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Hello everyone! A little while back I purchased a pair of Kanto YU6 Active Speakers + a Kanto Subwoofer and found the sound quality to be quite decent. I'd like to take my system to the next level with a preamp, in order to bypass the speaker's phono stage and give myself additional features such as a DAC, networking options, optical inputs etc. I was also thinking that the preamp would be a long term investment e.g. pair it with another component such as the RA-1572 Integrated Amplifier and a new set of better speakers (down the line). So it boils down to this: For the time being, is it a silly idea to pair an active pair of speakers with a Preamp? Would I be better off selling my active speakers and just getting an Integrated Amp + passive speakers? Thoughts?

With so much downtime I've been having lately, I'm spending a lot more time indoors and listening to music lately, and that got me thinking, how I can get my setup to sound a bit more like the LSX without actually having to fork over the ~1.5K. I've had the pleasure of listening to the LSX a few months back and ever since I've been wanting a pair for myself but with daily expenses chipping away at my "toys savings" that won't be happening anytime soon. So my current setup is: FLAC -> X-Fi Titanium HD (internal pc DAC) -> Denon PMA-250 ii -> Wharfedale 9.1 + SW-150 The speakers are on a desk elevated a bit with a desk stand so it's up to ear level and angled inwards for near-field listening. They're also very close to the wall (~10cm) which unfortunately I can't do much about. The woofer is under the desk. The room (3x3.5m) is treated very basically, 2 curtains on the side walls and 2 foams on the back corner walls. So I'm looking for advice at what I can do to improve this setup, should I look into getting better speakers (budget of ~$500), recapping the Denon, go subwoofer crawling? Happy to go with the second-hand route or waving my soldering iron around or attempt to move things around. Or is it a case of I'm super unrealistic in wanting a 1.5K sound from a <500 setup and need to stop dreaming? Thanks for the help peeps!

Hi guys After the quality advice I got in my previous CIH thread I thought I'd ask for some more! Being new to the projector concept I wanted to be some idea of how much difference a more expensive screen makes to the resulting picture For example looking at Selby's site they have screening ranging in price from about $600 to two or three time that amount. Depending on the final dimensions the architect comes back with and assuming I go with a CIH setup I will probably be looking at a 140 inch screen and the only one listed on the Selby site is about $1700 Are there cheaper options and are they going to provide appropriate levels of picture quality etc? Educate me please

Hi all, My local hifi store is offering me a pretty good package deal, but I'm having trouble making a decision between receivers. Wondering what everyone's thoughts were? For reference, the 5.1 speaker setup I'm looking at is: Towers: Kef Q950 Centre: Kef Q250C Surrounds: Kef Q150 Sub: Kef KUBE 10 Biggest disadvantage I'm seeing is that the 505 cannot adjust crossover frequencies for individual speakers, but I'm honestly wondering if that is such a big deal (as I've never had a proper 5.1 setup before so will be learning when it comes to calibrating the speakers). There seems to be some strong opinions against Pioneer AVR in general, whilst the Denon is a crowd favourite. But what has me stumped is how much the store person raved about the Pioneer and strongly suggested it, especially with the extra power. Plus Dirac Live seems to be a solid plus for the Pioneer. So yeah, anyone out there with a similar speaker setup as me? What AVR did you go with? Cheers!

I'm moving into a new house next year and it has the below room which I would like to convert to a home theatre. These are certainly not the perfect dimensions for this use case, but do you think I can make it work? I know square rooms do suffer with base nulls and frequency issues, but I'm hoping I can find a solution that provides a good listening experience. I would love to be able to change the room size, but unfortunately there is a load bearing wall on one side and a garage on the other, so I'm stuck with it as is. The room has sliding cavity doors, which are not ideal, but it's just me and my partner so containing the sound isn't the most important factor. Nothing I can really do about this anyway. Given the location of the doors (and that alcove), I think it means having the sofa on the left and screen on the right. I would like a projector, so speakers could go behind an AT screen. The window at the top is quite wide (about 2.1m/6.9ft), but narrow (about .75m/2.5ft) and quite high up the wall. The ceiling is 2.7m (8.86ft) high. Should I go for Atmos (in-ceiling) in a room this size, or is that a waste? I was thinking 5.1.2. Is x1 sub adequate or would I benefit from x2? I will be buying all my kit, but I do have a pair of a MK M40T Tripoles, so I'd like to use those if possible - placement I am not sure about though. No doubt I will benefit from room treatment of some sort, but I don't know much about that. The room does have carpet. What are your thoughts? Any advice would be much appreciated.