I plan on using a high-power external high-amp from an AV Receiver's pre-outs to drive main LR power-hungry speakers in a system used half for Stereo half for HT. I'm afraid I'm confused on some possibly remedial points:
1) The external amp has a volume control, so how do I balance the sound? Do I set the volume all the way up and attenuate using the receiver volume and set-up calibration?
2) Does the set-up on the HT receiver apply to LR stereo since the LR are individually calibrated? I'm assuming the volume control on the receiver is still active on "direct mode" (no DSP).
3) Is there a down side to doing this? For instance having HT calibration in effect for stereo listening (this might be a good thing), or having to re-set the volume control on the external amp to restore HT or 5x stereo/SACD balance?
In any event - you can see I'm rather confused, so any enlightenment is greatly appreciated.