Great Confusion! Pre-outs bi-amping...

[admin_exported]

I've got onkyo 905AV and I bi-wired my speakers now I want to add my CA 840A to my system... I want to run front speakers for stereo and want to connect via pre outs to my onkyo... So I connect front speakers to stereo amp and pre outs LR to onkyo right?? What about speakers which were bo-wired when connected to onkyo is it fine? I took plates off the speakers should I put them back on or what? I got confused please help guys

 

[Gerrardasnails]

Maciek:I've got onkyo 905AV and I bi-wired my speakers now I want to add my CA 840A to my system... I want to run front speakers for stereo and want to connect via pre outs to my onkyo... So I connect front speakers to stereo amp and pre outs LR to onkyo right?? What about speakers which were bo-wired when connected to onkyo is it fine? I took plates off the speakers should I put them back on or what? I got confused please help guys

If you have biwired your centre and surround speakers, it should not make any difference to connecting your front left and rights to your 840A. Remember to use the 840s fixed input, it's very handy.

 

[Anonymous]

I bi-wired forns speakers though!! So what should I do now?

 

[Anonymous]

which one is fixed input? I have only one L/R preamp out... What differenc that fixed one make and where I can find it? So shoul I put plates back to my fronts?

 

[Anonymous]

You mean you bi-amped your fronts on the 905? You can still bi-wire your fronts with the Cambridge in the same way, do not replace the plates on the back of the speakers and continue to use your bi-wire cable.

If you want to continue bi-amping you will need to buy another 840.ÿ

 

[Anonymous]

Ok I've got it how to make it fixed input but what volume should I set? Is that any matter?

 

[Anonymous]

No I didn't be-amped them I just bi-wired them and I didn't know if I should put plates back on as they will now connected to stereo amp. So last question is what volume should I set for fixed input when connecting to onkyo av?

 

[Anonymous]

No that's the point, the 905 will control the volume.

 

[daveh75]

Maciek:which one is fixed input? I have only one L/R preamp out... What differenc that fixed one make and where I can find it? So shoul I put plates back to my fronts? a fixed input on the 840, if you use a fixed input it means the a/v receiver will control the sound on both amps. some stereo amps dont have fixed input, so means you have to select a volume level on the stereo amp when setting up, then set it to this level whenever your using it for a/v

 

[Gerrardasnails]

Maciek:No I didn't be-amped them I just bi-wired them and I didn't know if I should put plates back on as they will now connected to stereo amp. So last question is what volume should I set for fixed input when connecting to onkyo av?

I have mine set at volume 60 (I don't use the -db). Try that or 12 o'clock, the fixed inputs means that it cannot be changed. So you can listen to cds at volume 15 if you want and flick over to the fixed level and back and your cds won't come on at volume 60.

Just swap the biwired cable over to the 840. I have mine biwired. No need to replace the plates.

 

[Messiah]

Maciek:I've got onkyo 905AV and I bi-wired my speakers now I want to add my CA 840A to my system... I want to run front speakers for stereo and want to connect via pre outs to my onkyo... So I connect front speakers to stereo amp and pre outs LR to onkyo right?? What about speakers which were bo-wired when connected to onkyo is it fine? I took plates off the speakers should I put them back on or what? I got confused please help guys

You need to connect the Pre-Outs for the Front Left and Right from the ONKYO to the CA 840A not the other way around.

 

[Anonymous]

I don't understand it... I connected it properly preouts from onkyo to input on my 840A I fixed input at -50db and front and left are much quieter than rest of the speakers plus when I put my onkyo on ''all channel stereo'' then I can hear my front speakers but when I put it on for example NEO 6 cinema then fronts don't work at all! does anyone know what is going on? When i put test tone on my onkyo it is starting from front left but stays there and doesn't go forward to test the rest of the speakers. It is something wrong I'm doing or is something wrong with my equipment??

 

[daveh75]

you need to re-run the set up on the onkyo once its all connected up!

 

[Anonymous]

Maciek:I don't understand it... I connected it properly preouts from onkyo to input on my 840A I fixed input at -50db and front and left are much quieter than rest of the speakers plus when I put my onkyo on ''all channel stereo'' then I can hear my front speakers but when I put it on for example NEO 6 cinema then fronts don't work at all! does anyone know what is going on? When i put test tone on my onkyo it is starting from front left but stays there and doesn't go forward to test the rest of the speakers. It is something wrong I'm doing or is something wrong with my equipment??

ÿOK, first things first. Turn off the bi-amping function in the Onkyo if you had it turned on before (Bi-amping was mentioned in your post title).

Now, use the L & R pre-outs from the Onkyo and connect them to whichever input you set to fixed on the 840A.

If you were bi-wiring before, just leave the cable at the speaker end alone. Don't touch it, it's fine, you don't need to re-attacht the metal plates. Just connect the other ends to the Speaker Terminal 'A' on the 840A, and you should be good to go.

If you're finding that the front speakers are now too quiet or too loud, you may need to adjust the gain setting of the fixed input. This will probably be a case of trial and error, see how you go.

Not hearing anything out of the left and right speakers when you have the receiver set to Neo:6 is not necessarily a sign of a problem... what source material were you listening to? If it was mainly dialogue you will hear very little if anything from the left and right speakers.

If your Onkyo is not moving from the left speaker when you are running the test tones, it probably means you've got it set to manual, i.e you have to move it from speaker to speaker yourself using the control pad on the remote. If you have it set to Auto, and it is still not moving, then I guess there may be a problem with your receiver. It would be unlikely though.

ÿHope this helps.

 

[Anonymous]

Will check this out thanks!!!!!!!

 

[Gerrardasnails]

runcible:
Maciek:I don't understand it... I connected it properly preouts from onkyo to input on my 840A I fixed input at -50db and front and left are much quieter than rest of the speakers plus when I put my onkyo on ''all channel stereo'' then I can hear my front speakers but when I put it on for example NEO 6 cinema then fronts don't work at all! does anyone know what is going on? When i put test tone on my onkyo it is starting from front left but stays there and doesn't go forward to test the rest of the speakers. It is something wrong I'm doing or is something wrong with my equipment??

ÿOK, first things first. Turn off the bi-amping function in the Onkyo if you had it turned on before (Bi-amping was mentioned in your post title).

Now, use the L & R pre-outs from the Onkyo and connect them to whichever input you set to fixed on the 840A.

If you were bi-wiring before, just leave the cable at the speaker end alone. Don't touch it, it's fine, you don't need to re-attacht the metal plates. Just connect the other ends to the Speaker Terminal 'A' on the 840A, and you should be good to go.

If you're finding that the front speakers are now too quiet or too loud, you may need to adjust the gain setting of the fixed input. This will probably be a case of trial and error, see how you go.

Not hearing anything out of the left and right speakers when you have the receiver set to Neo:6 is not necessarily a sign of a problem... what source material were you listening to? If it was mainly dialogue you will hear very little if anything from the left and right speakers.

If your Onkyo is not moving from the left speaker when you are running the test tones, it probably means you've got it set to manual, i.e you have to move it from speaker to speaker yourself using the control pad on the remote. If you have it set to Auto, and it is still not moving, then I guess there may be a problem with your receiver. It would be unlikely though.

ÿHope this helps.

This is spot on. I originally set my fixed input rather conservatively. Then I realised I needed to set it a lot higher. It now works perfectly.

 

[Anonymous]

Thanks! I always thought that I need to use stereo amp pre-outs but it looks that I don't It means I have pre outs on my stereo amp free and that means that at the same time I can connect my stereo and onkyo 905 amps and using pre-outs in my stereo I can connect my subwoofer to stereo amp am I right? I think I post something about that and someone told me it is impossible...

 

[Anonymous]

No-one is reading this anymore?

 

[Messiah]

Yes you can use the Pre-Outs on the Stereo Amp for the Sub!

 

[Anonymous]

So Maciek you got it all working now? Correct volume levels etc?

Btw I agreee with Messiahÿin that you can use the pre-outs on your amp for the sub, but only if music is your priority as opposed to home cinema. If you're more into your movies you'd be better off connecting the sub to the pre-out on the Onkyo. If, however, you've got a REL sub, you can get the best of both worlds!ÿ

 

[Gerrardasnails]

runcible:
So Maciek you got it all working now? Correct volume levels etc?

Btw I agreee with Messiahÿin that you can use the pre-outs on your amp for the sub, but only if music is your priority as opposed to home cinema. If you're more into your movies you'd be better off connecting the sub to the pre-out on the Onkyo. If, however, you've got a REL sub, you can get the best of both worlds!ÿ

runcible is right. What speakers do you have? I watched a John Legend concert on bluray the other night and through the receiver in HD audio the bass was too heavy. Switched over to the stereo amp through the Dacmagic and it sounded wonderful - correct deep, tight bass with no additional boom. This may be because my sub is set up for movies rather than music or my RS6s are great for bass, or a bit of both.

 

[Anonymous]

But I have my sub connected to onkyo receiver but not via pre-outs just normal sub out. I will connect to both amps at the same time ( via pre-outs on mys tereo amp into line in on my sub) that is correct? can I do that? I want it have connected to both amps. On my sub I have LFE and LINE IN inputs. My speakers are dali ikon 6's 5.1 package with ikon sub receiver is onkyo 905 and stereo amp Cambridge Audio 840A v2

 

[Gerrardasnails]

Maciek:But I have my sub connected to onkyo receiver but not via pre-outs just normal sub out. I will connect to both amps at the same time ( via pre-outs on mys tereo amp into line in on my sub) that is correct? can I do that? I want it have connected to both amps. On my sub I have LFE and LINE IN inputs. My speakers are dali ikon 6's 5.1 package with ikon sub receiver is onkyo 905 and stereo amp Cambridge Audio 840A v2

First of with the Ikon 6s and the 840A, I really don't see the need for a sub - you will get great bass from the set up without. Secondly, I think it's an either or scenario with your subwoofer. I don't think you can connect both amps to the sub.

 

[Gerrardasnails]

Maciek:I don't understand it... I connected it properly preouts from onkyo to input on my 840A I fixed input at -50db and front and left are much quieter than rest of the speakers plus when I put my onkyo on ''all channel stereo'' then I can hear my front speakers but when I put it on for example NEO 6 cinema then fronts don't work at all! does anyone know what is going on? When i put test tone on my onkyo it is starting from front left but stays there and doesn't go forward to test the rest of the speakers. It is something wrong I'm doing or is something wrong with my equipment??

Right, just to make sure I've not confused you here. When I said volume 60 earlier and that I don't use the -db format, that's about 2 o'clock on the dial. The reason you can hear your fronts when you select stereo and not with Neo 6 is that stereo is sending the sound just to those 2 speakers but Neo 6 is sharing the sound to all of your speakers. Once calibrated correctly it will sound great.

 

[Anonymous]

why not? LFE to av receiver and line in to 840A what is wrong with that?