Will a Proceed AMP handle LPCM input?

Tim,

The PDSD has analog inputs that take the analog audio from the PAV and pass it through to the amps. Without checking the manual or pulling the PDSD, I don't recall if the cables are balanced or unbalanced. The control cable that connects the two units does just that. I think the menu runs in the PAV as does the volume control. There was a reason MSRP for the pair was about $10K in 1990 dollars. It was a sophisticated design aimed at being upgradeable by adding or swoping cards before Harmon came along. Madrigal provided great support. I once dropped the Amp 3, forgetting how front-heavy they are with the 3 big transformers. Madrigal repaired it and even paid the shipping costs with no charge to me. The HPA 2 and 3 at about 100 pounds are too heavy for me to lift, so I don't risk dropping them.

db

One of the things I have not tried is connecting the analog outputs of the Oppo 95 or 105 to the pass-through inputs of the PDSD. The 95 is connected to the PAV via XLR in the living room system, so I suppose it would be trivial to connect the unbalanced stereo to the corresponding inputs of the PDSD. If that works, I assume an entire 5.1 connection would work as well. I'll give it a try tomorrow.

The Oppo could process the modern lossless codecs and pass the output through the PDSD. The Parasound JC-3 could connect to the PAV via XLR, the Sony 5400ES via coax or optical digital. IIRC the sound through the PAV/PDSD is at least the equal of that through the Cary Cinema 11a. That would seem to suggest I needn't have bought the Cary, given that I have a spare PAV for the living room if I moved the PAV/PDSD to the main system.

db

Thanks TLS49 - I am aware of the proceed manual site. :-)

DB - I gotcha now. I think the labeling of the connections on the PDSD are what led me to wonder. Plus typical balanced cords you go male to female but it looks like you need male/male to connect the PAV to the PDSD.

That is crazy about dropping an AMP-3. I have one of those too. :)

If you do try multi-channel from the Oppo to the PDSD it'll be interesting to see what you think of the sound.

I connected analog stereo output from our Oppo 95 to the LR main input of the
PDSD. The sound is splendid. The volume is controlled by the PAV, so the Oppo
volume can be set to fixed -- initially I had the Oppo volume control turned
down because I thought the PAV volume control might not function in this
configuration. Given that stereo works so well, I assume 5.1 will as well.

Last night I thought about how I might reinstall the PAV/PDSD in the main
system. I could connect the Parasound JC-3 to the XLR input of the PAV, the
Sony XA 5400ES to digital coax or optical inputs of the PDSD, and the Oppo 105
to the 5.1 analog pass-through of the PDSD. The Cary could go into the living
room and connect to the Oppo 95 and DirecTV HD-DVR via HDMI. In the living
room, an Amp 2 drives a pair of KEF 102/2s and the PDSD drives a Velodyne
HGS-10.

db

There may be a flaw in my plan: If I use the PDSD pass-through for input from the Oppo 105, there may be no way to get analog output from the PAV for the phono stage.

db