Questions about pre-amp out on Pioneer VSX-D810s (1 Viewer)

[Jereme D]

I just purchased Pioneer's VSX-D810s receiver online yesterday and I have a couple of questions.

In the specs, it states that the receiver has pre-outs for all channels. Would I be hooking up a pre-amplifier to these outputs, or an amplifier? Would I need one amp or preamp for each channel?

 

[Evan S]

Jereme, when a reciever has Pre-Amp outputs it means you have the ability to hook up an outside Amplifier to the receiver, bypassing the internal amplification provided by the receiver. You can get a cleaner, more powerful, signal with less distortion this way.

You can hook up whatever kind of amplifier to the receiver you want...2 channel, 3 channel, 5 channel, etc.

If you hook up a 2 channel amp, you would drive your main speakers with the external amp, and your surround and center channel speakers with your receiver.

If you hooked up a 5 channel amp to the Pioneer, you would drive all 5 speakers with the outside amp and your receiver would only act as a processor of the incoming signal (CD, DVD, etc).

 

[Jereme D]

So, all of my components would stay plugged into the receiver which would be acting as a preamp?

Will the receiver still handle all of the other channels?

I've been looking at the audiosource amps. Those seem to be rated well at audioreview.com. Audiosource's website says that they can be mono-bridged (I think that was the term). If I understood correctly, that would mean that I have one unit for each channel.

I would want them for my main speakers only at this point since I cannot get five at once.

 

[Evan S]

Yes, all of your components would stay hooked up to the receiver, which would act as a pre-amp in that situation.

Yes, the receiver would handle all the other channels if you just decided to bypass the main L/R.

If the Amps say they can be mono-bridged, that means they are a two channel amp you can bridge to only drive one channel. If this is what you wanted to do, you would need to pick up two units. Otherwise, one would suffice if you decided not to bridge.

 

[Jereme D]

Ok. Great. Thanks for all of your answers.

I will probably end up buying two of the amps. According to the manual on the website, the power is more than doubled if you only use a unit to power one speaker.

 

[Philip Hamm]

I would advise that you try using one stereo amp first. You may be surprised at what you can get.

The most common practical use of a hi-fi bridgable amp would be if you wanted to power a subwoofer which needs an external amp. In this application a bridgable amp is a big plus. For powering your mains the advantage would be negligible IMO.

If your speakers are bi-ampable you'd get better stereo performance out of four channels of amplification by bi-amping them.

Also, this setup is going to greatly ease the load for the three channels in your 810 that you are powering. Just adding an external amp for the front stereo pair is actually going to give you better amplification for your center and rears! It's a no lose situation!