Dear All,
After many years of not changing anything apart from the home cinema part of the system (Samsung TV UE40B7090, Marantz AV receiver SR6003, Universal player UD 7006) and the internet provider to include a router and 64 kbit/sec download (max), I decided to give streaming audio and video a go from my home desktop PC through the sytem. The AV receiver feeds the Naim Unity gain inputs of the NAC 252 via a chord crimson RCA to Din
A simple LAN connection from router to the Universal player and WiFi connection from router to PC, I must say that I am pleasantly surprised with the end results.
CDs were ripped using Exact Audio Copy.
It really does give the CDS3 a run for it's money.
Another convert to streaming audio here. Just need to figure out how I can stream internet radio from the PC and I'm laughing. Ready to access all the worlds best live concerts....
I must say that the Marantz stuff is really not that shabby for what I am hearing and it also does SACD very well as well. Obviously the NAC252, NAP300 and SL2s are a very important ingredient here, but the source is really not bad at all.
Downside is that I hate the file organisation aspects on the PC. There must be some good things about that I can use to sort that one out.
Also we just re-decorated the front room and I neglected to add a LAN connection to the universal player.
Best Regards
Mark
Posted on: 24 June 2012 by Popey
Hi Mark,
why don't you look into using a powerline setup? basically, you get a couple of adaptors that enable an ethernet connection to be transmitted over the mains.
I use a pair of Netgear passthrough 200Mbps powerline adaptors. See - http://www.maplin.co.uk/netgea...rough-sockets-615257
200Mbps is actually a bit of a misnomer. In truth, it's 100Mbps full-duplex. But it's plenty fast enough to connect to my Netgear NAS and various other bits and bobs.
Dead easy to set up and pretty reliable. Certainly much better that WiFi and there's no need to run ethernet cables from the PC to the player.
Posted on: 24 June 2012 by mtuttleb
Hi Popey,
Interesting idea to use the powerline to transmit/receive. This would certainly avoid the need to install dedicated cables etc.
However, things have changed a bit since I first posted. Now I have installed in-akustik CAT 6 cables from computer to router and from router to the universal player and do not use the WiFi now, which is a bit variable. This is now consistently good compared to using the WiFi link.
Also I downloaded a trial copy of DB poweramp. Nice piece of software, but I have only really used this to rip some CDs so far. It really does a great job to get hold of all data for a particular CD, quite impressive. I still say that this approach really does give the CDS3 a run for the money. The music seems cleaner and relaxed without making it uninvolving and boring if that makes sense.
I am looking to spend some money this year, but will possibly keep this solution instead of getting a dedicated network player like the NDS and service the Naim boxes and possibly do the DR upgrade or perhaps better to trade in the XPS+Supercap for new ones. Decisions decisions ..... will wait until we know some prices for these upgrades. On the other hand, a direct connection of the network player to the NAC 252 would probably be better than going through the Marantz receiver. I can try this option with the Marantz universal player.
I have still not managed to stream internet radio from the computer though and the universal player does not have this functionality. I have not really invested much time as I have been out and about today. I suppose there is a possibility to record and stream the files. A shame as this is all I am really missing now from my setup. Anyone have any ideas on what my options are here ? Currently listening to Wilhelm Kempf playing the Opus 7 sonata on Beethoven Radio via itunes. Also listened to BBC Radio 3 High earlier on the Shostakovich cello concert Nr. 1. This is much better than the radio choice that I have via the cable, which I must say is not that bad with all the German classical radio channels.
Regards,
Mark
