Decent TV sound
This posting is just a noticing really...
And a bit of a backstory here (skip to second paragraph if you value your Sunday).
We have a Sky box in the house. Just a basic package that costs £1 a month on top of our broadband package.
The Sky Box used to live in "the den" (the conservatory that basically once acted as my son's playroom, and in which he could watch his cartoons unseen and unheard as I got on with the important business of listening to hifi in the living room).
We have a freeview TV in the living room that sufficed for family viewing.
Over the past couple of years my son has followed the trend of young people watching all of their video on line, hence the Sky box fell into disuse.
A couple of weeks ago the chimney that supported the freeview TV's aerial became dangerously unstable. So, with the help of a friend who doesn't share my fear of heights, "I" took down the aerial and most of the chimney.
My plan is to run an aerial cable from a second aerial in the roof space, but I haven't got round to that yet, so the only way for us to access TV downstairs was to move the Sky box from the den into the living room (a couple of years ago I split the Sky dish cable to feed the den and the living room). This has been done, so Sky box is now in the living room.
People will have notice that the 2016 6 Nations has started this weeked. My plan is to tap the living room projector into the Sky box to watch Ireland v Wales on the big screen later. Obviously I'll need sound, so have taken a feed from the RCA audio outs on the Sky box through to the One4 SECA, via my world's shittest preamp. (The world's shittest preamp is necessary as the digital volume on the Sky box does not control the audio from the RCA sockets.)
All is working, and I'm really struck by how much more listenable TV is with decent sound. Unsurprising in itself, but the degree to which I'm enjoying the tone of Andrew Marr's smug arrogant voice on his Sunday morning show has surprised me. (Couldn't face having his expectant face on the big screen, so am monitoring it on the TV.)
Just switched to Radio 6 Music and the sound is even better. Voices and music aren't too shabby at all.
No idea what the audio stream on Sky TV is, nor what DAC / output devices Sky put in their boxes, nor whether simply anything that the One4 SECA plays sounds wonderful.
(BTW: World's shittest preamp is this (watch out Colin...!)):
And a bit of a backstory here (skip to second paragraph if you value your Sunday).
We have a Sky box in the house. Just a basic package that costs £1 a month on top of our broadband package.
The Sky Box used to live in "the den" (the conservatory that basically once acted as my son's playroom, and in which he could watch his cartoons unseen and unheard as I got on with the important business of listening to hifi in the living room).
We have a freeview TV in the living room that sufficed for family viewing.
Over the past couple of years my son has followed the trend of young people watching all of their video on line, hence the Sky box fell into disuse.
A couple of weeks ago the chimney that supported the freeview TV's aerial became dangerously unstable. So, with the help of a friend who doesn't share my fear of heights, "I" took down the aerial and most of the chimney.
My plan is to run an aerial cable from a second aerial in the roof space, but I haven't got round to that yet, so the only way for us to access TV downstairs was to move the Sky box from the den into the living room (a couple of years ago I split the Sky dish cable to feed the den and the living room). This has been done, so Sky box is now in the living room.
People will have notice that the 2016 6 Nations has started this weeked. My plan is to tap the living room projector into the Sky box to watch Ireland v Wales on the big screen later. Obviously I'll need sound, so have taken a feed from the RCA audio outs on the Sky box through to the One4 SECA, via my world's shittest preamp. (The world's shittest preamp is necessary as the digital volume on the Sky box does not control the audio from the RCA sockets.)
All is working, and I'm really struck by how much more listenable TV is with decent sound. Unsurprising in itself, but the degree to which I'm enjoying the tone of Andrew Marr's smug arrogant voice on his Sunday morning show has surprised me. (Couldn't face having his expectant face on the big screen, so am monitoring it on the TV.)
Just switched to Radio 6 Music and the sound is even better. Voices and music aren't too shabby at all.
No idea what the audio stream on Sky TV is, nor what DAC / output devices Sky put in their boxes, nor whether simply anything that the One4 SECA plays sounds wonderful.
(BTW: World's shittest preamp is this (watch out Colin...!)):
Comments
I use one of Col's Atom amps (I think about 22W?). When I want to listen properly (to, like, choons an' efryfink), I swap out the Atom and switch on the SECA.
Speakers are Heco Interior 220 (sealed design) which for the peanuts they cost sound unbelievably good on the Claymore.
Plenty of hard hitting bass which is great on sound tracks!
I have a Yamaha add-on surround amp (DSPE 380 methinks) in a box somewhere, I just didn't miss it after the first time it was removed from the system, quite a few years ago.