I am in the process of building a new system, the first since college. It has been downhill since then.
Currently, I have two MartinLogan Source loudspeakers, a MartinLogan sub, dual NHT A1 amps with an NHT X1 crossover, an older Sony CD changer (jukebox), my original Garrard GT-55 turntable (new cartridge, but needs a tune-up), and, finally, a Dell P4 computer with lots of disk space. The old Sony stereo receiver is history.
I will be using the system for 2.1-channel audio only. I may be over reaching, WAF is running thin, but I am looking for a XM/HD/FM/AM tuner and haven't found one yet with all four (I already have Verizon FiOS music channels), a DAC, and a preamp to pull it all together. I am hoping the computer will handle Internet Radio. I am looking at the Peachtree Nova, but am not certain this would be the best value.
Any suggestions/ideas would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks!
Gregg Reilly
I cut and pasted "XM/HD/FM/AM tuner" into Google and it came up with the McIntosh MR88 and Onkyo T-4555 tuners. So there is equipment out there that appears to support all four. More than likely, those aren't the only ones. Or if they are, there will probably be others in the future.
As far as what would be the best for your situation, as well as the best value, you have too many options to list here. The Peachtree Nova is certainly one component to consider, but there are integrated amps, receivers, and preamps that have built-in DACs that can suit your needs. I could list a dozen different options right now, and that's just scratching the surface. You'll really have to do some shopping around and then come back with some specifics if you want better advice.
But insofar as Internet Radio goes, I can give you some direction there. There are tabletop radios as well as receivers that support it. However, I’ve found that a computer works as well if not better. But how do you get the music out of the computer and into your music system if your computer isn’t located anywhere near it? What we use here is an Audioengine AW1 wireless adapter that allows you to stream the music signal from your computer to your audio system. It works great and its sound quality is suitable for this application. In fact, we were doing this the other day when we were having a backyard party and wanted to listen to some Latin music that we ended up streaming from a station in Venezuela. Aperion Audio just released something similar called the Home Audio Link that does the same thing. Kevin East just reviewed it on SoundStage! Xperience, one of our sister sites.
