Sharing speakers with AV and Hifi setup

darkeeboy

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Ive been doing some research with regards upgrading my current av amp for stereo sound (squeezebox and cd player).
Ive got a Yamaha dsp-ax761 av amp, and its great for multichannel playback, ps3 passing lpcm through the hdmi hookup.
I want to upgrade the stereo performance and have read that I can utilise the L/R preouts on the av amp to pass through to a dedicated stereo amp.

My question is, do I require an integrated amp, or can I utilise a poweramp stage? Ideally the KISS approach would be appreciated, so that my other half can at least watch tv without me present to set it all up!

If a power amp suffices, any thoughts on which ones? I have a B&W 601 speaker setup at present, and believe they can be pushed harder with a better amp (*or am I barking up the wrong tree and infact the speakers are the "bottleneck")

thanks in advance for any suggestions!
 
Nothing wrong with your speakers, in my opinion.

The reason for separating stereo from av duties is the quality of the pre-amp stage, so you would need a stereo integrated amp, not just a power amp.

That said, a separate power amp to drive your front pair probably wouldn't hurt, but it is the stereo abilities of your Yammy is the weak link.
 
Have you got any analog inputs? I am not 100% sure of this stuff either, but, like you I have been thinking about getting some sort of stereo amp. After reading and looking up various things, the way I think I would do it is get a stereo pre-amp and connect it to the analog inputs on your receiver. Connect your player to the pre-amp. The Preamp should then control the quality of the audio, but, you can use your AV remote to change the volume.

I am sure some of the more experienced AV heads can tell you better.
 
Cheers both, recon Ive a few questions to answer at the Brizzol show. BTW Im the guy just blurry on the right hand shot of the bristolshow website (*by the next show details!) Recon I should charge for publicity!
 
Cheers both, recon Ive a few questions to answer at the Brizzol show. BTW Im the guy just blurry on the right hand shot of the bristolshow website (*by the next show details!) Recon I should charge for publicity!

With the red jacket or the suit?
 
I am interested in this as well, I have a Onkyo 906, how exactly do you do it?
 
Hi,

What you need to do is connect your CD player & the Squeezebox to the stereo amplifier and listen to them that way. It can be an integrated amp or a pre/power.

You can then put the Front Left and Front Right output from your AV amp in to the stereo amp and let the AV amp drive your rear and centre. Naim have a system called 'unity gain' and an AV button on the front. You set it up, press AV and then the AV amp volume has overall control of the system. I understand lots of modern stereo amps have a similar set up.

If you have an older stereo amp you will need to manually pick a volume eg: 10 o'clock on the stereo amp. Then set up the centre and rears to match that volume. When you wish to watch a film you must set your stereo amp to 10 o'clock and your AV amp to the matching volume. You are basically stuck with that volume or mute!

Not sure of your CD player or intended budget but you may be better off buying a better AV amp (say an ARCAM, which would be quite good with CD in Direct Mode) and a DAC for your Squeezebox.

My system is expensive and pretty revealing, my CD player cost cÂŁ2500 with PSU, but my ÂŁ150 Squeezebox using FLAC played through my Stereo Amp DAC is very impressive indeed in comparison. It's only compared directly to my CD player that you really notice the difference.

Cheers
S
 
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If you have an older stereo amp you will need to manually pick a volume eg: 10 o'clock on the stereo amp. Then set up the centre and rears to match that volume. When you wish to watch a film you must set your stereo amp to 10 o'clock

This is correct, although 12 o'clock is easier to remember and set.

and your AV amp to the matching volume. You are basically stuck with that volume or mute!

Not true. You can set the AV amp volume to whatever you want, since it is driving the volume of all the channels. Centre and surrounds directly, and fronts through the pre-outs.
 
This is correct, although 12 o'clock is easier to remember and set.



Not true. You can set the AV amp volume to whatever you want, since it is driving the volume of all the channels. Centre and surrounds directly, and fronts through the pre-outs.

I suggest downloading the manual for the Naim AV2 from Naim Audio :: Welcome for guidance in how to connect a stereo integrated (or pre/power) into an AV system.
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Sluggster
and your AV amp to the matching volume. You are basically stuck with that volume or mute!

Posted by Mr_Orange
Not true. You can set the AV amp volume to whatever you want, since it is driving the volume of all the channels. Centre and surrounds directly, and fronts through the pre-outs.


Sorry, it's been a while since I had to do it this way. I thought I recalled setting distances and speaker volumes then having to use the same volume setting on the AV / stereo amp to keep all the speakers in sync.

Regards,
S
 

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