Hi-Fi & AV - co-exist in the same system/room?

Do you keep your main hi-fi/audio system completely separate from your AV solution?

I'd like to combine them but I always get this nagging voice telling me that this is wrong.
Just seeing a good audio system with any element of 'V' included diminishes my respect for the system and expectation of the system ability.

Probably completely illogical and it no doubt harks back to the days when you kept big bulky TV sets and monitors away from the hi-fi.

How do others view this?

 

Keeping HiFi separates separate is just plain snobby!

For years I have fed the TV output through the HiFi.

Since having a flat screen with S/PDIF out and an external DAC-Pre the integration is even better and the TV sound quite excellent.

I don't hanker after 5.1 sound - my old ears get very confused if sound is chucked at me from all angles. Even if multichannel is there in the AV source I listen in stereo. I don't feel the lack of a centre channel - my stereo speakers give me a very convincing centre.

My son's AV receiver is quite as good as my Beresford DAC-Pre + Quad 405. (His speakers are nowhere near as good as mine which are nearly as old as he!)

A well chosen AV amp driving suitably chosen speakers speakers can give much more expensive systems a run for their money. The AV amps can be set to pure-direct mode (all processing off) and configured so that four of the on board 100w amps drive the main stereo pair in bi-amped mode.

So, put the AV and HiFi together and save a fortune 'cos the high volume production of the AV amps knocks the price right down while the engineering standards remain very high.

Small format Media PC as an audio and Video source > AV Amp > Stereo Speakers must be an option for consideration.

 

Guilty as charged sir!

 

A perfect excuse to have two hi-fi systems! My TV rig is an Audio Synthesis passive pre, a Quad 303 and a pair of Klipsch Heresys. I've no interest in surround sound whatsoever, I just want things to sound articulate, clear and dynamic. It's currently depressing me with the US mid-term election results...

Tony.

 

the only reason I dont integrate, I dont want the tv between the two speakers - it is off to the side.

If it was inbetween, I'd run an audiolead from it for sure.


Not interested in having 5 or 7 speakers around the room and an 'av' amp.

 

I have a "pure" 2-channel system unadulterated by any AV/multi-channel bits.

However, one of the inputs to the stereo pre-amp isthe line-level front L/R channels out of a multi-channel AV receiver/pre-amp thing. The other line-level outputs of the multi-channel receiver go to active rear surround speakers.

This allows me to use my tt, cd player etc direct to my stereo pre-amp and out through the main front speakers with no AV "contamination".

When I want to watch a DVD or play some multi-channel music (DVD, SACD or DVD-A) then I pop the disc into my DVD player - and switch the stereo pre-amp to the appropriate input (ie, front outputs from the AV receiver) - and set the volume appropriately. I can then control everything from my AV receiver. The only "downside" to this is that the front L/R channels are going through 2 stages of pre-amp (the AV receiver and then the stereo pre-amp).

Seems to me to be the best of both worlds.

--Jatinder

 

I've had my stereo/av side integrated for years.
However, that's helped by the fact that:
- I use a projector, so no big monster boxes sitting between the speakers, buggering things up
- My primary focus is on getting the music side right, then considering AV add ons as a bonus, ie. there's no compromise that I'm aware of that I've induced
- I don't have a turntable. To do stereo/av well, my opinion is that it's best achieved with a really good processor. The better ones (Meridian, Lexicon et al) seem to digitise most analogue inputs to facilitate functionality like bass control, room correction etc. To me that doesn't sit well with using an analogue source
- Linked to the above, I have compromised the AV side by not having a centre or sub. Having pretty much rull range speakers that I've never found a centre that matches, I'd rather not have the additional boxes, which will probably just make a mess of things.

 

So is mine and it doesn't irritate me in the slightest. You get used to it incredibly quickly and the gains in scale, clarity, articulation etc over the crappy little built-in speakers more than outweigh the slightly odd directional aspect.

Tony.

 

Agreed. In the Army I moved often and it was not always possible to get the TV between the speakers. Yes, eccentric as it may seem, having the TV outside the stereo pair can work.

 

My system is in an upstairs bedroom. I have less space but much more opportunity to listen. I have in the past built my system around an Audio Visual core but ultimately it didn't work for me. AV just has too many compromises at the price point I can afford. Similarly priced stereo gear has much fewer that impact less on music quality.

 

Rob - I'd stick with your present set-up. While 57s are the world's finest dialogue speakers I think what they will reveal is a bridge too far for much tv/film production..!

(I do think that music and AV sound reproduction have two slightly different aims. If that makes me a snob so be it.)

 

Sound-wise I agree. AV is trying to make sounds that are impressive (who knows what an alien invasion / zombie army / Godzilla belching is really like ?) whereas hi-fi is trying to replicate some sort of performance that most of us can relate to.

Besides, time spent watching is time that could be spent dancing.

Pete

 

I'm with Bottleneck on this.

Speakers are either side of fireplace which is one of two focal points in the sitting room, the other being the TV in the far corner. Occasionally I go 5.1 and use the two main speakers as the rear surrounds!

 

labarum, there is nothing snobby about separating one from another, like people to choose what they eat or drink, the ones like me am quite happy to separate the both, so is my wife, and not we are not snobs.

 

I thought it was just economics, in my case anyway. I'd love to have a single HiFi/AV system, but I haven't been able to find an AV amp as good at driving my front speakers as my Rogue for reasonable money. If I can find one I'd sell of the Rogue and the Denon AV amp. As it is, the front pre amp from my Denon go into the Rogue, so I need both amps for AV.

 

It may be just impractical as the tv needs to be in the right place. Then are the speakers shielded and is the av amp up to the job of giving you the sound output you want. There must be a set up that will deliver but how much.

 

I've nothing against AV as such, it can be a lot of fun; but having sold both in the past, I can't honestly see what AV has to do with hi-fi and I certainly can't imagine having both integrated.

(but then I don't have the hi-fi in the same room as the telly)

 

As your HiFi is 100% analogue, you probably have less to gain by integration as others.

 

Yes perhaps - I do have a CD player, though I rarely connect it up to the system.

 

Odd, I thought I was the only one that felt this way. For me, it's combining two really screwed up imitations of reality and expecting an improvement.