So here I was with a spanking new Oppo BDP-83 Special Edition with killer DACs in the Stereo CD Analog output. Great! My REdbooks would never sound this good. NOT. Being naive, I thought that, as the Oppo outputs full spectrum sound in Stereo, the NAD would do the bass management and all would be clear. NOT. For those of you who know all the answers here, give me a break for just a minute. . . Oppo said the NAD was responsible for whatever bass management I did in analog format. NAD said that - well, they really didn't say much of anything, but an online Forum chap explained it. Seems that NAD takes the analog input from the Oppo's analog stereo output and then adds the bass from front L & R and dumps it into the subwoofer with about a 500Hz crossover. HUH? That means that there's a ton of bass going on, and it all sounds "muddy." OUCH. Solution? Either to play my Redbooks using the analog 7.1 surround setting - OR - setting the front speakers to Large and turning off the subwoofer. Fine, except then I'd have to re-set when I played DVDs or SACDs. NAD has one redeeming feature: it lets me set up to five "preset" controls, so that all I have to do is to key in one of them to play CDs, and another one to play, well, every other kind of disc. No bass management on stereo analog input - scheesch - you'd think that would be standard, but I guess they don't want you to use a sub on a 2-channel input. Or something. . . Respectfully. . .LarryR
Larry, not many sterero amps have a sub out, a few do, but they don't offer bass management. Those who might use a sub for a stereo amp would connect their speakers to the line level connections on the sub and make adjustments using the sub's controls. I know you can't do that without having seperate speaker wires for stereo and multi-channel fronts. Or can you?
Would it be possible to run a 2nd set of speaker wires to the sub? They wouldn't have to be much larger than magnet wire since they carry zero power..... Run the speaker wires to the fronts as normal. I don't get this large / small speaker deal, but at that point I'd run the fronts full range and use the on-sub controls for x-over freq and loudness. My stereo integrated has an extra pair of outs which are NOT bass managed which I run to the sub as lowlevel. A sub crossover at 500hz? nutty. Bass is supposedly mono below about what? 80hz or so, anyway?
Larry, the Oppo also has a suite of audio controls and room setup stuff in there. Have you opened that function and played the room setup dvd that was shipped to you?
Thanks all for the good points. At this point, after digging into the NAD owner's manual and checking online for any additions, I'm basically left with two rational (for me anyway) options. 1 - just play my REdbooks through the 7.1 analog inputs, where I have all bas control at the Oppo level. 2 - set one of NAD's sneaky "presets" to fronts/mains large and subwoofer Off. That would allow me to click on the preset and not have to re-adjust the whole receiver. Of course, with option 2 I don't have a sub, but then maybe (oh horror of horrors to audio purists) I could just jack up the bass on the mains a notch or two - or not. The reason for all my angst is that I want to take advantage of the vaunted DACs in the analog stereo output on the Oppo - which from all I read is even better than the ones on the 7.1 outputs. (?) All this has my head spinning - when all I really want to do is just to listen to good music reproduced as well as possible. SIGH. Thanks for your input, all. . . Respectfully. . .LarryR
Yes, I could re-set the sub into the NAD - but it's not worth the effort. I've found that just by setting up one of those "presets" on the NAD I can use front/smains large and no sub in stereo mode and it sounds pretty good. But I still prefer the sound that I get whilst playing any disc in the 7.1 setting with the sub in play. I thought/hoped that I'd get better sound with the 2-channel, but the 705s are just a bit shy on the bottom end, and the music is a bit "pinched." SIGH. No problem, though - I just now play EVERYTHING through the surround setting - CDs, SACDs, BDs and DVDs - and it all sounds absolutely smashing! I have no digital inputs to the NAD anymore - no reason for me to have any. Thanks for caring, and answering. . . Respectfully. . .LarryR