Are my Hi-Fi speakers OK for the basis of a Surround Package?

[morty5]

Hello to all.

I am currently using musical fidelity a3 cd & amp seperates with acoustic energy ae1 speakers.

I am wanting to enter into the world of home cinema and am close to starting off with the denon avr 1910 amp. Would I be able to use my ae1 speakers for a stereo cinema solution before adding first a sub in the very near future then a centre and surrounds in the coming months?

My main problem is that I want to keep the hifi setup but don't want a room full of speakers (2 for music & 6 for cinema). I am assuming I can wire my speakers up to both amps seperately with no problems?

Also, any recommendations on a sub, centre & rears would be most welcome, to suit the denon and ae1's.

Many thanks in advance.

 

[Sorreltiger]

I'm afraid that the Denon AVR 1910 won't do the job - no pre-outs. You'd be better off with the Yamaha 1065, which does. You can then route the signal for your front pair via your stereo amp. You will find detailed instructions on how to do this elsewhere on this board.

It's a bit more problematic to build a system around discontinued speakers, as you could do with a matching centre. The sub and rears don't necessarily need to be exactly the same. I guess you could begin by trying the Aegis Neo 7 centre speaker.

 

[Messiah]

morty5:Hello to all.

I am currently using musical fidelity a3 cd & amp seperates with acoustic energy ae1 speakers.

I am wanting to enter into the world of home cinema and am close to starting off with the denon avr 1910 amp. Would I be able to use my ae1 speakers for a stereo cinema solution before adding first a sub in the very near future then a centre and surrounds in the coming months?

Yes.

morty5: My main problem is that I want to keep the hifi setup but don't want a room full of speakers (2 for music & 6 for cinema). I am assuming I can wire my speakers up to both amps seperately with no problems?

Not really. You can only really wire the speakers to either the amp or the receiver and not both. You could wire them to both but if both amps are accidentally used at the same time then there will be a disaster.

Best way to deal with it is to get a receiver such as THIS that has front pre-outs to connect to your stereo amp so that you can run them both. (If this idea appeals to you I can explain more on hooking this up.)

morty5: Also, any recommendations on a sub, centre & rears would be most welcome, to suit the denon and ae1's.

You will need to ensure you get the centre that matches your fronts as this will be the best option for keeping the tone even across the front soundstage. For the rears it is less important but I still find that speakers from the same range produce the best results.

As for the sub, a decent one should do.

 

[morty5]

Thanks for the info guys, much appreciated.

 

[morty5]

Messiah, could you elaborate on the pre out option please.

 

[Messiah]

Using a Stereo Amp with an AV Amp

To do this your AV Amp must have pre-outs for the front left and right channels

1. Connect the front pre-outs on the AV Amp to a spare input (excluding phono) on the stereo amp. (Maybe Aux)
2. Ensure the left and right front speakers are connected to the stereo amp. (May seem obvious I know!) and leave all other speakers connected to the receiver.
3. Select the input on the Stereo Amp that the AV Amp is connected to.
4. Set the volume on the Stereo Amp to a memorable position. A lot of people recommend the 12 o'clock position.
5. Run the speaker calibration set up.

Now that this is set up you can enjoy the best of both worlds!

When you want to watch a movie you need to ensure both amps are on and the input the pre-outs from the receiver are connected to is selected. Then set the volume back to the 12 o'clock position and enjoy! (Remember to return the volume on the Stereo Amp back to it's normal position before you switch inputs!!)

For stereo listening you just leave the receiver off and also ensure your main stereo equipment (such as CD player) is connected directly to the stereo amp as normal.

Hope this makes sense!

 

[morty5]

It does make perfect sense. Thanks for the quick reply. It looks like a choice between the sony and the yamaha mentioned earlier in this post. Any idea how much better the yamaha is. Super-fi are doing them for roughly £400 & £500 (sony/yamaha) ?

 

[Messiah]

Not sure about which receiver will be better I'm afraid. Maybe others can comment on these.....