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I am brand new to Home Theater and would like to know if there are any surround sound processor preamps that genuinely sound good with two-channel? Perhaps one that completely bypasses the processor when used for two channel?The reason is: At my friend's house, two-channel sounds far better through his little Jolida integrated amp than through his seven times more expensive surround processor preamp.
What is the standard solution to this? Two preamps? Two systems? Or is there a surround processor preamp that does 2-channel justice?
Thanks!
I was in this quandry, and for awhile was able to keep my beloved C-J preamp while running a Lexicon CP-1 through a tape loop. When it came time for an upgrade to DD, I went w/ an all-in-one pre/pro. In my case, I got a good price on an AMC AV81HT-DD, so I could add my own tuner and phono preamp. Basically an analog unit w/ no unwanted A/D--D/A processing of audio inputs. Sounds great. I also considered the Sherwood unit mentioned here, due to positive reviews on its analog only sound.You will do well w/ two preamps, but my own experience is that if I can't make the television/VCR system (which is integrated w/ my higher-end audio system) in our home simple enough for all to use and enjoy, I've failed...I don't want to have to leave written instructions on how to turn on the T.V. or play a CD, or be jumping up to 'help' my father-in-law watch the news....what ends up happening is nobody but me will use the system, or I'll hear a blast of volume as my wife is trying to figure it out. If you live alone or have separate systems you'll be ok. I say make things as simple as possible; it's quite a challenge, though, as most pre/pros are designed for lots of flexability and/or to appeal to the consumer who likes all the gadgetry. If you can do a two-preamp system that doesn't require extensive training for others to operate, great. Good luck!
An alternative to the setup Bob W. suggests:Run everything into your 2 channel pre. If you don't have 2 pre outs,
get a pair of Y adaptors. One leg goes to your 2 channel power amp,
the other to your ss processor. Now you choose to turn on the processor
and surround amps or not. The 2 channel always goes direct, and the
big advantage is that you have one volume control. With the other setup
you have to balance two volume controls -- probably you just need to
settle on a good one on the 2 channel pre when using the ss, and adjust
volume via the ss processor. You can also play with surround on your
audio material, for kicks, in this setup.The one disadvantage, depending on how well your preamp is buffered,
is that it sees the two components on the output side, which MAY affect
the sound when the processor is turned off.
I also use 2 different preamps, an Audio Research SP-14 for pure 2 channel, and a Lexicon MC1 for 7 channel.
If you must have only one, the Classe are probably the most musical of the AV preamps, but they lack the flexibility and sound processing of the Lex.
The best solution, of course is two separate systems. However, few people have the space or money to do this. The next best choice (as mentioned below) is to have a 2 channel pre-amp and a separate surround sound pre/pro. If music is important, spend most of your money on the 2 channel pre-amp and very little on the surround sound pre-amp, as there is little difference between a $1200 Sherwood and a $15,000 Meridian when playing DD or DTS. However, the Classe' SSP-25 is a terrific one box solution pre/pro. It has a direct analog bypass, and is one of the best sounding pre/pros I've heard for music, regardless of price. Good luck!
It's one of the best surround processor on 2 ch stereo. I got mine used for 1438 shiped
Duke, the best solution IMO is 2 preamps. While some of the higher end processors do an OK job with music, you're not going to attain dedicated 2 channel performance.So, knowing that out of the gate, why not save some $$$ on the HT processor? I'm sorry, but with Dolby Surround, I think sonic return on the dollar becomes very limited. Put the cash where it counts: in the 2 channel.
Now that you've got me thinking in this direction, it looks like the two preamp system will be fairly easy to implement.
Forgive my ignorance-but after reading your posts a light bulb went off- I'm currently running everything from a Yamaha rx v990 -mostly HT with each channel running to a separate amp But i have a nice preamp from time ago that I would like to use for two channel music-hence your suggestions- how do you do this? please explain I figure it's probably simple but would love to your solution.
If you split the signal is there any degradation to each?
I'm a novice at this but am catching on-
Thanks in advance
rudee
See my post to John C in the above thread.
My Front L/R preouts from my v990 run to my amp- How should I daisychain the v990 to preamp to amp? Sorry I'm lost-Thanks
HT pre/pro. Front L+R pre out goes into:2 Channel Preamp. Pick a line level input. This preamp goes out to power amp.
Run your music source directly into the 2 channel. When listening to music, you don't even turn on the HT pre/pro.
When you want to do the HT thing, you select the input on the 2 Channel that has the HT pre/pro plugged in.
Am I missing something in your setup? It should really be pretty simple, assuming you have a spare line level input on your 2 channel pre.
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