TB Rich
Prominent Member
I've been using an old Yamaha DSP-A970 as a 2ch amp now for some time, it still to me sounds great in this function and there was no appreciable difference to the sound doing some back to back testing with an Audiolab 8000 (either an A or S it was) a number of years back now when I was curious as to what a supposed dedicated amp would do for me.
However, I've had the TV connected via RCA to it for some time now and was wondering if there was anyway to get a surround setup going. I've never really wanted surround before because of wires and general look of them in the lounge, however I've seen a set of KEF T101 in white which would do the job nicely, but it begs the question now as to if I can actually get any sort of surround signal to it?!
This amp is an analogue Pro Logic only unit with no 5.1 inputs, so decoding must be done externally. My source is an Xbox One S which currently is set to just send a Stereo mix to the TV over the HDMI, and then as mentioned I have RCA out to the amp. Seems to work very well and no issues with centre dialogue unless the film is obviously mastered poorly (amp is set to phantom but I think with a 2ch source that is moot anyway).
Would setting the Xbox to send a 5.1 signal to the TV and then TV via RCA carry a signal the amp would recognise? I believe Pro Logic always worked on a L+R only basis and the rear was carried via an out of phase signal - frankly I'm at a loss as to if it would work or not?!
The other option is of course to replace, but this would be expensive to replace it with something of an equivalent quality. High end Yamaha perhaps RX-A1080, however to be honest I'd probably go Yamaha A-S1100 for 2ch stereo with HT bypass function, and connect a Marantz NR1509 for the surround processing etc - smallest cheapest option I can see with front channel pre-outs. Really I'm far less concerned about the sound of the surround setup vs 2ch for music.
Any thoughts welcomed.
However, I've had the TV connected via RCA to it for some time now and was wondering if there was anyway to get a surround setup going. I've never really wanted surround before because of wires and general look of them in the lounge, however I've seen a set of KEF T101 in white which would do the job nicely, but it begs the question now as to if I can actually get any sort of surround signal to it?!
This amp is an analogue Pro Logic only unit with no 5.1 inputs, so decoding must be done externally. My source is an Xbox One S which currently is set to just send a Stereo mix to the TV over the HDMI, and then as mentioned I have RCA out to the amp. Seems to work very well and no issues with centre dialogue unless the film is obviously mastered poorly (amp is set to phantom but I think with a 2ch source that is moot anyway).
Would setting the Xbox to send a 5.1 signal to the TV and then TV via RCA carry a signal the amp would recognise? I believe Pro Logic always worked on a L+R only basis and the rear was carried via an out of phase signal - frankly I'm at a loss as to if it would work or not?!
The other option is of course to replace, but this would be expensive to replace it with something of an equivalent quality. High end Yamaha perhaps RX-A1080, however to be honest I'd probably go Yamaha A-S1100 for 2ch stereo with HT bypass function, and connect a Marantz NR1509 for the surround processing etc - smallest cheapest option I can see with front channel pre-outs. Really I'm far less concerned about the sound of the surround setup vs 2ch for music.
Any thoughts welcomed.