A/V amp Jiggery pokery

[Vinyleyes]

Ok, i have had a look at the processor you linked to. Don't take this as gospel because i may well have missed something

It looks to me as though the thing has built in power amps for the centre & both surround channels & only pre outs for the front channels Now from the way my semi scrambled brain thinks you have a couple of choices depending on what you are using already. If you have a pre amp & it has a "bypass" switch it should allow you to use the volume control on the processor to control the whole system volume (IE 5.1) when you are watching movies or spinning multichannel music DVDs or CDs (i have both ) when you bypass the volume control on one set of inputs on your pre amp that you need to dedicate to when going multi channel. If your pre amp doesn't have a bypass switch then you'll need to get a switch box as i mentioned earlier so you can swap between the pre amp outputs of your stereo pre amp & the front channel outputs of the processor..

It sounds much more difficult than it actually is at the end of the day Take it from me...

Yes indeed the processor in question does take care of all the amplification for centre, rear and sub ... and allows the front 2 channels to be driven from my existing 2 channel amp of choice. Therefore I do not need a bunch of extra 2 channel amps thankfully ... :-) .... But what I cannot see is how my preamp (no bypass) fits in here as it looks from the processor instructions that all sources are fed into the processor when of course I want to use my own preamp .... I have sourced a suitable switch box ........... but again I am having trouble visualising all of this ... I think it is just a matter of getting all the gear out on the floor and piecing it together .... and then I would see if I have all the bits .. definitely NO beer until job is done ..

Thanks for the ideas ..

[Techno Commander]

It would seem that most AV systems are not designed to integrate easily with high end audio. There is a lot to be said for just watching TV in stereo.

[Reid Malenfant]

Hi Brian, that is the wrong kind of switch box my friend

Ok, lets see if you can visualize this

If you happen to purchase that processor it has all the 5.1 line level phono inputs that will accept the decoded output from your BD player. That problem is now taken care of.

It also has built in amplification for the rear & centre channels Notice that there are no amplifiers for the front channels, only pre outs! Now as your pre amp doesn't have a bypass there is a way round having to connect all your sources to the processor! What you need to do is make your own bypass!

Now imagine the processor as a pre amp for the front channels, juat as your own pre amp is for stereo What you need to do is switch between the two pre amps - simples! What you need is one of these or a better quality one!

With that box connected between the stereo power amps you'll be able to select which pre amp you connect to, either your stereo pre amp with all your present equipment connected or the processor whith the 5.1 sound & rear channels etc taken care of

Now think about it & it all makes sense The output of that box would connect to your power amps & your pre amp & the processor would connect to a pair of the inputs. You then simply select which you want - jobs a good one

[Vinyleyes]

Hi Brian, that is the wrong kind of switch box my friend

Ok, lets see if you can visualize this

If you happen to purchase that processor it has all the 5.1 line level phono inputs that will accept the decoded output from your BD player. That problem is now taken care of.

It also has built in amplification for the rear & centre channels Notice that there are no amplifiers for the front channels, only pre outs! Now as your pre amp doesn't have a bypass there is a way round having to connect all your sources to the processor! What you need to do is make your own bypass!

Now imagine the processor as a pre amp for the front channels, just as your own pre amp is for stereo What you need to do is switch between the two pre amps - simples! What you need is one of these or a better quality one!

With that box connected between the stereo power amps you'll be able to select which pre amp you connect to, either your stereo pre amp with all your present equipment connected or the processor whith the 5.1 sound & rear channels etc taken care of

Now think about it & it all makes sense The output of that box would connect to your power amps & your pre amp & the processor would connect to a pair of the inputs. You then simply select which you want - jobs a good one

Hi Mark .... I think I see it ... . . ... It does indeed look simple .. .... However ... one thing still I am struggling with .. When I play a CD on the BD ( Oppo) player .. I do not want that going through the processor .. I want it directly into my pre pre and power. But .. the Oppo you say has to be connected to the processor and not my preamp and I guess that will be because when I play a DVD movie it needs to be going through there for the effects obviously .. and to be routed to the 5.1 sysyem ..
So .. if I am with you so far .. could I simply unplug the BD player from the Processor and plug it into MY preamp input when I want to play CD music through my 2 channel sysytem.... or even have a switch in there to do that ..
If all this is going to work then we are going to end up with a 5.1 AV system for the cost of a 2nd hand processor and a couple of switch boxes .. Plus we have the benefit of using my own hifi components for 2 channel and front speaker AV replay ... instead of inferior AV amplification .. that has to be a pretty good solution !! Am I making sense ...

Andy .. keep the faith .. I think we may have a solution here ..

[Reid Malenfant]

Brian my friend, you don't need to The Oppo will also have a pair of stereo output sockets & those can be connected to your proper pre amp. Thus you won't need to disconnect a thing, it'll just be a case of flicking a switch

By the way, if you want one of those switch boxes i have one sat here doing nothing. Yours for the cost of postage if you want it

[Vinyleyes]

Brian my friend, you don't need to The Oppo will also have a pair of stereo output sockets & those can be connected to your proper pre amp. Thus you won't need to disconnect a thing, it'll just be a case of flicking a switch

By the way, if you want one of those switch boxes i have one sat here doing nothing. Yours for the cost of postage if you want it

............ I see it all now ... ........... In my defence I must say I am sitting a long way from any hifi equipment so I have nothing to reference to here ,, ......... I amazed more folks do not grasp this solution .. it has to be the best of both worlds if you can live without 7:1 and all the fancy movie soundtrack thingies out there now .. .. Thanks you for your kind offer of the switch box ... and all your patience and help with working this out .. As I may have mentioned I will not be home for some time so no point in taking advantage of your help with this just yet.
I will still also buy the Beresford so I can switch between power amps for my main set up .. I looked again at it and saw where I was mistaken for this application ... .... but I can still use it !

I owe you a few beers Mark .... ...

[jon1]

It would seem that most AV systems are not designed to integrate easily with high end audio. There is a lot to be said for just watching TV in stereo.

I agree but i have one that dose..A lot of years in the making to get it right



jon

[Jac Hawk]

I agree but i have one that dose..A lot of years in the making to get it right



jon

I think the main reason that A/V setups have a bad rep when it comes to sound quality is that folks either look to get an "all in one box" system, that are just crap pure and simple, or, they buy an A/V amp and a microscopic 5.1 speaker system "bose spring to mind", at the end of the day there is a good reason for having speakers of a certain size, it doesn't matter what you play through em, music, movies, games etc. a decent sized speaker is always going to sound better that a sub/sat setup, so if you take your time and get decent speakers and a decent amp and then set it up right "which can be tricky" there is no reason why you can't have a great sounding A/V setup, ok not as good as a dedicated stereo system for music, but very pleasing none the less

[jon1]

I think the main reason that A/V setups have a bad rep when it comes to sound quality is that folks either look to get an "all in one box" system, that are just crap pure and simple, or, they buy an A/V amp and a microscopic 5.1 speaker system "bose spring to mind", at the end of the day there is a good reason for having speakers of a certain size, it doesn't matter what you play through em, music, movies, games etc. a decent sized speaker is always going to sound better that a sub/sat setup, so if you take your time and get decent speakers and a decent amp and then set it up right "which can be tricky" there is no reason why you can't have a great sounding A/V setup, ok not as good as a dedicated stereo system for music, but very pleasing none the less

Mike when you get it right..A lot of practice....and mistakes and money over the years



jon

[Jac Hawk]

Mike when you get it right..A lot of practice....and mistakes and money over the years



jon

With respect mate, what i have is bloody good to my ears, sure i could improve it, but at what cost? trust me it would be thousands, money which i don't have right now, i've chosen main speakers that i've always liked the sound of, and an A/V amp that was noted to punch above it's price bracket and luckily compliments my speakers, the only weak link is the sub and only for movies, something i will fix when the right sub turnes up for the right price