Let’s face it, we’d all like to have that better than live concert sound of our “Transporter” main listening/demo room here at Audible Images AV, but with most, it just isn’t going to happen.
Some of us with a more humble background if you will, enjoy listening to Ultra High End gear (at our showroom), yet we can be very entertained with a modest system that sounds good cranked loud or as background music, but most just do not plan to have a pair of $38,000 mono block Dan D’Agostino Progression Amplifiers to drive our front speakers 🙂
‘Sounds Better’ is an addition to our logo as of late because Ed is constantly making the point about how the Music itself should just engage all your attention right there in your chair. And how Mass Market & Big Box has made visual and functional bells and whistles persuade the general public to buy their widget, but in contrast Ed hammers home, Sound quality, this is what causes you to melt into your listening chair, solo or with your other half. If the music can sweep away all distractions, and let you become submerged in listening for hours on end, then you know you chose the right gear.
So here’s where my personal and modest choices come into play. What system would I like to work my way into right now, and then expand over the next five years? What we’re gonna spend to start, is $3800 right up front. What questions do you ask when you are ready to begin the quest for your system?
Questions I asked myself for a starting point.
- Is your listening room a dedicated room like a spare bedroom , small office type setting?
- Or will it be a large open area shared architectural type setting?
- What budget would you need to follow with your round one system?
- Do you have other gear that you want it to work with? IF so, what gear?
- How loud will you want to crank it up?
- How will you place the system, on a piece of furniture or will you rack it?
- Are you thinking two channel now with or without a TV?
- If with a TV, then you’re probably thinking a home theater setup in the future, yes?
- What type of listening experience is absolutely necessary for you to be happy right off the bat?
- Are you married, and if so, will this also be a family and/or children listening room?
- What about Acoustic treatment for the room, so that whatever you buy, it sounds pretty good in that room?
My new system room & gear description after the questions.
The room will be a spare bedroom type room, around 11 by 12 feet with vaulted ceilings. See note below for those of you not sure what my vaulted means, otherwise skip to the next paragraph.
Wiki: “A true “vaulted ceiling” generally depicts different wall heights on either side of the sloping ceiling, in contrast with a “cathedral ceiling”, which usually has equal wall heights on both sides.”
Okay continuing on with my new system description: The system will for now rest on a cabinet to start, and we’re going with a multi channel receiver that has built in audio streaming for music, and a pair of modest 3 way floorstander speakers. For now, I have to skip the room treatments/acoustics, but there will be installed floor carpet. A 43 inch TV will be installed already.
The proposed system, is a really excellent sounding receiver from NAD Electronics, the NAD T 777 V3 A/V Surround Sound Receiver with a pair of PSB X2T Tower Speakers. (Note: the little black piece to the right of the receiver is a streaming Node 2i from Bluesound (sister company of NAD, but it’s actually not needed, the T777 already has the same streaming pre-built inside with a modular card, I just didn’t want to have to download the updates and set it up, so I just used a digital cable and created an external streaming source 🙂 )
NAD T777 with PSB X2T Tower gallery
Details about the Gear and Why I chose it.
Why NAD receivers and amplifiers? THIS IS WHY shopping at an Audiophile owned small business makes sense over internet bargain hunting. (I personally see how Audiophile friends just pop into our showroom all the time, simply to ask Ed’s opinions, listen to our latest gear or music and seek his knowledge, and also just to talk the hobby)
First of all, my boss and friend Ed Masterson has over 20 years of Audiophile experience, product knowledge, reviewing gear for online magazines and he is very critical about quality of gear and manufacturer support. Here is a quote below from Ed that is also seen on our “Brands” page.
As you study the brands we carry please keep in mind that we have spent years studying the market looking for companies that consistently produce high quality products that perform near to or at the top of their class. Our consideration also includes the quality of support and general passion of its owners for our hobby.
Back to our details about the Gear…
The NAD T777 has a nice amount of power combined with really excellent sound for a modest priced amplifier/7.1 channel receiver at $2500. (this isn’t a review persay, but I overemphasize that the T777 has a really detailed beautiful sound) It delivers the dynamic head room you want for those songs that can make some drastic shifts in base. For example the song “Deviance” off the “Meowingtons Hax Tour Trax by Various Artist, 2011 release. It has some really crazy synthesizer intro that builds to a semi scary crescendo and then transitions into a pounding kick drum and other percussion along with some really loud mid-range synthesizer sounds. Even the NAD 758 sounds great, however I chose the T777 to test for this new system because it does provide 160 Watts at 8 Ohm. And 80 watts by 7 channel for theater. So here is an excellent piece, to start off 2 channel, and then expand into an awesome 7 channel system on down the road.
I played quite a few tracks via the Bluesound streaming and using Roon and Tidal. I share the reason why that track was played. These are just some of the tracks I played, though I did play quite a few more than the following list:
- Fade to Black – Dire Straits (bass, guitar)
- Come Away with Me – Norah Jones (vocals, piano, soundstage)
- Flight of the Cosmic Hippo – Bela Fleck & the Flecktones (heavy bass, bango)
- Electrified II – Yello (crazy bass, synthesizer, full dynamic range)
- Nature Boy – Lisa Ekdahl, Peter Nordahl Trio (vocals, acoustic bass guitar)
- Lush Life – Kate Reid (vocals, piano)
- Hotel California – Hell Freezes Over – Eagles (guitar intro, kick drum)
The system sounds just excellent, and for a small to medium size room, it will crank about as loud as you could want. Below I clipped an excerpt from a review on the T777, and then close with a summary that includes the recommended upgrades that I would do next, when the budget permits.
Review about the T777 V3 Receiver
Hometheaterreview.com has a very good review of the T777. The only minuses they seem to mention are theater and setup related points, none of which are the reason why we offer NAD products. The Sound of NAD amplifiers is why Ed keeps offering them in our showroom for modest high performance systems.
After mentioning a couple minuses in their review (in regards to bells & whistles), I quote what Dennis Burger says in the May 28, 2018 review, “Frankly, I didn’t miss it, especially given how delightful this receiver sounds in plain old stereo mode, with no DSP tinkering or channel expansion. Imaging was just flawless, and the handling of the acoustic guitar bits around three and a half minutes into the track was simply sumptuous. The timbre was spot on. Transient response was unimpeachable. The breathy, almost mournful vocals of singer Thomas Dybdahl just hung right there, right in the air in front of you, with wonderful tonal balance, delicious warmth, utter clarity, and in their perfect place depth-wise in the mix. “
What did he say about how the receiver in theater mode sounded like? I quote from the same article, from the 2nd page here in hometheaterreview.com:
“In the movie Star Wars: Episode VIII–The Last Jedi on UHD Blu-ray. From the opening blasts of John Williams’ iconic theme, even with the volume knob pegged all the way to the right, it’s obvious that the receiver still has headroom to spare. The score here sounded absolutely triumphant, with rich midrange and sparkling detail.
Fast-forward past the opening crawl, and we come to a sequence that honestly had me hovering my finger over the volume knob, just in case: a succession of star destroyers come screaming out of hyperspace, followed by a massive dreadnought doing the same. This was my twelfth viewing of the film (my fourth on UHD Blu-ray), so I knew what was coming: a sound effect that sort of evokes a nuclear bomb exploding in reverse. Much to my delight, the T 777 V3 delivered the sounds without flinching, cranking out every ounce of dynamic wallop and transient aural brake-slamming with ease.”
End quote.
Summary
Come in to hear this modest yet high performance starter system of the T777 V3 Receiver Amplifier with streaming ($2500) plus the PSB X2T Tower floorstander 3 way speakers ($1299/pair) Once you hear it in our two channel mode mode set up and love the sound, then before you leave to go home to think about it, we’ll give you a demo you won’t forget with our Great Room high end system and our crazy “Transporter” theater system so you can hear the most intense goosebumps system you’ve ever heard.
On down the road, here is the upgrade path that I would take.
- Add a REL T7i sub-bass speaker for $1000 to turn this two channel system into wider dynamic range on the low end to blow your mind in 2 channel (using High level connections) and it’ll also provide a 3 channel theater that sounds really good. (with of course the ability to setup lfe connections for theater)
- Making sure your cables are at least in the neighborhood of Transparent “Hardwired” speaker and interconnect cables.
- When we’re ready to step into 5.1 or 7.1, we can expand the modest PSB speaker choices into either Imagine S Surround and/or Imagine XA to complete your home theater system.
- Or, if you’re wanting to step up your speaker tonality and price point, we can demonstrate some higher level speakers.
- And if you do want to stay on the PSB speakers path, then the next step I would suggest a 2nd REL T7i to help submerge you in that theater mode even more. Actually, I would recommend the 2nd Sub-base/subwoofer once you added your Surround Sound speakers.
- Depending on how pleased you are with the Acoustics of your listening room, you can also stop in to ask Ed for some ideas on treating your room.
- Last addition, well, not really, just Enjoy the Path, that’s what makes this hobby fun!
Art Hansen
Audible Images AV is excited to be serving: Melbourne, Florida, Rockledge, Merritt Island, Cocoa Beach, Cape Canaveral, Port St. John, Satellite Beach, Space Coast, Vero Beach, Orlando, Daytona, Kissimmee, Central Florida, the entire state of Florida…and even the greater USA, for all their Stereo two channel and Home Theater systems.
