Source setup for new Towers

[elan120]

Thanks for the clear explanation of how you will be connecting. It will be interesting to hear how the sound compares (AV vs integrated) using these methods.

It will be a short while before all the gears are here to do the comparisons, but yes, I will remember to post my impressions for sure. Since both pre-amps and amps sections are very different, I do expect different listening results.

[curtis]

The reason I said I’m all stereo now is because external DACs are limited to 2 channels and if you want more channels you won’t be using the external DAC. Your audio quality will only suffer then, opting for a sub par DAC instead.

Multichannel DACs do exist...they are expensive though.

Here's one that I drool over:
https://www.exasound.com/Products/e3...hannelDAC.aspx

[curtis]

elan120, are you certain the AV pre/pro has is capable of a pure analog path?

[elan120]

elan120, are you certain the AV pre/pro has is capable of a pure analog path?

My AV pre/pro has either "Direct" or "Pure Direct" mode to select from, where either modes should not go through ADA processing. But some AV pre/pro or receiver may take the analog signal and go through the ADA regardless, so it is best to review the owner's manual to be sure. Another way to bypass the internal DAC in AV pre/pro or receiver is to connect the analog output from an external DAC and connect them to the 7.1 analog input (L/R) and use it for 2 channel music only. However, this will not allow the use of room correction, Audyssey, bass management...etc., since these will need to processed in digital domain.

Below is a copy of owner's manual for my AV pre/pro regarding the "Direct" and "Pure Direct" mode.
20210813_213521.jpg