Help please, Can an RCA cable output DSP , Atmos etc...? (1 Viewer)

[cjblovinlife]

Sorry newbie question ...I just made my first step into home theater separates... the only output connections are RCA & XLR... both analog right? So does all the cool processing functionality of my preamp actually get to the amp and then to the speakers??

 

[Wayne A. Pflughaupt]

That is correct. It sounds like you had a regular AV receiver before? With those, the amplifiers and processing are all built into the same “box.” All you’ve done now is move the amps to a separate chassis

Regards,
Wayne A. Pflughaupt

 

[cjblovinlife]

Thank you Wayne - So how would I take advantage of all the sound processing of my preamp?

 

[Lord Dalek]

Thank you Wayne - So how would I take advantage of all the sound processing of my preamp?

We'd have to know what your preamp is to determine that.

Although I don't think you can do Atmos anyway with a Component cable because of the bandwidth.

 

[cjblovinlife]

Atmos is a bad example.. I guess the functionality on my pre-amp is DSP...Dolby vs .. I have a marantz av7005 going into a Rotel 956 ax
Thanks so much for your help guys

 

[JohnRice]

Whether you use the amps in the receiver or external ones has no effect on what the preamp part of the receiver is doing or can do. The SR7005 doesn’t have Atmos in any case.

 

[JohnRice]

OK, I looked up that amp. It’s a 40wpc distribution amp. It has zero benefit for your receiver. I see no way it can improve the system.

 

[cjblovinlife]

We'd have to know what your preamp is to determine that.

Although I don't think you can do Atmos anyway with a Component cable because of the bandwidth.

Yes , I figured it out . Looks like the different processor features are assigned to specific inputs . DVD gave me visibility to them.
thanks again for your help . I should have dug into it further before reaching out to you.

 

[cjblovinlife]

OK, I looked up that amp. It’s a 40wpc distribution amp. It has zero benefit for your receiver. I see no way it can improve the system.

Yes - My next purchase will be a much better amp. My max budget would be around 1K any suggestions

 

[JohnRice]

I think you should get a new receiver rather than another amp.

Please, give us some idea what you want to accomplish.

 

[Lord Dalek]

Yes - My next purchase will be a much better amp. My max budget would be around 1K any suggestions

I think you should get a new receiver rather than another amp.

Basically what he said. If you're planning to move up to 4k UHD and don't want to daisy chain over ARC (which is a whole other can of worms), you will need a new reciever. That Marantz has had its day.

 

[JohnRice]

A receiver is one thing. An amp is a different thing. Both have been discussed Here. I see no way a new amp will provide the ability of 4K or new surround formats.

 

[cjblovinlife]

Ok , so when you say receiver are you suggesting I don’t go the way of seperates ?
or are you suggesting I upgrade my processor in addition to buying a home theater amp ?

in terms of what I’m trying to accomplish 7.2 home theater now. Perhaps 11.2 later. I actually just bought the 7005 used for $425. I previously had a Yamaha RXV 675 that wasn’t driving my speakers well. It definitely sounds much better with the 7005 & that Rotel Amp than the yamaha did alone. (4 ohm speakers) My thought was that this setup would get me by for a couple months then buy a 1K amp and be good for a couple years until prices come down on hdmi 2.0 preamp with 11 channels.. I don’t mind being a few years behind the technology I can’t afford the latest and greatest. I figured if I went with seperates I could keep upgrading as I go.. I’ll take your advice what should I do?

 

[JohnRice]

I actually just bought the 7005 used for $425.

My mistake. I saw it was a Marantz 7005 and thought it was an SR7005, not an AV7005. I guess I forgot that earlier Marantz preamps had a 7005 model.

They've avoided this obvious chance at confusion by changing preamp model numbers to 77xx and 88xx instead of having model numbers which are the same as receivers.

So, I need to revise what I'm saying. Still that Rotel amp isn't intended for a home theater. It's really just a very low power six channel amp for distributing background music.

Your preamp does handle HD audio, but not 4K video or immersive soundtracks like Atmos. Do you want to upgrade to 4K?

...but yeah, you probably want a more powerful amp. How many channels are you running now? 5.1, 7.1? As you know, you can upgrade the amp now and keep it with a new preamp. Ultimately, depending on how far you take the system, you'll probably need more than one amp.

 

[JohnRice]

BTW, I have systems built both of separates and receivers, so I'm not predisposed to either approach.

Oh yeah, the connection between a preamp and power amp is pretty basic. Either RCA or XLR. It has nothing to do with the capabilities of the preamp or what kind of surround (Atmos, HD, Dolby Digital, analog two channel, etc) is being played.

 

[Al.Anderson]

One clarification from way up top, a video RCA (usually orange) can carry digital signal.
I've used them to connect digital coax from receiver to CD/DVD/BR for sound. (Pre-HDMI or when a piece of old equipment doesn't have HDMI).

 

[ManW_TheUncool]

Ok , so when you say receiver are you suggesting I don’t go the way of seperates ?
or are you suggesting I upgrade my processor in addition to buying a home theater amp ?

in terms of what I’m trying to accomplish 7.2 home theater now. Perhaps 11.2 later. I actually just bought the 7005 used for $425. I previously had a Yamaha RXV 675 that wasn’t driving my speakers well. It definitely sounds much better with the 7005 & that Rotel Amp than the yamaha did alone. (4 ohm speakers) My thought was that this setup would get me by for a couple months then buy a 1K amp and be good for a couple years until prices come down on hdmi 2.0 preamp with 11 channels.. I don’t mind being a few years behind the technology I can’t afford the latest and greatest. I figured if I went with seperates I could keep upgrading as I go.. I’ll take your advice what should I do?

Might wanna look into Emotiva's offerings for amps, especially since you need to drive some 4 ohm speakers. They're probably one of the very best values for the budget conscious these days... though do stay w/ their more recent gens of products -- if you're looking to save $$$ on used market, not sure you wanna buy any of their older, out-of-warranty amps earlier than say XPA series Gen 2 I think.

Depending on what exactly those 4 ohm speakers are, maybe you can consider their previous Gen 2 XPA line on whatever refurb or outlet sale, if they have those, if you can't stretch for the current updated series. $1K can get you a current, new XPA-2 Gen 3 for instance, and you can add additional channels at +$200/channel though there's diminishing returns sharing the same power supply.

And maybe you really only need a significantly better amp that handles 4 ohms well just for the front speakers, especially the L+R. So maybe an XPA-3 (or maybe even XPA-2) for that plus something less for the rest depending on the exact speakers. It's usually bass that needs and consumes the large majority of power, and the surrounds don't get nearly as much action as the front 3 anyway. Maybe you can even get by w/ the Rotel 40wpc amp for the surrounds for a good while, especially if those are more like 7-8 ohms, and then maybe eventually use it short term for Atmos speakers... until you can upgrade and displace it entirely from your system.

And if the surrounds are indeed easier to drive (ie. 7-8 ohms), you might also consider making that next upgrade be a 4K/Atmos AVR (rather than prepro separate) that allows you to use the better separate amp for the front 2-3 instead, ie. a hybrid system, since a good AVR should likely handle the surrounds and Atmos channels plenty well if those are not unusually difficult speakers for their tasks. That may be more cost effective for you and may allow you to upgrade a bit sooner, especially as more and more good, used 4K/Atmos AVRs hit the 2ndary market -- the recent wave of new offerings may well lead to large waves of bargains on the used market over the next year or two, and I just picked up a very good, ~3-yo Anthem prepro myself as part of the 1st wave of those bargains to upgrade to 4K/Atmos (among other things).

What's your sub? That's probably the other thing you don't want to skimp too much on, if you can help it. A good, powerful sub could give relief to the rest of your system by taken on more of the bass duty where most of the power is consumed/needed afterall...

Just mostly fleshing out some of what's already been alluded so far...


Another approach is to reconsider your 4 ohm speakers. Would it make more sense to trade them for easier-to-drive speakers? There may be good bargains to be had out there that would then allow you extra flexibility to consider less powerful amps or maybe simply go completely w/ AVR instead...

_Man_