Thinking of integrating 5.1 HT with my 2 channel 'hifi' - heresey or logic ?

Markoneswift

Quartz locked n ready to rock
Hey all, I'm moving to a new house very soon and although overall it's much bigger than the current house I wil likely have less room for gear. This is mainly due to accomodating kids in their own rooms rather than sharing, etc etc.

So, my feeling is I should look into amalgamating my 2 channel hifi gear and my 5.1 HT gear into one system and I would really like to hear from anyone who has done this and is happy with the results. I don't have stellar gear from either HT or hifi so I'm guessing I shouldn't see a huge amount of difference really.

My HT is a 5.1 system with an Onkyo TX-SR505e picking up the amplification and decoding duties. The speakers are Mordaunt Short centre and rears with Paradigm Monitor 5's (floorstanding) up front. I also run a smallish MS sub. I have an Apple TV 3 (for now) for streaming movies etc via PC Plex Server / PlexConnect and a Sky digibox.

My hifi is built around a Yamaha R-S700 receiver with Technics SL-Q3 TT, Yammy and Aiwa tape decks, Arcam Alpha 5 CDP and an Apple Airport for streaming. Speakers are JVC SK1000ii.

I guess really this could all be easily accomplished by just adding all the hifi gear into the Onkyo and then see how it sounds. I'm pretty sure the Onkyo has a phono input too for the TT - not sure about line in for tape but I reckon it will have at least one.

All thoughts and comments gratefully received, thanks in advance :)
 
It can be done but without an HT bypass loop in the 2-ch amp/preamp it's sorta a kludge, IMO. You end up looping the front channel pre outs of the HT receiver through the 2-ch gear. The issue is that you have to set the volume of the 2-ch gear to a specific established point for proper playback of HT otherwise the front channels are out of calibration.

I've done it in the past and I know people here currently do it. Just depends if you think the SQ improves enough to jump through the hoops, so to speak.
 
Sounds like an excuse to upgrade the AVR (and possibly speakers) to one that can do double duty. Buy it now before the new house sucks up the spare cash :(

Also the whole moving thing is a good excuse let go of gear and down-size.

Good luck!
 
I'm combining the two systems by using an electronic switch to switch my stereo speakers between a Marantz receiver (for stereo) and my AVR (as the front surrounds) depending on what I'm doing at the time. Works great!
 
I've integrated my main system and secondary system in a surround setup and it was definitely worth it. Without doing the obvious (and expensive) option and going out to buy a AV processor and another amp for your center/surrounds there's two main ways, both of them are features your AV receiver might or might not have.

The first way is using preamp outs for the main channels (if your receiver has them).

The second way is biamping with your receiver. Some 7.1 receivers allow you to biamp your main channels if you have it configured in a 5.1 channels setup and aren't using the back surrounds. Again your receiver might not have this feature.
 
Think for a moment and ask what makes your stereo speakers so great. Now imagine what happens in the HT mode when you add 3 more speakers filling the room with sound that confuses and covers up your primary speakers sound emissions. Are they going to stand up to this on slaught of sound and maintain the same aplomb. And remember ideally the front 3 speakers should be identical with if there is a bias the advantage should go to the center speaker as it has to do the hard work in the HT mode. Then there is question of what happens to the bass for your primary speakers in Stereo mode vs the HT mode. I would use a separate HT processor and feed the front signal from the HT Processor to the Stereo system feeding the Left and right speakers, providing there is enough power for HT operation. Then I would add amps as necessary for the center, side, and rear speakers as necessary. You'll need a Radio shack sound level meter to get everything balanced. in the HT mode the first time and to perform periodic touch ups.
 
I'd take advantage of the fact that I was moving and buy a new audio video receiver or audio video preamp and power amp. If you want stereo, it'll play stereo. Otherwise, it's your home theater system.
 
My HT system is nothing more than an addition to my two channel stereo system. When I play two channel material the only gear used is my bi amped two channel system. For surround/HT my preamp is switched to bypass mode. Then and only then the HT processor and rear speakers/amplifiers (bi-amped) are turned on.

I haven't compromised either the two channel sound or the (IMO) HT/surround sound. I have a (IMO) very good two channel system that with the flick of a switch becomes a good (IMO) HT/surround system. All this gear is in one dedicated treated room with 4 (I have no center channel. I don't have room for another full range planar) speakers and four subwoofers optimally placed and adjusted.
 
Mine share the space. My AVR, while powerful couldn't satisfy my mains so I use the preouts to go to separate power amps. When I do two channel music listening, it has a "Pure Direct" mode asses as much internal circuitry as possible. This is a Yamaha term, other brands may have something similar. I don't feel like I'm compromising anything.
 
For quite a while I shared my double advent front speakers from the HT with my Dynaco stereo tube rig. I used a quad-pole double-throw switch on the speaker leads. Just had to make sure the speakers were connected to the tube amp before powering it up.
 
My whole front stage is Vandersteen (2ce signature's front left and right and a Vcc1 for my center and using a pair of Swan R 3's (dipole) for surround duty while my Velodyne Hgs 12 rounds out the bottom end it all sounds excellent for 2 channel or home theater.
 
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