compared them to a pair of AudioQuest Golden Gate cables. There was not much of a difference. In a blind test, I bet I could not reliably pick out which cable was which. I had borrowed the cable from my local dealer just to test my results. When I went back in, we compared the Golden Gate to a Nordost Purple Flare. I would bet I could pick which cable was which in a blind test on that comparison... I don't subscribe to all the hoodoo voodoo that cable manufacturers espouse. Anyone that pays thousands of dollars for a meter or two of cryogenically treated wire with gas infused insulating material needs an IRS audit and a wellness exam: in my opinion. That said, there certainly is a difference between cheap cables and quality cables but as already pointed out, you reach a point of diminishing returns quickly.

There are likely audible differences between cables but these are not always good. Using an expensive cable as an EQ doesn't seem to make sense to me unless you have flaws in your system that need to be addressed or just really like the sound or look of a particular cable. I'll settle on some mid priced cables for my two-channel set up but will stick with the Monoprice cables for all of my other channels (with the possible exception of my center channel). I'm sure the Emotiva cables will be solid and the Monoprice cables are so inexpensive that it doesn't hurt to have a few sets laying around just in case. Let us know how they sound, please. Happy listening!

Cheers,

T Cobe