Beresford TC-7220 MK II

Posted by: andarkian on 30 November 2015

i have been constrained in 'investing' more of my money on HIFI in my main AV room by the fact that it is primarily set up for use with the television through an Onkyo AV amp. There did not appear to be any satisfactory means by which I could drive a purer HIFI system through the AV speakers safely.

 

I neither have the room, the inclination, nor the wife who would allow me to add a separate pair of speakers as well as the exrra HIFI gear. The only way it appears to be theoretically possible would be to use something like the above mentioned splitter. It is completely passive and 'safe' ie only one system could pass through to the speakers at a time, the only question would be the potential signal distortion or degradation to the speakers. 

 

Any thoughts? This has been driving me nuts for a long, long time.

Posted on: 30 November 2015 by Huge

Hi andarkian,

 

I take it you've tried the complete opposite...

 

Set-up a high quality 2 channel system (Naim!), then take the L Main and R Main pre-out from the Onkyo into the AV input of the Naim pre-amp (with the AV input set in to AV mode).  Then use the channel volume adjustment of the Onkyo amp to balance the system.

 

This is how it's normally done, and this solution works well.

Posted on: 30 November 2015 by andarkian
Originally Posted by Huge:

Hi andarkian,

 

I take it you've tried the complete opposite...

 

Set-up a high quality 2 channel system (Naim!), then take the L Main and R Main pre-out from the Onkyo into the AV input of the Naim pre-amp (with the AV input set in to AV mode).  Then use the channel volume adjustment of the Onkyo amp to balance the system.

 

This is how it's normally done, and this solution works well.

Was actually thinking of feeding it into a NAC-N 272, which does not appear to have the AV pass through feature that the NAC 282 has.

Posted on: 30 November 2015 by Huge
Originally Posted by andarkian:
Originally Posted by Huge:

Hi andarkian,

 

I take it you've tried the complete opposite...

 

Set-up a high quality 2 channel system (Naim!), then take the L Main and R Main pre-out from the Onkyo into the AV input of the Naim pre-amp (with the AV input set in to AV mode).  Then use the channel volume adjustment of the Onkyo amp to balance the system.

 

This is how it's normally done, and this solution works well.

Was actually thinking of feeding it into a NAC-N 272, which does not appear to have the AV pass through feature that the NAC 282 has.

Ah, OK, I see the dilemma.

 

That's a problem with a 272 when used as a preamp, I don't think it's suitable for integration into an A/V system.  I think that's one of the limitations that distinguish it from a true source+pre-power system (or even source+integrated with XS or higher series).

 

The 272 is very good value for the SQ, but the pre-amp flexibility is reduced - that's the compromise (you can't use an external DAC and then route that back into it's preamp either).

 

Would you consider an NDX + SN2 feeding the main speakers?

Posted on: 30 November 2015 by DavidDever

No, the 272 does have unity gain ("AV Fixed Volume", not AV bypass by relay as in the preamps, strictly speaking, but it does work in the same manner). All of the Uniti and NAC-N products have had this functionality (since 2009).

Posted on: 30 November 2015 by andarkian
Originally Posted by DavidDever:

No, the 272 does have unity gain ("AV Fixed Volume", not AV bypass by relay, strictly speaking, but it does work in the same manner).

David, that sounds interesting. Can you please elucidate in a bit more detail? I assume the Unity Gain means that I do not have to rebalance the output from my Onkyo every time I switch between HIFI and AV, which is definitely not what i would like to do? 

 

A couple of points:

 

1) I took this up with my local Audio T guys, who are generally very good, and they had admitted defeat

at quite a financial loss. However, if I could get the satisfactory solution they would probably get the business.

 

2) Perhaps I should have posted this on the AV thread but on looking there I see nothing satisfactory.

Posted on: 30 November 2015 by andarkian

Okay, the answer, as always, is to go directly to the producer, in this instance Naim, who assure me that what I want with a NAC 272 is entirely possible. Nevertheless, thanks for the comments and guidance, particularly from DavidDever. Nope, I don't know why I didn't go to Naim sooner.

Posted on: 30 November 2015 by Huge
Originally Posted by DavidDever:

No, the 272 does have unity gain ("AV Fixed Volume", not AV bypass by relay as in the preamps, strictly speaking, but it does work in the same manner). All of the Uniti and NAC-N products have had this functionality (since 2009).

Interesting, not easy to see from the manual (but then being dyslexic I do tend to miss things!).

 

 

Do you know if the signal can be routed

 

NAC-N 272 Streamer digital out -> external DAC -> NAC-N 272 preamp analogue in -> power amp ?

 

I couldn't see a way to do this either!

 

Posted on: 30 November 2015 by DavidDever

I don't believe so.

Posted on: 30 November 2015 by DavidDever
Originally Posted by andarkian:
Originally Posted by DavidDever:

No, the 272 does have unity gain ("AV Fixed Volume", not AV bypass by relay, strictly speaking, but it does work in the same manner).

David, that sounds interesting. Can you please elucidate in a bit more detail? I assume the Unity Gain means that I do not have to rebalance the output from my Onkyo every time I switch between HIFI and AV, which is definitely not what i would like to do? 

 

A couple of points:

 

1) I took this up with my local Audio T guys, who are generally very good, and they had admitted defeat

at quite a financial loss. However, if I could get the satisfactory solution they would probably get the business.

 

2) Perhaps I should have posted this on the AV thread but on looking there I see nothing satisfactory.

No need to re-balance the output; the volume at the 272 remains the same, with your AV receiver / processor handling the attenuation duties. Super simple.

Posted on: 30 November 2015 by andarkian
Originally Posted by DavidDever:
Originally Posted by andarkian:
Originally Posted by DavidDever:

No, the 272 does have unity gain ("AV Fixed Volume", not AV bypass by relay, strictly speaking, but it does work in the same manner).

David, that sounds interesting. Can you please elucidate in a bit more detail? I assume the Unity Gain means that I do not have to rebalance the output from my Onkyo every time I switch between HIFI and AV, which is definitely not what i would like to do? 

 

A couple of points:

 

1) I took this up with my local Audio T guys, who are generally very good, and they had admitted defeat

at quite a financial loss. However, if I could get the satisfactory solution they would probably get the business.

 

2) Perhaps I should have posted this on the AV thread but on looking there I see nothing satisfactory.

No need to re-balance the output; the volume at the 272 remains the same, with your AV receiver / processor handling the attenuation duties. Super simple.

Thanks again David. Now, how to get all that expensive kit past the wife's beady eyes......

Posted on: 30 November 2015 by Huge
Originally Posted by andarkian:
...

Thanks again David. Now, how to get all that expensive kit past the wife's beady eyes......

Do it at night, the black box colour will then be camouflage.  

Posted on: 01 December 2015 by karlosTT
Originally Posted by Huge:
Originally Posted by andarkian:
...

Thanks again David. Now, how to get all that expensive kit past the wife's beady eyes......

Do it at night, the black box colour will then be camouflage.  

 

Might need some electrical tape over those glowing green logos too !