Any amplifiers that have a pre set volume on one of the inputs for use with an AV receiver??

[Pistol Pete1]

As the title suggests?

Anyone know if this feature exists (I'm sure I've read about one recently, somewhere), and if so which amplifiers have this very sensible, 'wife friendly' ([😉])feature?

Thanks....

 

[Gerrardasnails]

Pistol Pete1:
As the title suggests?

Anyone know if this feature exists (I'm sure I've read about one recently, somewhere), and if so which amplifiers have this very sensible, 'wife friendly' (

)feature?

Thanks....

There are quite a few. My current amp and my previous Cambridge Audio 840a have this feature. You just calibrate your sound and then fix the input you have connected to your receiver. This means that you can't alter the level once that input is selected.

 

[Pistol Pete1]

BINGO.......that's the amp I heard about regarding this feature.....

Any other's?

 

[Dave_]

Take your pick...

Arcam, Cyrus, Roksan, Audiolab,Creek,Cambridge Audio, Moon (and probably various others i can't think of ATM) have models with the AV by-pass/unity gain function.

 

[ashcorn]

My Naim has this feature.

 

[pwiles1968]

Some of the Marantz do this you have to press a button on the front for 3 seconds to enter the mode. Dave has mentioned them but Arcam do it on some of the amps and I believe you can pre set the volume level (Gain) of the input, the new Audiolab also have pre amp and power amp settings on them.

Can you tell I have been looking for the feature too.

 

[Pistol Pete1]

pwiles1968:

Some of the Marantz do this you have to press a button on the front for 3 seconds to enter the mode. Dave has mentioned them but Arcam do it on some of the amps and I believe you can pre set the volume level (Gain) of the input, the new Audiolab also have pre amp and power amp settings on them.

Can you tell I have been looking for the feature too.

Yes I can...glad to see I'm not the only sensible one on here then.....

Which Marantz amps have this, do you know pwiles?

 

[Pistol Pete1]

ashcorn:My Naim has this feature.

Could you explain in more detail how it works.......the online manual isn't particularly helpful.....and it worries me a little that in this mode to sets the volume to full.....

 

[Pistol Pete1]

Anyone have the Arcam A18 and uses this feature?

Does it work well....again the online manual is very poor.....

 

[Gerrardasnails]

Pistol Pete1:
Anyone have the Arcam A18 and uses this feature?

Does it work well....again the online manual is very poor.....

Pretty sure that the A18 doesn't offer this feature.

What is your budget? The Cambridge Audio 840A v2 at £600 is a bargain.

 

[Anonymous]

On the Arcams it's called Processor Mode. And like almost all amps that have this feature it turns the amp into power amplifier.
The volume on an amp is always at max! It's just fed a smaller or larger input signal to achieve desired gain by it's internal or 'integrated' Preamp. In Processor Mode an amp bypasses it's preamp to allow direct path to the amplifier. Your AV reciever then becomes the preamp. It will only give via RCA a controlled input signal to the amp. If you have a powered AV receiver it works this way internally. It is important to note however that the amp must be fed from a line out aspecifically designed for this purpose and not from a recording output.
The advantage of this system setup is you can use the AV reciever to control volume of an entire setup consisting of as many amps as you want.

 

[Anonymous]

Oh and yes btw it can be adjusted via trim controls to limit max volume, so ver "wife" friendly. I believe the whole DIVA range has this feature but you'll have to look up PROC Mode.

 

[Dave_]

Pistol Pete1:
Anyone have the Arcam A18 and uses this feature?

Does it work well....again the online manual is very poor.....

I used to have an A32 and used this feature. It works well, and rather than just setting the volume to max, it allows you to adjust the volume, so you can match/balance the gain of your receiver.

 

[ashcorn]

Pistol Pete1:
ashcorn:My Naim has this feature.

Could you explain in more detail how it works.......the online manual isn't particularly helpful.....and it worries me a little that in this mode to sets the volume to full.....

It turns the amp into a power amp so the volume controll is set by the AV amp. I use a pair of Rothwell in-line attenuators so that the output levels on the AV amp are in the same range. Without them the front left & right channels levels on the AV amp have to be set far lower than the other channels. It works very well.