Questions about hooking up an amp to receiver. (1 Viewer)

[Trigger38]

Hello, i currently have a Denon 1910 avr. I was thinking about getting an amp to power my front L/R towers (polk audio rt12). Well first off i'm not sure if i even need an amp or the difference it will make in 2 channel sound. if i do get an amp, how does this affect the surround when in 5.1/7.1? Do i control the volume of the surrounds from the receiver and the L/R from the amp or..... As you can probably tell im new to the home theater world. I'm very unfamiliar with amps/preamps/integrated amps ect... any advice, recommendations, or help would be much appreciated.

p.s. i know i need to use rca from the preouts on the back of the receiver to an amp then speaker wire from amp to speakers! i've figured out that much.


Thanks, Mike

 

[Trigger38]

Or am i better off going with a 5 or 7 channel amplifier?

 

[Ed Moxley]

Two things.........

Your Denon receiver doesn't have pre-outs, so an external amp won't hookup to it.

Also, the RT12 speakers are 8 ohm, so they shouldn't need an amp. The Denon should drive them just fine.

Enjoy!

 

[Trigger38]

oh i thought it did have pre outs what are all the rca inputs on the back of the receiver for? it says ext. in, not sure what that means and the denon manual doesn't help. i just figured those were preouts... well that kinda sux cause i wanted to upgrade speakers to the polk audio RTiA9's and from what ive read, they need an amp. thanks Ed

 

[Ed Moxley]

Again, the RTiA9 speakers are 8 ohm speakers, so the Denon should drive them just fine without an external amp. You should only need an external amp if you get 4 ohm speakers (such as the Polk LSi series). So, go ahead and upgrade............ I run LSi9 and LSiC speakers with my Onkyo, without an external amp. But, my Onkyo is capable of driving 4 ohm speakers, up to a point. If I tried to run a full set of 5.1 speakers that are 4 ohm, or especially a 7.1 set of 4 ohm speakers, I'd probably need the external amp. 4 ohm speakers are much harder to drive, than 8 ohm speakers.


If you have a dvd player that plays SCAD and DVD-Audio high resolution music discs, the player will have 5.1/7.1 multi-channel analog outputs. That's what you connect to the Denon's EXT. IN inputs. Denon just has a different name for them. You do not plug "powered" stuff into these inputs. You plug "powered" stuff into pre-outs, such as an external amp, active monitor speakers (such as the Mackie HR824), etc......

 

[Trigger38]

Oh ok, i understand now. i was looking at some SACD players and see that they have the multi channel analog outputs, like your Oppo. They also have an hdmi output. Is it prefered to use the multi channel analog outputs for the surround or to just use hdmi? Im kinda confused why they have both. Maybe the hdmi would be for the video only.

 

[gene c]

"Maybe the hdmi would be for the video only."


Universal dvd players transfer video and audio via hdmi.


When SACD and DVD-A players first came out it was before the inception of HDMI. DVD-A and SACD were not available thru the standard Optical and Coaxial digital connection used for DD and DTS for copywright reasons so players had the decoders built into them and sent the decoded formats out the multi-channel outputs.


DVD-A and SACD was made available through HDMI (and iLink). The reason some newer players still have the analog outputs is so they can be used with older receivers that don't have HDMI. When receiving SACD via HDMI most receivers convert DSD (Digital Stream Direct-the method of transferring the SACD signal) to PCM which some think also degrades the sound quality a bit. Also, some people think these formats sound better through the analogs anyway. This may be the case with the OPPO 83se which supposedly has far superior analog playback.


Another reason to use HDMI for SACD/DVD-A playback is you can take advantage of your receivers audio processing such as Bass/Treble controls, Bass Management, Audyssey, MCACC, EZSetEQ, YAPO, etc. Almost all receivers bypass these processings with the multi channel inputs. Exceptions are (but not limited to... .

 

[Ed Moxley]

If you have a receiver that can handle HD audio over HDMI, that's the way to go. A lot less cables behind your receiver. If you have an older receiver with the 5.1/7.1 analog inputs (EXT. IN), and no HDMI inputs, you can get a blu ray player with the analog outputs (like my Oppo), and get the HD audio that way, without having to buy a new receiver. And as stated, SACD player hooks up to them.


Some receivers, like my Onkyo, in conjunction with some players, like my Oppo, will allow the playback of DSD (SACD format) over HDMI. So, I don't need all the analog cables connected to listen to SACDs. It can get a little involved and confusing..............

 

[Trigger38]

Well that really clears up a lot of confusion! Thanks so much for your time in explaining.