[andyt916]

Hi all,

New to the forum - and have a question...

I have a Denon AVR-550SD home cinema system (very happy with it). I've also got some spare panasonic home cinema speakers and am considering using a couple as surround rear 7.1. The Denon manual says this needs an additional power amp to drive these (if 2 are used). So... what would be a suitable model for this? A quick look around suggests that this will be an expensive component, but given the application (and available spare cash!!!) doesn't seem to warrant spending a lot of money. All suggestions welcome, thanks for any help.

PS. Info for anyone interested..

Additional equipment (home hi-fi) = Linn LP12/Ittok/K9, Arcam Alpha 8R amp, Arcam Alpha 7 CD, Rega Alya speakers.

Not sure if its worth the bother, but I would buy a very cheap decent amp.

Maybe a second hand NAD for example. Nothing better than that would justify its cost and furthermore outpower the rest of the system.

[Ranglo]

Hello,

I would use the Arcam Alpha 8R amp that you've already got to power the rear channels. You just need to connect via the rear surround pre out on the denon into a spare line in on your arcam. Then set your arcam to 12 o'clock, adjust the speaker levels and you should experience 6.1

[andyt916]

Thanks for the tips, chaps.

Did think about using the arcam, but speakers are in the wrong place, and the two speaker option is an "and", not an "either/or".

Agree that not worth spending money, so I've just installed a single rear speaker using the direct speaker output. So I've got 6.1 but not 7.1, but I reckon that'll be good enough!