Connecting pre-out to a Pre-amp

[marsilians]

1. The Digital Signal Processing in your Pre-Amp shoudl be >= AVR if you want good clarity when watching movies.

I'm not sure I understood this correctly. But the connection from my avr to stereo is analog connection. Its from the avr pre-out to pre-amp input thru rca cables. Where is the need for digital signal processing. As I said may be I'm not understanding this correctly.

If you see in the diagram that Sumit has attached, all your sources are being routed through the Pre-amp before they touch the speakers. This means that if you have a great source but crappy DSP in the pre-amp you will lose quality. On the corollary if you have a resonable source but a greap DSP in the pre-amp then you will have better listening experience. That the reason.

2. YOu will not have the centre channel for music (some DSPs do sound better if you have the right source).

I don't want this but If I needed it I could still play the cd thru my dvd player and get the various dsp effects.

Your statement is exactly the reason I was not sure why you even wanted the pre-amp in my first message. Since your seem to have better listening experience with the pre-, aren't you losing that ability if you use the DVD as the source transport?

All this to just not have the AVR on?

I think you should play around with the connections a bit more to see if the overall benefit is greater than the complexity in the connectoins as you are also introducing more components in the path which tend to distort the original sound.

In the end if you are happy, thats all that matters

If you are always happy with 2 channel listening without a sub then you are good to go.

Even for this, if I needed additional bass I could always connect my sub to the second pre-out of the pre-amp. I could set the avr to send the lfe signals to the fronts instead of the sub.

My prev. comment re: complexity applies to this combination as well!

 

[silentsound]

Hi marsilians,

I'm not sure what you mean by DSP(digital signal processing)? Do you mean the process of converting the digital data to analog signals or the various simulated modes like Concert Hall, Disco, etc., available in the avr? If it is converting digital to analog signals then my understanding is that this is done by the cd player. Unless otherwise I connect a digital coaxil or optical cable between the cdp and the pre to feed the digtal signals to the pre. If you meant the various simulated modes then I like to listen to my music only in the stereo mode. As I said before may be I'm not understanding your point.

About the second point, for music I use only the cd player as the source not the dvd player. I use the dvd player and the avr only when I watch movies.

Again my reply to the third point is, If I want to have a sub added to the two channel stereo mode for extra bass then I could connect my sub to the pre-amp using the 2 pre out.

For music, I use only my cdp, pre, power and speakers. What are the additional components?

Only for movies, I add the pre as the additional component which I have to live with in order to avoid the speaker switch.

SilentSound.

 

[marsilians]

Hi marsilians,

I'm not sure what you mean by DSP(digital signal processing)? Do you mean the process of converting the digital data to analog signals or the various simulated modes like Concert Hall, Disco, etc., available in the avr?

Thats correct. In your case you have 2 sets, one in AVR and one in Pre. You will be as good as the lesser of them (lowest common denominator).

If it is converting digital to analog signals then my understanding is that this is done by the cd player. Unless otherwise I connect a digital coaxil or optical cable between the cdp and the pre to feed the digtal signals to the pre.

There is a lot of transformaitons happening from your CDP - speakers between dig & analog. For eg., if you have a connection like this

CDP ->(1) RCA cable -> AVR (2) (DSP) -> (3)Spkr wire

you have this

(1) D-A
(2) A - D
(3) D - A

If you meant the various simulated modes then I like to listen to my music only in the stereo mode. As I said before may be I'm not understanding your point.

Unless you use something like pure direct (or direct) mode your audio circuitry is interacting with the source. So your stereo listening will be influened by the DSP mode.

For music, I use only my cdp, pre, power and speakers. What are the additional components?

none

 

[George T]

It is not advisable to connect this way. Generally any pre-out signal has to directly go to the power amp's input. If you connect it to stereo pre-amp's in, there will be distortion in the output when you increase AVR's volume beyond certain point.

If you want you can just try this method ... connect the L/R pre-out of the AVR to one of the input in the stereo pre-amp and just keep the AVR's volume level to very minimal level and use the stereo pre-amp's volume control to vary the volume. The AVR's volume must remain in the same position.

Cheers,
Ramesh

Hi,

A query. there is a device that guitarists use to reduce hum, called a DI Box. its function is - quote wikepedia "to connect a high-impedance, line level, unbalanced output signal to a low-impedance microphone level balanced input, usually via XLR connector". could this be used as an interface between pre-amp and AVR input to step down the pre-amp out put voltage to source level ( such as BD or DVD player)?

 

[George T]

Hi,
Would really appreciate some technical clarification. If an AVR has 5.1 analog pre-outs that are rated from 200mV to 4.6V (variable gain) at an amplifier impedance of 470 Ohms and that set of pre-outs is connected to a 5.1 analog input of another AVR which has an input sensitivity of 200mV at 47KOhms , would there be a problem of distortion considering that the impedance input (receiving AVR) to output (sending AVR) ratio is 100:1?

 

[Naren]

I was in the same situation since 3 months, when I had to use tube and SS amp to the same front speakers. After some research found the Dynavox AMPS. Thus is an amplifier switch connecting 2 amps to a single speaker set. Works great.

 

[George T]

Just found this and ordered a few. This would solve some of the Pre-amp input gain issues