Separate stereo and movies, but same (front) speakers?

[AlmaataKZ]

Hi,

I am thinking of setting up the music and movies separately. Music will be a cd player - valve amp - speakers (stereo + sub)

Movies will be dvd player - 5ch receiver - speakers (same stereo pair, centre, 2 effects and same sub).

i.e. the front speakers pair and sub will have 2 sets of cables connected to them. What are the implications of that? WDYT?

 

[Andrew Everard]

The implications of that are that one, or both, of your amps will go bang.

There are many threads here explaining the best way to do this - this is one of them.

 

[oldleodensian]

Have you bought a receiver yet? If not, make sure you buy, or at least audition, one that has pre-outs.You will need these to be able to use the same front speakers for both stereo and home cinema (5.1), as it will not be possible to connect 2 sets of cables to your speakers. I have a Yamaha 763 with front pre-outs connected to the AUX input on my stereo amp. The front left and right speakers are connected to the stereo amp. Forr movies etc with home cinema amp, the stereo amp also has to be on, with AUX input selected on stereo amp. The home cinema amp just outputs the sound for left and right speakers via stereo amp. The stereo amp is just used as normal, with home cinema amp off, for listening to CDs etc in stereo.

 

[AlmaataKZ]

thanks, gents.

I was thinking more along the lines of having it so during movies only the 5ch amp is on, and during music only the 2ch amp is on. e.g having switches to change speaker/amp connections?

 

[Anonymous]

But in this kind of setting, the front pair speakers cannot be bi-amped. Otherwise, when listening to CD, the front speakers will not get the low sound.

 

[Gerrardasnails]

AlmaataKZ:
thanks, gents.

I was thinking more along the lines of having it so during movies only the 5ch amp is on, and during music only the 2ch amp is on. e.g having switches to change speaker/amp connections?

Much easier doing it the way suggested. You then only need your stereo amp on when listening to music and both on to watch a film.

 

[Gerrardasnails]

AlmaataKZ:
thanks, gents.

I was thinking more along the lines of having it so during movies only the 5ch amp is on, and during music only the 2ch amp is on. e.g having switches to change speaker/amp connections?

Much easier doing it the way suggested. You then only need your stereo amp on when listening to music and both on to watch a film.

 

[Andrew Everard]

peterwuly:But in this kind of setting, the front pair speakers cannot be bi-amped. Otherwise, when listening to CD, the front speakers will not get the low sound.

Yes, they do, since the feed from the CD goes straight through the stereo amp, and the speakers are run full-range. Only when using the AV receiver does the crossover filtering kick in and roll off the bass to the subwoofer.

 

[Anonymous]

Andrew, I was trying to figure this out myself and sort of drew a bit of a blank. How would you go about connecting the sources and amps? If you connected a CD player to both amps to provide source, how could you connect the AV amp to the front left/right speakers? I thought that when the AV amp's front pre-outs were connected to the stereo amp, the amplified front left/right channels wouldn't function. Sorry if this is confusing!

As a slightly separate point, is it necessary to bi-amp using amps from the same manufacturer, and should the AV amp drive the low frequencies?

 

[The_Lhc]

RainMeister:
Andrew, I was trying to figure this out myself and sort of drew a bit of a blank. How would you go about connecting the sources and amps? If you connected a CD player to both amps to provide source, how could you connect the AV amp to the front left/right speakers? I thought that when the AV amp's front pre-outs were connected to the stereo amp, the amplified front left/right channels wouldn't function. Sorry if this is confusing!

Right, you don't connect the CD player to both amps, assuming you want the CD reproduction to be two-channel only you connect it directly to the stereo amp and just switch the stereo amp on when you want to listen to CD (and any other two-channel source such as a turntable).

Also, in this situation you ARE NOT bi-amping! The front left and right speakers are connected to the stereo amp ONLY, they are not connected to the AV amp at all, when you want to watch a movie or TV, you switch on BOTH amps, the source feeds the audio to the AV amp, the AV amp outputs amplified sound to the centre, and surround channels and passes the front left and right channels out to the preouts to the stereo amp which amplifies them. So you're only using three of the AV amp's 5 channels (assuming it's a 5.1 channel amp, you are also using the subwoofer output from the AV amp, if you have a subwoofer).

As a slightly separate point, is it necessary to bi-amp using amps from the same manufacturer,

I imagine it would be quite a good idea!

and should the AV amp drive the low frequencies?

Wouldn't have thought it would make much difference but like I said, you aren't bi-amping in this situation.