What is you want to use one power amp with two different pre-out sources? IE. One power amp used by a AVR and a Two channel Pre amp without having to switch the Interconnects all the time. This might be the problem I may run into shortly.
Here's the deal. I just pulled the trigger on the CA 540R.
My current receiver (the Pioneer) has A/B speaker functionality, so when I listen in stereo mode I listen to my MA fronts, and my Klipsch's in my dining room (my house is open concept).
The Pioneer has pre-outs for both A + B channels. The A pre-outs go to my Brystons, powering the MA's. The B pre-outs go to an old NAD 2150 which power my Klipsch.
The CA 540R does not have "B" functionality, so I wanted to split the pre-outs for the fronts, so I can still emulate the current configuration.
Sorry I think there is confusion with my last post.lol I meant it as a question for you guys, but I noticed I miss worded it and it sounded like I was arguing or something.lol ooops. Here it is again, but worded better:
"What IF you want to use one power amp with two different pre-out sources? IE. One power amp used by a AVR and a Two channel Pre amp without having to switch the Interconnects all the time? This might be the problem I may run into shortly"
I still think I am screwed.lol Might as well look for some speakers for the Theater. Cheers Dave. Great pick up on the AVR by the way. Let us know how it sounds.
I have no idea. There must be *some* way to easily switch the source connected to the power amp. You want a way to easily switch betwee your Bryston pre and NAD AVR?
You're an engineer, right Nick? You should design one ;-)
Seriously though - I'm pretty excited about getting the new 540R. If anything I'm sure it will have great synergy with my 640C. Bought it through Spearit for like 1/2 price.
"You're an engineer, right Nick? You should design one ;-)"
LOL not THAT kind of engineer my friend. I wish!!lol
Dave, I think the CA AVR is a great piece and will be leaps and bounds better than the Pioneer for two channel. CA are one of those,very few, companies that build their multi-channel stuff based on two channel first philosophy. Can't wait until you get it man.
Nick, Can't you run your pre-amp into a tape in of the AVR (or visa versa I guess) and then have the latter feed the amp via the tape out? The tape in / out should be passive.
Yeah I thought so too. I THINK i did that, but i also THINK that I wasnt doing it right. It was on my lunch and I was rushed big time. I'm packing everything up tomorrow night as I am moving into the new house this Saturday. *I signed my life away today* lol So I will have to try it again tomorrow on my lunch.
So let me get this straight:
Run the Bryston ( ) to the NAD's tape in....lol im confused. I know I need to incorporate using the Tape connections somehow, but not sure yet how to go about it.
If you use the tape out to the power amp, this will always send the signal from the selected preamp input to the power amp at full strength. You need a volume controlled signal to the power amp and the tape out is not it.
Here are the (correct) options:
1. If your preamp has a bypass facility, plug in your AVR to the preamp's AV (or bypassed) input and switch to that input whenever you want surround sound.
2. If no bypass, setup in the same way, but preset volume control on that input to a predefined high value (say 12 o'clock on the pot) and setup your surround amp with that setting.
In both cases above, ensure the pre and the power are connected via the preamp's preouts! You don't need to mess around with wires, just to remember to reset the volume control after watching movies.
Frank: There is no such thing on my Bryston pre called ByPass, but I do have a Tape In/Out and a tape button on the front which I believe acts as a ByPass.
I have tried running the power amp into the Brystons pre amp section. Then a cable from the Tape Out into NAD's tape IN. Also tried running a cable from a different input into a NAD input and still got nothing. I will play around with it some more. As I know I am close, just havnt spent enough time with it. Am I doing something wrong?
The Tape button is for monitoring. It bypasses certain things but is not a bypass in the sense that we mean it nowadays.
Follow the signal direction mate. Work from the source through to the power amp. So:
CD player or tuner (or any stereo source) into preamp input 1. From Preamp, you need to go out of the preout into the power amp. You HAVE to do this to get volume controlled CD player sound. If you use the Tape Out between pre and power, you will only get full volume from whichever source you've selected.
To add surround sound, wire up the preout from your AV-receiver to any other input on your preamp (say AUX).
Set the volume to a high value (but not all the way to the top, say half way).
Now go through the setup sequence with your AV-receiver to equalise all the speakers.
In future, any time you want to play a DVD, switch the preamp over to AUX and set the volume to half way.
Remember to reset the volume down to something normal after playing a DVD.
Thanks for the catch, I was about to rebut you but had to think it through one more time. Tape in or AUX in would be okay but I get that I missed it on the tape out. That would only be okay if Nick only wanted to run the 1st pre-amp out of the 2nd pre-amp without switching to any other sources.
Then again it could have been funny as all hell to imagine Nick jumping off of his sofa almost sh!tt!ng himself when he switched from Pre-amp one to CD or something.
Zero the volume? I have a colleague at work who does this and switches off things properly from the switch every time he places them on the shelves. It drives the rest of us nuts...!
LOL you guys are fun. Well I got the system all set up. Looks great, sounds even better. This room kills the old room, I will post pics soon over at the pics thread. I wired it up like you said Frank, but I can notice quit a drop in Sound Quality than when I wire the NAD right up to the Bryston power amp. So for now I ran cables from the NAD to the Bryston, and from the Bryston pre to the Bryston as well. I hide the two RCA cables behind the Power Amp, and when I want to listen to two channel I just easily switch the cables. Not ideal, I know. But it gives me the best of both worlds until I get that amp switching unit that my dealer has. Either that Or I buy another pair of speakers. Either way, watch Big Fish on Blu-Ray lastnight, WOW!!!. The layout for surround is much better than before, obviously.