Adding a power/stereo amp to an AV receiver...
Paul Hobbs:I tried adding in a stereo power amp to my 805, turns out the weak link in my amp is the pre stage, not the power stage, so the slight sibilance I was getting (compared to my old marantz stereo amp) was transferred over anyway.
Well I have the onkyo 875 which is very similar to your 805, you say you get a
slight sibilance which is strange as mine as none, if anything I find the onkyo too warm sounding.
Its not bad by any means, I decided to stick with the 805 alone (instead of adding an external power amp) as Im very happy with it. The Marantz stereo amp I was used to (a pm7200 for the last 7 years) was buttery smooth, all be it less detailed. I personally wouldn't call the 805 warm, but the aforementioned Marantz was very warm. Running an Apple TV and Philips CD direct in to the Onkyo's Burr-browns has given me detail overload, so I will forgive its (perceived) harshness in some areas for the gains in others 
Well I have got 2 
Without changing the speaker cables when you want music, is there any other way if I can to add an integrated amp (Rotel 04) to my amp (Sony 2400es) but playing through the ame front speakers?
Yes, you would connect your Rotel amp's pre-outs to the Sony's pre-outs
Wouldn't that be the Rotel pre-outs to the Sony multi-in.I'm not sure how that would work. Conflicting volume controls?
There seems to be a lot of potential confusion in this thread, so here are my five penn'orth.
IMO, it is possible to achieve a significant improvement in 'music/2 channel' reproduction by using a good quality integrated amp. It obviously needs to be of a certain standard, or there will be little gain in using it rather than the AV amp! The pre-outs on the AV amp should be connected to a pair of free inputs on the integrated amp, which thus drives the front two channels when watching movies. The front two speakers are also connected to the integrated amp.
On some amps there is a special setting (sometimes called 'Unity Gain') whilst, on others, it is necessary to choose an easily repeatable/memorable gain level (12 o'clock?) prior to running the auto set-up. The system should then be ready for movie/TV watching.
Stereo sources such as CD players and digital devices via a DAC should be connected direct to the integrated amp. The AV amp is, therefore, not employed at all for those activities and there should be a big improvement in sound. My otherwise excellent Yamaha receiver is, for example, very ordinary compared with my Leema amp! I was thrilled with the change.
In my opinion, it is also wise to consider other users (who may have to accommodate more spending on Hi-Fi!!) in making this move. I would not have done it without also having my trusty Harmony One remote to hand. After a little bit of programming, the system is no more difficult to use than before and everyone is still happy!
Great post!
What though if you have just one source - in my case bluray (which is also my dvd, cd and sacd player) which has to be connected to the AVR via HDMI so for cinema purposes?
Would I then try connect direct to the stereo amp via analogue outs on my bluray?
So when running movies - id set the bluray to flow into the avr via HDMI - avr to power all speakers except fronts which get powered via preouts from avr into stereo amp. When listening to audio i'd turn off the avr - set the stereo amp to cd or whatever running off analogues direct from cd player?
ok.......
Going to add my Pioneer A-605R stereo amp to my Denon AVR 2310 using the 'pre out' tomorrow.......
Reading through the (lovely!?!) Denon manual, there is no suggestion of having to change any settings in the receiver to do this....
Am I correct in thinking the 'Pre outs' are always 'active', and as long as I disconnect all front speaker cable from the receiver and connect them up to the Pioneer, it'll be a case of setting the volume control on the Pioneer, and running the set up again (obviously using analogue connectors from Pre outs to 'Line In' on the stereo amp as well)....??
yup, when you run the auto setup on the denon just set the pioneers volume to half way first.Pistol Pete1:ok.......
Going to add my Pioneer A-605R stereo amp to my Denon AVR 2310 using the 'pre out' tomorrow.......
Reading through the (lovely!?!) Denon manual, there is no suggestion of having to change any settings in the receiver to do this....
Am I correct in thinking the 'Pre outs' are always 'active', and as long as I disconnect all front speaker cable from the receiver and connect them up to the Pioneer, it'll be a case of setting the volume control on the Pioneer, and running the set up again (obviously using analogue connectors from Pre outs to 'Line In' on the stereo amp as well)....??
then when you want to play two channel music select stereo on the denon.
be sure to remember to turn the volume down on the pio first though or you'll scare the life out of the wife
Max...
The test tones will be very, very loud at half way!!! It is very loud at 11 o'clock!! Was thinking more 9-10 o clock position....
The cd player will be connected to the Pioneer, so the Denon will not be used when playing two channel music....
the kefs must be an easy load then pete? i suppose 9 o'clock will be ok, i think the denon will set the levels of the fronts a bit higher during auto-setup if need be..Pistol Pete1:Max...
The test tones will be very, very loud at half way!!! It is very loud at 11 o'clock!! Was thinking more 9-10 o clock position....
The cd player will be connected to the Pioneer, so the Denon will not be used when playing two channel music....
edit.. the test tones will be controlled by the denon, doesn't matter how loud the pio is set. once it's not set too low.
Pistol Pete1:The test tones will be very, very loud at half way!!! It is very loud at 11 o'clock!! Was thinking more 9-10 o clock position
You should set it to half way as this is the amps maximum output. From here, the auto set up will determine what level should be set at the Denon for it and the other channels to be in line with each other. Don't worry, it's not like playing music at that volume
David,
I don't understand how half way is the amps maximum output?
I'll obviously trust you on the 'it's not like playing music at that volume'......
Did the AVR 200 have preouts... I own a AVR 280 and it does not have pre-outs so, I would also be curious to see how you linked both.
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