Ask an Audio geek

[Alex K]

I'm sorry folks, but DIGITAL IS NOT AN EXACT RECORDING of the original. It is slices pieced together and part of what is missing, is the information between the slices.

Speakers are analog. Guitars are analog. Violins are analog. Percussion is analog. Horns and trumpets are analog. Sax, clarinet, bassoon, they are all analog. No matter how digital one thinks they may have gone, it all started off analog.

The biggest problem with digital (besides the lack of similar harmonics) is that it tends to 'clean up' the analog signal and it is not an exact copy of the original performance. Digital is close, but it cannot compare with analog on so many levels. The only real advantage to digital is the ability to replicate the original copy precisely

This sounds all very vague. You have heard of the sampling theorem and how dithering roughly works I presume. It is a mathematical theorem that sampling the signal at discrete time intervals is enough to reproduce a signal precisely as long as it has limited bandwidth, i.e. what you lose is frequencies above ~ half the sampling rate. After dithering, the limited bit depth translates to a noise floor you can calculate, limiting your S/N. Both of these things are limitations which are also present in an analog recording device, usually much more so. Now, both of these things can only work properly in digital if you apply suitable filters to the raw DAC output which again makes sure that the signal between the sampling points is averaged and the discrete steps of the output translated into smooth noise floor. This can go wrong with bad DACs. Also, the clock signal of the DAC needs to be steady. But those are all well understood manageable problems. If applying steep filters below 20 khz as needed for CD recording is too difficult, go to 96 khz or whatever.

Unless you specify where in this process analog has an advantage, this makes the talk about chopping up the signal being bad or unnatural a purely emotional argument.

[Jackalope]

Total lowbrow question time.

Does anyone make consumer grade a/v gear that isn't shit? Without breaking the bank?

Thinking of a/v receivers and speakers.

[ignoramus]

Define shit? Define bank? hehe All in one minis or discrete HT components? Sub?

[Alex K]

Add to that decent speakers and a nice active sub, and you have stellar sound for below 2000$. Is that breaking the bank?

[ignoramus]

I've always loved NAD as Amps. These days as a full on receiver, I find them lacking a little in bells/whistles...
(I used to be obsessed with the Carver Sunfire also, but they haven't kept up either).
I like to spend up on receivers, simply because it needs to last me many years!
My current one was over 1k and is pre hdmi! Totally obsolete even though it works perfectly.

[Alex K]

They surely aren't the biggest in the Bells and Whistles department, that comes with the brand. But it's a great sounding 7.1 system with HD and HDMI, what more do you expect for below 1000$.... (600$, actually)

[Jackalope]

Discrete HT. I hate minis and all-in-ones. An amplifier shod be like my old Kenwood, big, black, with big transistors and bigger heat sinks. Yeah I know they use ICS now.

I guess my definitiom of "not shit" is that it subjectively sounds good to the typical person. Bank, let's say less than four bills for the amp.

I haven't really decided the speaker configuration
Either 2 L/R front + center or same with a sub. I can add to it later when I'm not broke. Let's say I want to stay under a grand for the amp + starter speakers.

I'm more inclined to want bookshelf / satellite speakers than floor speakers. I don't need any input devices.

I like loud music as much as the next guy but I don't need to make enemies of my neighbors, if you get my meaning.

Denon? Onkyo? Polk? Klipsch? I see a lot of Pioneer and Yamaha gear but I don't know if they're good brands any more, if they were ever.

[Jackalope]

Add to that decent speakers and a nice active sub, and you have stellar sound for below 2000$. Is that breaking the bank?

Yeah, pretty much that breaks the bank.

[Alex K]

How much are we talking for everything?

[ignoramus]

All good names ... At that price point you may not notice a hell of a lot of difference. Go for features and what's on special.
Little speakers? Nothing Jap. Go eg: Wharfdales, Polks, hell even infiniti is back, etc.