Well first off, damn I had forgotten just how much freakin' work it is to have to disconnect everything, re-run the wires, cables etc., and change out gear. I got "some" of it done yesterday, but still have a long way to go. But at least I did get the most important things installed, the Denon AVP-A1HDCI and BT2500 are now up and running!
While not going to fiddle around with the Audyssey MultEQ quite yet, I did get it set up all around using an SPL meter.
Well now for the million dollar question, does it live up to my expectations? Guys, this thing far exceeded them! My Sunfire TGIII was an amazing performer, but this thing is in a whole other level. The sound quality is phenomenal!
It was really late last night before I got a chance to do some serious listening, so I only got to listen to various Blu-ray movies. But after listening to what TrueHD and DTS-HD MA sound like on this thing, I am now spoiled for life!
The sound from the soundtracks encoded with these new audio formats offers a quality I have not ever experienced in my setup. All channels (5.1, 6.1, 7.1) were so clean sounding, the LFE so powerful, and directional effects so active, that it was like an audio veil was lifted. And the sound was very non-fatiguing, with not a hint of edginess or brightness, just a smooth yet very dynamic and wonderfully rich soundfield. To say that I am impressed is an understatement!
This pre/pro kicks major ass!
I did try out uncompressed PCM on a few Blu-ray's and did find a drop in the LFE, the difference while noticeable wasn't extreme. The bass was still very prominent, but just missed that extra punch of DTS-MA and TrueHD. So yes I agree that the BT2500 has the LFE issue on uncompressed PCM. So for the time being I will connect my Sony S300 for playing back only the BD's with uncompressed PCM. All other BD's will be played on the BT2500.
But damn does the PQ look amazing going through the AVP using Realta. I am still learning about all the various settings that the Realta processing has, so if it looks this good now I can only imagine how stunning it's going to look after I use more of the Realta's adjustments. But to also have the transport match the looks of the pre/pro is just way cool.
I am going to finish connecting all the rest of the AV gear today, and will post back with my thoughts on 2 channel, and streamed FLAC and WMA Lossless. Also will try to post some pix of the AVP/BT2500 installed. Now it's time to get back to it and get everything else connected.
Just wanted to share my initial first impressions with you guys.
.....stay tuned.
Seth