Brand spanking newbie! Couple of Q's

[vrs_matt]

First off hi there, been reading for a while, and have found it most informative. Finally took the plunge into the world of less rubbish AV equipment and bought a Harmann/Kardon SYS1500 http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.d...MEWA%3AIT&rd=1 some Mourdaunt Short 902s for the front, 903S' for the rears, a 905C for the front center (although i think i'm guna downsize to a 304C as the 905 is a little big for me) and a MSW 20 Sub

The question i have is:
In the interests of listening to music, although this set up is better than the 2.1 Phillips set up on my computer, its still not very musical. What i think i'm looking to do is buy a seperate CD player and Amp (integrated??) and listen to music through that.
Can i then just run the speaker wire out of the back of the new amp and into the back of the speakers, in addition to the wires already there from the AV amp? Or is this likely to cause major problems?
In terms of hardcore SQ don't worry too much, my ears ain't the best. But if its REALLY guna sound lame then let me know.

If this does sound like a viable option could you recommend a suitable amp and CD player for around £2-300 budget, second hand or ebay. Willing to spend a bit more if its really guna be worth it.

Any help greatly appreciated.
Matt

[alnwrd]

What you should do with the new cd player and amp is have two outputs from the av amp pre-out left and right channels into say aux on the new amp. The left and right speaker wires are only run from the new amp .You then play cds through the new gear. When you want the cinema sounds through the av amp switch on the new amp, set volume at 12 o'clock and the left and right channel sound will automatically increase or decrease when you adjust the av amp volume.

Not recommended to output speaker cables from two amps.

I always look at What HiFi mag for best buys and then if possible try and audition the kit at a dealer.

[shahedz]

as said as above, but i doubt you will need to put the volume on the seperate amp at 12 'o'clock , i think that would over power the other speakers,my system is st up in the same way but i need to just put the volume at about 9'o'clock

[vrs_matt]

The only problem i can see with that is the AV amp does not have any pre-outs to my knowledge, will double check when i get home though. Would i then leave the sub running active or would it be better to wire it up passively for musical duties?

What are the problems with having two sets of speaker cables going into the back of the speakers? As this seems like my only option if i don't have pre-outs. I would just run a seperate system but i just don't have the room or the money to do such a thing.

[av101773]

DO NOT, repeat DO NOT run two sets of cables from two amps to the same pair of speakers.

I made that mistake a short while ago even though I told myself to only switch on either the AV system or only the stereo system at any one time. (This was only going to be a temporary setup while I checked out some "new" 2nd hand kit I had bought).

It took only a few seconds to eject the cd I was playing from the CD player, put it into the DVD player and flick the power switch on the AV amp for it to go 'POP' and fry the insides of the setup, all before realising I hadn't switched off the stereo system.

I managed to blow up my AV amp and power amp on the hifi side
Repairs were estimated into the hundreds.

*Still kicking myself*

[shahedz]

ouch,

[Drew2]

Double

If your analogue amp is good you wont need your sub - but if like mine you can hook up wires from you front speakers into it it will work fine and independently from your Av amp.

And... I would also recommend you don't do the two amp one speaker system, too much to remember!! get other speakers!!