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System simplification ideas ...
#1
Dear all,

I've been looking at Devialet Phantom speakers for a while but with the Reactor line I am quite tempted to get a pair of it.
However I have an existing setup and if I don't simplify it, I will just add another pair of speaker in my existing setup!

So for the moment I have a regular home cinema amplifier (Yamaha rxv675) and a 5.1 speaker set (KEF). Usage is mainly to be able to connect lot of different sources (PS3/4, Switch, HDTV box, Media box, Karaoke set with a mixer, etc.)
On top of that I have a little Teac tube amplifier with stereo speakers. Main usage is to connect to it via Bluetooth and play music wirelessly.
I also have a Bluesound Vault 2i that serves as a music centre.
 
So the question is: If I was to purchase a pair of Reactor 600 or 900, how can they fit into this mix system?
Just having a pair of Reactor would be ideal but I would loose the 5.1 capability for like watching movie.
Having a pair of Reactor to replace the HC front speakers and Stereo speakers would be a nightmare to manage the cable splits (Not sure it's even possible).
And having a pair of Reactor on top of the existing would be a no-go for my wife as it will be another set of speakers with some duplicate usage ...
I would also prefer a "cleaner" setup ...

If anyone has came into this dilemna (to own a pair of Reactor on top of a mixed setup), your ideas are welcomed  Angel

Thanks
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#2
I said goodbye to my audio 5.1 setup (NAD T775 + ELAC speakers, REL sub) and bought a pair of 600's. I also bought a small Toslink switch, to collect all sources (TV, BlueRay, CD) and connected one of the Reactors. Most of the time we use Spotify or Qobuz. The kids are using Netflix and Disney+, with the tv sound. they don't care about sound quality :-)
I sometimes use the Reactors while watching a movie, sounds good enough to me!
2x Phantom Reactor 600 in stereo
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#3
Remember that Phantoms have quite some latency. You'd have trouble integrating them in your 5.1 setup unless you have good adjustment for lip sync on both video and audio streams. Also, karaoke is real-time. Would be difficult to use with the delay in Reactors.
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#4
Welcome to the forum...

Are you prepared to change your Yamaha AVR to another AVR with preouts?  If so, it may be possible to incorporate the Reactors to replace the front speakers and use your Vault 2i to feed the Reactors.

If you want to keep your Yamaha, then the Reactors will only replace your Teac & speakers.  The Vault 2i can feed the Reactors using bluetooth or optical.
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#5
My recommendation would be to get the Phantom Premieres instead... Once Devialet activates optical direct mode in DOS2 then you should be able integrate it to your existing system because they should function with less than 1 ms of latency. But I would hold off until this is confirmed.
6 x Phantom Gold, 3 x Phantom Silver, 2 x Phantom Classic, 9 x Phantom Reactor 900, Symetrix Radius AEC-2, 2 x JBL Synthesis SDP-55, Dante
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#6
I have a similar situation, used the reactors to transform my 5.1 into a 7.1 (or 7.3 if you consider the reactors bass response). 

In order to use it from the HC you need to have pre-amp outs, I used my reactors as front L and R speakers. Regarding the 30ms latency, that works ok for movies and when the receiver is set to Dolby Surround, DTS or Neural X output, however if I use it in multi channel stereo mode for all speakers for music listening the latency adds an echo, so for stereo music I use only the reactors (or only the other 5.1 speakers, both together won't sound nice because of the latency).

The only way I got a decent sound from the Aux input on the reactors was adding an ADC between the receiver and the reactors and connecting the ADC through optic to the reactor. Then you just plug the receiver pre amp out to the ADC and to one of the reactors, and they do the stereo split.

The good thing of this setup is that I still had the other aux optical in, on the other reactor free, to which I connected another ADC, this time one from Pro-ject, specific for turntables, with that I can listen to vinyl turned into digital at 192khz on the reactors, that sounds really good to me for music.

The only downside from this mixed "frankenstein" system is that you need to always select the proper receiver output and reactors input depending on the activity, apart of that I can have atmos, surround and beautiful stereo all in the same room.
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#7
Thanks everyone for the inputs Smile

@flanti I wish I could get rid of everything (in the middle) and just get a pair of Reactor! But with my mixed setup I need to cater with specific cabling. Except if I find workaround to chain switch and splitters to connect everything.

I understand the issue about the latency especially for Karaoke that would be problematic. Also another for the karaoke is that I have a Karaoke box and a mixer (because my amplifier doesn't have a microphone and a mixing function to mix the song audio with the microphone).
At the moment the workaround to that is to get the video out directly to the TV via another HDMI port (So I need to switch to that particular HDMI input on the TV). KTV box is outputting the sound of the songs to the mixer which can mix song audio and microphone. Then it is connected to my amplifier via RCA (So I need to switch on the amplifier on that particular input). And then I need to mute the TV sound otherwise I will have the sound coming from the HDMI from the KTV box.

So apart from that latency, if I integrate a pair of Phantom into my 5.1 how did people get rid of the latency?

@njaiswal Budget wise the Phantom Premier price is something that might not pass my financial approver (wife Big Grin) especially if it involves changing the amplifier (additional cost).

In absolute I would not mind to change my amplifier if it simplifies my setup. The Marantz one with pre-out looks nice especially for the multiple HDMI port. That would help me to connect all my devices via HDMI.
@Snoopy8 Any recommendation for amplifier with lot of HDMI port and Front pre-out? If the Reactor would be to replace the speakers with the tube player, then I "lose" on the simplification side!

@Marcello would you mind to share your ADC model? From my initial searches, it seems that I can only find chipset lol
It doesn't look like something very common.

Looks like that with my setup a realistic change would be to purchase a pair of 600 or 900 with an amplifier with Front pre-outs and a ADC for the latency fix. Result would be to get rid of my 2 front speakers, 2 stereo speakers coming with the small tube player and downsize my amplifier size (As Marantz have "small" size one).
Or ideally find workaround to chain switch and splitters to connect everything. And just use the Reactors in stereo.
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#8
@Marcello Just made a search on Amazon and could find a bunch Smile
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#9
(15-May-2020, 06:54)donniemcm Wrote: @Marcello Just made a search on Amazon and could find a bunch Smile
Hi, I use the Swissonic Converter AD 24/192, paid 35,00 EUR. I tried an even cheaper one, but this sounds better and you have a 24/192 output, that sounds crisper.
Also, the ADC in itself doesn't really correct the latency, it could even add some latency. What you can do on the receiver side to correct latency is add distance between speakers, if your receiver allows this kind of configuration, you should increase the set distance between speakers. 

I think if you place your other speakers around 20m far from the pair of reactors on the receiver configuration, you fix the latency issue completely, because the sound would reach the reactors the 60 ms sooner than the other speakers. My receiver unfortunately just allow 9m distance between speakers at max. therefore I still have this latency that sounds like a small echo, like if I was listening to music in a large empty room. If I didn't add these 9m correction on the receiver side and config the reactors and the other speakers at the real distance, then the latency would be a issue even for multichannel  movies I suppose. So it's really important that you can add some latency to the other speakers to compensate the reactor minimum latency. Around 20m is the sweet spot that matches the 60s latency.

I don't know of any cheap and uncompromising piece of equipment that would add latency, but if you find anything like that, it would correct the other speakers to match the reactors, but still latency will be a issue for Karaoke (because we can't add latency to our heads listening our own voice :-)
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#10
This could be one way to have a simplified setup and have both stereo and HT using the Reactors:

   
For stereo, continue using the Vault 2i for your stereo playback.  Volume control using Vault 2i.

For home theatre, use the left and right preouts from your new AVR to feed the Vault 2i.  You will need use an analog to digital converter to feed the Combo - TOSLINK / 3.5mm audio input.  Volume fixed on Vault 2i. Volume control using AVR.

Regarding an AVR, will need one which allows for the 60 ms latency of the Reactors.  I believe Yamaha AVRs (max. 71 ms, 80 ft speaker distance adjustment) can do this, but Marantz, Denon fall just short (53 ms, 60 ft). NAD, Anthem can do max. 27 ms, 30 ft.

@njaiswal is the residential home theatre expert here. Will the above work?
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