2. amps-preamps
  3. 187590-186925

Preamp vs Av receiver preouts

So I have a pretty good setup going on for myself, but my weak point is still my receiver on the music side of things (I use it for HT but I'm talking stereo right now). I have the Martin Logan ESLs, a 15" rythmik sub, yamaha aventage rxa-1060, Anthem mca225 hooked to the preouts of the yamaha (and a splitter to connect the sub L/R), and a schiit modi+. Would a separate preamp make much difference instead of the preouts on the receiver even though I use the yamaha in pure direct mode or is it not worth the addition? And if so what ballpark preamp are we talking to make said difference? Something like the parasound zpre3 looked interesting to me, but I haven't heard a separate preamp in a system before and don't know what difference it would make. I can't do much more in terms of room treatment in my room either. Thanks in advance! 

sgoods555

Showing 3 responses by carlsbad2

carlsbad2's avatar
carlsbad2
1,405 posts
 

You are lucky.  Your anthem has two inputs.

So get a dedicated 2 channel preamp and hook it to the balanced inputs.   When listening to 2 channel sound your yamaha isn't involved.

For AV, run pre out from your Yamaha front channels to the Anthem RCA inputs so all you ahve to do is switch inputs on the anthem.  

You will have to figure out volume on the Anthem.  You'll want to set it pretty high, perhaps 1200 or choose something easy to return to, and then adjust the volume balance for the speakers like you do with the Yamaha driving all channels.

Jerry

carlsbad2's avatar
carlsbad2
1,405 posts
 

@daveteauk  Yes, I went through this looking for an amp/pre with HT bypass and didn’t find anything I liked. I ended up with a setup like I described. I think you’re saying that the Anthem does not have an input selector switch. I had an amp with the same issue, 2 inputs, no selector switch. So I added one.  So thanks for pointing out the problem with my suggestion.

But I like the suggestion of the Rogue Pre by @audphile1 

@sgoods555 I think the rouge would be a lot better choice than the parasound.

Jerry

carlsbad2's avatar
carlsbad2
1,405 posts
 

Don't make your gear fit your space.  Make your space fit your gear.

 

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