When MB wrote to us asking about system building, it seemed a perfect opportunity for Sound Advice's Ed Selley to spell out some home truths.
“I've been using the Bluesound Node ICON and Arcam A25 and also the Marantz M1 with my KEF R3 Meta for both TV and music. I find the Node Icon + Arcam A25 superior for music, and the Marantz M1 superior for TV (especially with its handling of Dolby Digital signals. Unfortunately, the Node Icon is not in the running with these signals).
Plus, as I've shopped, I’ve realized, I really don't know what / how to shop for audio products.
Am I better off with an AVR? Am I better off with adding a sub to the M1 to close the audio gap with the Node Icon + A25? Am I better off not trying to thread the needle between both TV (primarily Dolby Audio) and Music (Stereo) and just focus on a Stereo setup?
HELP!
This is an issue that affects many people. Equipment can excel in specific areas and be less effective than others. To work out which skills are the most useful to prioritise, you first need to break down the amount of time you spend using the system for different things. down a seven day week of normal use to see what is getting the most use. If it's over half in favour of the screen, the Marantz is going to make more sense; its ability to handle a Dolby Digital signal and downmix it itself is very impressive and means it’s probably the best HDMI ARC connection under a grand. If it's over 75%, then it might indeed be time to look at an AVR.
In my personal case, I listen to more music than I watch the TV (For someone who has bought no less than three OLED TVs, I seem very averse to serialised TV…) so, even though the Node isn't as effective as the Marantz, it is fine for the needs I have of it. Knowing your use case is going to be a huge part of successfully shopping for the items you need. It means you know what feature is going to be the one you focus on. In this case it’s HDMI vs streaming but it could just as easily be streaming vs phono stage or speaker outputs versus the headphone socket.
In MB’s specific case, there are actually three potential system options to try.
The most cost effective is adding a sub to the Marantz M1. It's going to work well and you get the excellent HDMI ARC performance it offers. KEF is turning out some decent options but REL, SVS and Velodyne all know what they are doing too at a cost effective price.
Power option
The second is to use the Node with a power amp. I feel that this is the best way of using the Bluesound. It means HDMI volume adjustment is easier and it seems to perform at its best this way. It won't solve the Dolby issue but I feel that this unlocks more potential from the Node. I use an old Chord Electronics power amp I have lying around (it’s a reviewer’s perk to have a functional ‘odds’ pile of items that can be pressed into use as required) but there are various class D options from sensible money (like the recently reviewed Cambridge Audio MXW70) and up that would work well and the excellent Cyrus Classic Power is on offer here at the moment so might be in your market too.
The third requires them to wait a little but might be worth considering. Arcam is launching updated '+' versions of the A5, A15 and A25, the latter two of which now have HDMI ARC.
At this point, I don't know (yet) if it does DD but it would mean you kept the sound quality you like and had the option of trying a different reception point for the ARC signal. Something like a Bluesound Node Nano would then give the BluOS interface at a useful saving- particularly if you use the Arcam's DAC.
