using my hi fi speakers as my front surround speakers

[admin_exported]

i was wondering if any one knows if i can use my hifi speakers as my front surrounds aswell? the speakers are biwireable and connected to my arcam stereo amplifier. and i would like to know if its possible to connect my yamaha surround sound amp to other terminals? please help

 

[d4v3pum4]

Do not connect a pair of speakers to two amps without a switch of some description unless you want a house fire! Your best bet is to use the front pre-outs on the AV receiver if it has them and let the stereo amp drive the fronts and the Yamaha to drive the rest. What Yamaha amp do you have? Does it have front pre-out connections on the rear?

 

[Anonymous]

hi thanks for reply it doesnt have pre outs at all.

 

[Anonymous]

id only b using 1 amp at a time. the other wud b switched off.

 

[John Duncan]

Yeah doesn't matter, is a recipe for disaster. What model yamaha is it? I thought most of them did have preouts, but can check for you.

If not, the alternative is a speaker switch, which is rarer than you'd think.

 

[Anonymous]

its a dsp ax-640se.

 

[Dave_]

dsco01:id only b using 1 amp at a time. the other wud b switched off. Seriously, without some kind of switch box dont do it! There's alway's the chance both amp's could be switched on at the same time accidentally.

 

[John Duncan]

dsco01:its a dsp ax-640se.

I had the 620 and it had preouts. Are you in the UK (sometimes different for different markets)?

 

[John Duncan]

JohnDuncan:dsco01:its a dsp ax-640se.

I had the 620 and it had preouts. Are you in the UK (sometimes different for different markets)?

EDIT - ...and the UK model has preouts, according to the manual.

 

[Anonymous]

il have another look

 

[John Duncan]

If you're looking at it from the rear, they're just above the speaker terminals, seven of 'em together, marked 'OUTPUT'

 

[Anonymous]

hi i found them . so how do i wire this up. thanks for helping

 

[John Duncan]

k, no probs. It's simple, but could be simpler depending on what Arcam amp you have - tell me that first, I'll check if it has a unity gain 'AV' input (which means you can miss a tricky bit out), then I'll explain.

 

[Anonymous]

its an a70

 

[John Duncan]

OK. Unfortunately, the manual isn't on the website som am driving a bit blind here. I'm going to guess however that it's a bit like the A80, seeing as that what it looks like.

On the Arcam: press the select button. Turn the control knob until it shows 'Processor'. press Select. press Select again (it is possible to vary the volume here but I wouldn't bother). Press Enter.

Run standard interconnects from the preout Front L and R sockets on the Yamaha into the TAPE input of the Arcam (it says in the manual, bizarrely).

Run the Yamaha's automatic setup routine again (because the front L and R will now be wrong)

That should be it - the front left and right of the AV system will now be playing out of the Arcam and running the hifi speakers instead of the home cinema ones (you can now unplug the home cinema ones...).

Once this is done, when you change the volume of the Arcam, nothing should happen to the AV sound, because it's been set to be controlled by the Yamaha, and the processor light should be on. if that's not the case, start again, checking your settings, and checking whether the AV input is the one that has been fixed (just because what they say in the manual seems weird to me). If you have the manual, it may be more helpful, since I'm working from the one for the wrong model.....

 

[Anonymous]

Hi johnduncan. I have a question you might be able to answer...

Ill be running a pair of loudspeaker from an audiolab 8000s and 8000p combo, bi-wired.

Im waiting on delivery of an old Arcam xeta 2 sound processer, wit pre outs.I will pre out from the arcam for the fronts. will i be able to do this as my speakers are powered by two amps and not from a single intergrated one?

 

[John Duncan]

The theory is yes, but can I check firstly - this is the new 8000S, after it was taken over by IAG? I don't think the 'old' Audiolab made an 'S' but I just want to make sure?

 

[Anonymous]

yeah the audiolab 8000s is the brand new one, (set as a pre), and the 8000p is a power amp.

Think it should work tho, just the fact that theres two amps involved for the speakers not just one.

 

[John Duncan]

Firstly, I'm surprised you're not using it in 'Pre-Power' mode, powering the tweeters from the integrated and the bass units from the power amp? Or did I misunderstand?

But am trying to work out how it behaves as "Pre-Power AV" - that'd be the way to go if you were only using the integrated, not adding the 'P' - but it says that the preouts are still working, so not sure if that means it's routed back through the preamp for Av purpose, is a bit confusing.

Let me do some more digging - if worst comes to worst you can use it in pre-power mode, put the AV preouts into a spare input, and set the volume at 12 o'clock...

 

[John Duncan]

Can't be much more help, having had a look. But a quick call to Audiolab could sort you out - as I say, as a last resort you can use the "volume at 12 o'clock" method, just a bit less elegant.

 

[Anonymous]

how do i do the auto setup on the yamaha/