Analogue Interconnects

[Mr Steve]

Hi all,

I am looking to comect the pre-outs for L/R fronts from my Denon AV amp to a stereo integrated amp.

There are wo questions that I want to check before doing something that may cause any problems:

1. presumably the connection is simply from the front L/R pre-outs to any of the available L/R RCA inputs on the amp (e.g. aux 1);

2. I have an audioquest RGB video cable - is there any reason why two of these cables can't be used as interconnects. Although they say 75 ohm on the cable, testing them with a multimeter does not. Show any measurable resistance on the cable.

Thanks in advance for any input.

 

[andyjm]

2. I have an audioquest RGB video cable - is there any reason why two of these cables can't be used as interconnects. Although they say 75 ohm on the cable, testing them with a multimeter does not. Show any measurable resistance on the cable.

Thanks in advance for any input.

These cables will make excellent audio interconnects.

75ohms is the 'characteristic impedance' - there is a long winded transmission line explanation of why this is the case, but for audio use you can ignore it.

 

[Mr Steve]

Thanks Andy

 

[Mr Steve]

I am looking to comect the pre-outs for L/R fronts from my Denon AV amp to a stereo integrated amp.

There are wo questions that I want to check before doing something that may cause any problems:

1. presumably the connection is simply from the front L/R pre-outs to any of the available L/R RCA inputs on the amp (e.g. aux 1);<

Thanks in advance for any input.

I recall a number of forum members talking about connecting speakers through a stereo amp, so any insight on the question will be appreciated.

 

[wilro15]

Hi Mr Steve, to do this your AV amp needs a PreOut connection and your stereo amp needs an AV input (sometimes also called fixed gain input I think). Normal line inputs are too quiet so your stereo amp needs this special input available. Often, stereo amps will be able to enable or disable the AV input mode.

 

[The_Lhc]

Hi Mr Steve, to do this your AV amp needs a PreOut connection and your stereo amp needs an AV input (sometimes also called fixed gain input I think). Normal line inputs are too quiet so your stereo amp needs this special input available.

That isn't the reason at all, a normal line input will be connected to the volume control, so you'll have two volume controls in operation, a fixed gain (AV) input isn't connected to the volume control, it is, unsurprisingly, fixed (full volume in fact), so the level of signal reaching the stereo amp's amplifier stages is set by the volume control on the AV amp, which is what you want.

You CAN in fact use a non-fixed gain input on a stereo amp but you have to make sure you have the volume control at the same point each time you listen, many people use the 12 o'clock position as it's easy to repeat, you'd then run your standard set up on the AV amp with the stereo volume in this position and you should be good to go. A fixed line input just makes life a little easier as you don't need to remember to put the stereo amp volume to the same position each time.

 

[BowserWilkens]

Hello there,

I've recently undertaken what the OP is planning on doing.

I had had my front loudspeakers directly connected to my AV amp (denon 4311).

Now I use the Denon as a preamp for the front speakers - using the denon's FRONT L/R preouts & connecting these to my audiolab's power amp ins. The audiolab has a specialized AV Power Amp setting which hands over all volume control to the Denon. I had to reconfigure the Denon & tell it that the front speakers were now powered by an external amp - using the on screen menu under speaker configuration to do so. Following another thorough Audessey set up procedure (well worth it & even more important when using external amps), I was ready to go. Everything sounds better now.

What had been irksome was using another amp without power amp inputs - I previously used an old yamaha amp (an A-720) to power my surround heights. I set the volume at 12 o'clock & ran Audessey but the results were not so great - in loud action scenes, the speakers were driven too hard, in other cases they were barely audible. I would always recommend complementing an AV amp with a power amp that is purely that - a power amp with no volume control. Some amps have a "processor in" pair of inputs but I wouldn't always equate that with "power amp in" inputs.

BTW, which Denon AV amp do you have?

 

[Mr Steve]

Thanks to all for the comments and input.

Sadly the stereo amp (Anthem 225) does not have dedicated AV inputs so the twin volume control issue described is something I must work around and I had to advance the volume control reasonably far to get matching outputs against the 2807.

As this is only a temporary setup until I move the AV out to a cinema room I can live with it for now - although I must still run the setup again which will allow me to boost the front outputs. After moving the AV setup out, I will just keep a stereo setup in the lounge.

Steve