Would like to seek your opinion on your Sony PS3. Have you tried its blu-ray capabilities yet? I was contemplating on getting a blu-ray player but was intrigued by the PS3's performance compared to standalone players costing up to $1,000.
Get a seperate DAC, most will have an optical input and a lot will have rca out. The Musical Fidelity X-dac v3 provides you with these features, but I don't know what your budget is.
A seperate dac will provide you with better sound on 16 bit, in stereo. I am not sure how to get everything streaming from the optical link in stereo, but for a lot of applications it will probably be very straightforward. Maybe Nrostov can help you with that, I don't own a ps3, or maybe you know.
The DAC in my usher cd-100 sounds better than the ps3 so far but the ps3 has some settings for bit rate and other sound settings but might only work through HDMI and optical. And keep in mind I still want to play my LP's so I dont want to take out the anthem, it sounds to good. So can I get a DAC thats optical in and rca out?
Well sure, I agree that he would get the most of his system with surround. It is just that a processor/pre isn't the only thing he is going to need for that. So why not start out and satisfy the most basic of needs, good digital stereo.
Just buy a nice separate DAC, and stay with tubes. If you like tubes a switch to different preamp probably isn't a good idea. You will have to keep sacd playing though your ps3 though, but for all other digital formats in stereo something like an x-dac v3 fom musical fidelity will probably improve the sound quite a bit.
It's all about the DAC's. The only way it makes sense to use the digital out on the PS3 is if the DAC's inside a preamp are better than the DAC's in the PS3. If the DAC's in the preamp are better then you want to use an optical cable. If you get an optical cable you want to get one that uses quartz fibers for light transmission.
Personally I recommend doing what I did which is to get a surround processor but keep your tube gear. That way you can have surround sound for games and movies and still have the tube sound when you do two channel. Besides the preamp you will need another 3 or 5 channel amp depending on how many speakers you want to run.
System edited: Well I changed alot of stuff but I need some advice on the preamp should I change to a digital pre? I dont know if the anolog gear is best for the new ps3 and also for movies and so on? I'm playing video via HDMI but useing the stock rca cheapos for sound. what is optimal for sound through the ps3. Opitical?
The previous post was after an hour or two of listening. After a week of listening I'm not sure if what I herd was just placebo effect favoring the tara lab over the monster, or it's not the interconnect's at all and what changed the sound was the power cords. I'm starting to think I am spending to mutch time listening to amps, wires, ect... I just need to jam out...bye!!!
Just up graded rca's from Monster M-series to Tara Lab Sprctrum 3a's . Picked up Low's and high's Makes for a better holographic soundstage....deeper, wider and some sounds are just in your ear and have no real placement out and around the speakers. Some thing I didn't hear with monster. Still would like to try the blue heavens. Also Apature Black Beauty BL-2's powercords for the Anthem preamp and The Atlas tube.
