2. amps-preamps
  3. 193043-200743

Need a little help

Hello everyone. Somewhat new to this hobby and need a little advice. My current setup is a 2.1 channel setup consisting of a Pioneer sclx-904 av receiver that I'm using as a preamp, 2 identical Anthem power amps that are feeding a pair of B&W bookshelf speakers (they are biamped). My question is this; I recently acquired an Nad preamp. Can this NAD be integrated into my existing system somehow?  What would I be gaining? I read that an external preamp can be hooked up to an av receiver, how would I do that?? Also the NAD only has one set of preout's, and does not have a dedicated sub out, I still want to use both Anthem amps and my Klipsch subwoofer, but how do I achieve this with only one set of preouts( left/ right) on the NAD?? Any help is much appreciated. Thank you!

spoonman16510
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jeffbij
45 posts
 

Isn't the C368 an integrated amp?  Are you just looking to only use the preamp out connections then?

And with the B&W 706's, I'm inclined to think that you aren't gaining much, if anything, in the way of improvement with bi-amping them.  You might work out better in selling the one of the Anthem's and the NAD and purchasing a true dedicated preamp.

... just a thought....

soix
9,784 posts
 

And with the B&W 706's, I'm inclined to think that you aren't gaining much, if anything, in the way of improvement with bi-amping them.  You might work out better in selling the one of the Anthem's and the NAD and purchasing a true dedicated preamp.

I would agree with this provided you also got decent jumper cables for your speakers.  Bi-amping may provide some benefit, but I’d think adding a better dedicated stereo preamp would bring significantly more improvement to the overall sound.  Either that or sell everything and get a good integrated amp.  Depends how much you want to put into this and how much you care about better sound, otherwise just get the splitter and enjoy. 

spoonman16510 OP
13 posts
 

Yes it is an integrated amp, I'm sorry, my mistake. OK soo...being that the NAD only has 1 set of preouts ( L/R) is it possible to plug an rca cable into either one of those preouts then connect to a female Y splitter then from the other end of the Y splitter run 2 separate rca cables to one of the Anthem amps? One going in the left channel and the other one going to the right channel of the amp? And still having one (1) preout left on the NAD I could use that one for my sub? Sorry fellas like I said I'm still green on all of this.

spoonman16510 OP
13 posts
 

And, if I can do this does it matter which preout I would use for the sub or the amp?

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jeffbij
45 posts
 

From what I think you are saying, the answer is no.  You can't feed on channel (L or R) to the amps (and then onto the speakers) and the other channel to just the sub.

You have to keep the channels isolated from eachother, left channel going to the left speaker and the right channel going to the right speaker.  

This also brings up another question.  You already said the sub doesn't have speaker wire connections (L and R) on it.  Does it have a separate L and R  RCA inputs?  If it doesn't, then there is another problem.  You can't merge the L/R channel signals back together without isolating them.  Otherwise, you are creating a short circuit and loose the "stereo".   Typically this is done inside the preamp/processor or inside the sub.  

I know that this is getting complicated and confusing for you.  Try drawing this out on a sheet of paper, it might help.  And trying to explain this in text can add to the confusion.  If you would like to talk about it, private message me and maybe we can arrange something.  Maybe some kind of white board session

 

- Jeff

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