Denon AV Amp - bluetooth streaming
Discussion
Hi all,
I have a Denon AVR-X540BT Amp running four Mission Elegante E83 speakers (one each corner of the room which is dedicated to movies/music/zwift), sounds good watching movies as not to fussed about the sound quality.
However when I stream music via Spotify (all settings set to HQ) through the amp via bluetooth and just want to listen to music its not hifi quality.
Any recommendations of what I need to buy to improve the sound, I know a bespoke streaming device of some sort would be great but they seem a lot of money, just wondering about an alternative? Have I got the wrong amp as not that fussed about surround sound etc. for the TV as four speakers in each corner is good enough.
TIA
I have a Denon AVR-X540BT Amp running four Mission Elegante E83 speakers (one each corner of the room which is dedicated to movies/music/zwift), sounds good watching movies as not to fussed about the sound quality.
However when I stream music via Spotify (all settings set to HQ) through the amp via bluetooth and just want to listen to music its not hifi quality.
Any recommendations of what I need to buy to improve the sound, I know a bespoke streaming device of some sort would be great but they seem a lot of money, just wondering about an alternative? Have I got the wrong amp as not that fussed about surround sound etc. for the TV as four speakers in each corner is good enough.
TIA
kingkongsfinger said:
Hi all,
I have a Denon AVR-X540BT Amp running four Mission Elegante E83 speakers (one each corner of the room which is dedicated to movies/music/zwift), sounds good watching movies as not to fussed about the sound quality.
However when I stream music via Spotify (all settings set to HQ) through the amp via bluetooth and just want to listen to music its not hifi quality.
Any recommendations of what I need to buy to improve the sound, I know a bespoke streaming device of some sort would be great but they seem a lot of money, just wondering about an alternative? Have I got the wrong amp as not that fussed about surround sound etc. for the TV as four speakers in each corner is good enough.
TIA
Audio via Bluetooth is never going to reach Hi-Fi performance. BT is a quality bottleneck. The amp you have isn't designed for music performance. Denon as a range doesn't focus on music; that's the job of sister brand Marantz. The lower down the receiver price range you get then the further away from any pretence of Hi-Fi performance most AV receiver brands get, and that's especially true of the budget-oriented Denon receivers. I have a Denon AVR-X540BT Amp running four Mission Elegante E83 speakers (one each corner of the room which is dedicated to movies/music/zwift), sounds good watching movies as not to fussed about the sound quality.
However when I stream music via Spotify (all settings set to HQ) through the amp via bluetooth and just want to listen to music its not hifi quality.
Any recommendations of what I need to buy to improve the sound, I know a bespoke streaming device of some sort would be great but they seem a lot of money, just wondering about an alternative? Have I got the wrong amp as not that fussed about surround sound etc. for the TV as four speakers in each corner is good enough.
TIA
Finally, if your speakers are truly in the corners of the room then you've effectively hobbled the performance of the speakers and the system as a whole.
Very few speakers are designed to work correctly when placed in a room corner. The two most prominent issues will be the massively overblown bass hump caused by the boundary reinforcement of a corner placement. It can be as much as +9dB in theory (+3dB per boundary surface) combined with the worst room modes which is going to make the speakers sound unbalanced. In addition, you have a lot of first reflections from the adjacent surfaces which smears the midrange and treble with what amounts to ghost images of the initial sound but fractionally delayed.
The E83s are decent enough speakers but never really set the world alight at their original launch price. A few found good homes though when they were cleared out at fairly hefty discounts or sold second-hand. Partnering with an entry-level AV receiver upfront with your speaker positions is going to make heavy use of the room to try to sort out the lumpy frequency distribution which you'll get away with when listening to lossy DD and Dolby Surround for TV viewing. But asking that amp to sit under the magnifying glass of those speakers for music playback... nuh-hur.
Trying to fix this by throwing money at a streamer won't even scratch the surface, no matter how good the streamer. I think you need to look at the foundations of your system; speaker positions and the amp before putting money in to a streamer. Also have another think about a different way to get sound into the system that doesn't rely on Bluetooth. Maybe try some music files of USB? The amp will play MP3, AAC, WAV and FLAC.
Lucid_AV said:
Audio via Bluetooth is never going to reach Hi-Fi performance. BT is a quality bottleneck. The amp you have isn't designed for music performance. Denon as a range doesn't focus on music; that's the job of sister brand Marantz. The lower down the receiver price range you get then the further away from any pretence of Hi-Fi performance most AV receiver brands get, and that's especially true of the budget-oriented Denon receivers.
Finally, if your speakers are truly in the corners of the room then you've effectively hobbled the performance of the speakers and the system as a whole.
Very few speakers are designed to work correctly when placed in a room corner. The two most prominent issues will be the massively overblown bass hump caused by the boundary reinforcement of a corner placement. It can be as much as +9dB in theory (+3dB per boundary surface) combined with the worst room modes which is going to make the speakers sound unbalanced. In addition, you have a lot of first reflections from the adjacent surfaces which smears the midrange and treble with what amounts to ghost images of the initial sound but fractionally delayed.
The E83s are decent enough speakers but never really set the world alight at their original launch price. A few found good homes though when they were cleared out at fairly hefty discounts or sold second-hand. Partnering with an entry-level AV receiver upfront with your speaker positions is going to make heavy use of the room to try to sort out the lumpy frequency distribution which you'll get away with when listening to lossy DD and Dolby Surround for TV viewing. But asking that amp to sit under the magnifying glass of those speakers for music playback... nuh-hur.
Trying to fix this by throwing money at a streamer won't even scratch the surface, no matter how good the streamer. I think you need to look at the foundations of your system; speaker positions and the amp before putting money in to a streamer. Also have another think about a different way to get sound into the system that doesn't rely on Bluetooth. Maybe try some music files of USB? The amp will play MP3, AAC, WAV and FLAC.
Much appreciated detailed response, will try USB.Finally, if your speakers are truly in the corners of the room then you've effectively hobbled the performance of the speakers and the system as a whole.
Very few speakers are designed to work correctly when placed in a room corner. The two most prominent issues will be the massively overblown bass hump caused by the boundary reinforcement of a corner placement. It can be as much as +9dB in theory (+3dB per boundary surface) combined with the worst room modes which is going to make the speakers sound unbalanced. In addition, you have a lot of first reflections from the adjacent surfaces which smears the midrange and treble with what amounts to ghost images of the initial sound but fractionally delayed.
The E83s are decent enough speakers but never really set the world alight at their original launch price. A few found good homes though when they were cleared out at fairly hefty discounts or sold second-hand. Partnering with an entry-level AV receiver upfront with your speaker positions is going to make heavy use of the room to try to sort out the lumpy frequency distribution which you'll get away with when listening to lossy DD and Dolby Surround for TV viewing. But asking that amp to sit under the magnifying glass of those speakers for music playback... nuh-hur.
Trying to fix this by throwing money at a streamer won't even scratch the surface, no matter how good the streamer. I think you need to look at the foundations of your system; speaker positions and the amp before putting money in to a streamer. Also have another think about a different way to get sound into the system that doesn't rely on Bluetooth. Maybe try some music files of USB? The amp will play MP3, AAC, WAV and FLAC.
https://www.richersounds.com/search/?q=DAC
Cambridge Audio DacMagic 100
Or if you have USB input AudioQuest DragonFly
Cambridge Audio DacMagic 100
Or if you have USB input AudioQuest DragonFly
It has been only fairly recently that Bluetooth codecs have started to get decent. I’m pretty certain that your Denon uses the SBC codec which is basic and not very good. AptX by Qualcomm is a hi res ‘cd quality’ Bluetooth codec in theory and it is a lot better, plus there is Apple’s AAC and Sony’s LDAC which are also hi res capable.
If you want to get Spotify through your Denon, do you have a smart TV or Firestick or similar plugged into it? They should have access to the Spotify App which is then directed straight through to the AV Receiver in at least PCM standard.
If you want to get Spotify through your Denon, do you have a smart TV or Firestick or similar plugged into it? They should have access to the Spotify App which is then directed straight through to the AV Receiver in at least PCM standard.
"Holy thread resurrection Batman"
OK, I have been putting this off too long now. I want to buy a decent hifi amp (get rid of the AV amp) with the faciility to run two sets of hi fi speakers, it needs to have a remote control and have a bluetooth connection for Spotify etc..
I still want it to be able to use my TV through it but sound quality either through the bluetooth or an additional receiver is more important than how a film will sound through it.
Ive taken on board the above comments above speaker positions as well.
Any recommendations for an amp and if need be an additional bluetooth streaming device. Or something totally different I'm not aware of.
Thank you.
OK, I have been putting this off too long now. I want to buy a decent hifi amp (get rid of the AV amp) with the faciility to run two sets of hi fi speakers, it needs to have a remote control and have a bluetooth connection for Spotify etc..
I still want it to be able to use my TV through it but sound quality either through the bluetooth or an additional receiver is more important than how a film will sound through it.
Ive taken on board the above comments above speaker positions as well.
Any recommendations for an amp and if need be an additional bluetooth streaming device. Or something totally different I'm not aware of.
Thank you.
I am not sure why you would need bluetooth for Spotify anymore - a decent streaming amp would connect directly to Spotify (or Qobuz, Tidal etc). You can control the speakers from your phone.
I'd be looking at something like the NAD M10 in your case, which can run two sets of speakers. There are alternatives.
Another alternative would be to buy active streaming speakers - although if you have to run two pairs, that would be expensive.
I'd be looking at something like the NAD M10 in your case, which can run two sets of speakers. There are alternatives.
Another alternative would be to buy active streaming speakers - although if you have to run two pairs, that would be expensive.
IMHO you'd be best off skipping Bluetooth... even now codec support is woeful. Marantz/Denon use HEOS ( unless they've changed it recently ) which let's you stream from Spotify directly, and do multiroon by syncing up multiple amps. Other manufacturers often have similar, or can just stream the services directly anyway.
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