AnyDayNow
New Member
Upon the purchase of ‘new to me’ McIntosh two-piece XRT20 ‘Isoplanar’ Loudspeaker System, I have begun to modify my existing A/V Receiver setup to accommodate serious music reproduction. The XRT20s got mounted on the only wall in the house wide and ‘flat’ enough to accommodate them. I borrowed one of my McIntosh MC252 power amps (250 Watts per channel, autoformers)
from my downstairs dedicated listening room (driving upper frequencies of my B&W 801 Matrix ‘Revolution’ bass reflex speakers). I also, at first, put an unused Schiit Freya+ in service as a preamp, but I am now driving the power amp with the balanced outputs from the third (2nd?) piece of the puzzle, an Oppo BDP-105D, a truly versatile high-end Blu-ray (universal) player. The Oppo outputs HDMI signals to both the Onkyo AVR 1513 recover and the Panasonic TC-32LX85 N television. It can accept HDMI inputs through either a connection in front or in the rear (not sure if both ports can be used simultaneously). It also allows access to its ESS Sabre 9038 DAC via digital inputs on S/PDIF (optical & Coax) and USB ‘B’ connectors; plus two USB ‘A’ ports for hard drives or other devices. (The USB port requires a driver for Windows 7, so I’m not sure how compatible it is with Widows 10, etc. I don’t typically use a computer to connect.) Digital outputs include two HDMI ports, two S/PDIF (optical & digital); analog outputs include 7.1 component over RCA, and stereo output over both single-ended and balanced XLR connections. The balanced option offers 4.2Vrms vs. single-ended 2.1Vrms, which is very helpful driving the 87 dB SPL at 1 Watt at a distance of 1 meter sensitivity of the XRT20’s. Finally, the Oppo could accept network connection via either hardwire or WiFi dongle (which I did not receive with my used unit.).
It took me two days to integrate the Oppo player and McIntosh amp into the previous AVR configuration. I finally got it all working to my satisfaction, controlling the volume through the Freya+. But on the third day, staring at it, I realized that with all the connectivity offered by the Oppo player, I could use it as a digitally enabled preamp. I didn’t need to send a signal through the Freya, I could connect the player directly to the amp through the balanced connections. Meanwhile, I connected the analog output from the Panasonic TV to the single-ended inputs of the amp via a passive preamp (PP532 by Bellari) for volume control. This arrangement allows me to use the best D/A converter in the system, and allows me to ‘mix’ (or balance) the output of both my AVR audio on its L-C-R speakers which are great at direct voice-level treble with the more enveloping bass and uniform ‘radiation’ from the XRTs when watching the screen. I’m still working out the kinks on this arrangement, because sometimes there is audio available on the analog outs from the TV. I chalk it up to the ‘intelligence’ of the HDMI interface. In any case, the Freya may come back into play when I try connecting my turntable to the system.
The pictures mainly depict the system’s initial installation and refitting of the XRT20 terminals and electrolytic capacitors.
Finally, I must plug a thread on this forum which was very influential in my decision to purchase and upgrade my XRT20 Loudspeakers.
It took me two days to integrate the Oppo player and McIntosh amp into the previous AVR configuration. I finally got it all working to my satisfaction, controlling the volume through the Freya+. But on the third day, staring at it, I realized that with all the connectivity offered by the Oppo player, I could use it as a digitally enabled preamp. I didn’t need to send a signal through the Freya, I could connect the player directly to the amp through the balanced connections. Meanwhile, I connected the analog output from the Panasonic TV to the single-ended inputs of the amp via a passive preamp (PP532 by Bellari) for volume control. This arrangement allows me to use the best D/A converter in the system, and allows me to ‘mix’ (or balance) the output of both my AVR audio on its L-C-R speakers which are great at direct voice-level treble with the more enveloping bass and uniform ‘radiation’ from the XRTs when watching the screen. I’m still working out the kinks on this arrangement, because sometimes there is audio available on the analog outs from the TV. I chalk it up to the ‘intelligence’ of the HDMI interface. In any case, the Freya may come back into play when I try connecting my turntable to the system.
The pictures mainly depict the system’s initial installation and refitting of the XRT20 terminals and electrolytic capacitors.
Finally, I must plug a thread on this forum which was very influential in my decision to purchase and upgrade my XRT20 Loudspeakers.
