pre-outs needed?

tommyboy

I have an onkyo 603 which I really regret getting now for two reasons. one, it doesn't have pre-outs.two, I should have gotten the damn hk 635 for $500. anyways, if there is one thing missing in my system (except better speakers:) ), it is a seperate amp. Now I have never seen or used one before so i am a complete newb with them. Now is there anyway possible that I could hook up a two channel amp (the onkyo 282, I work at CC so that is the only reason I'm thinking of getting it) to my 603 using speaker wire instead of rca jacks and if so, is it recommended?

Im just looking to the best out of my monitor 50s till i get rid of them a couple years down the road.

faster100

Id say no, you can't take a amp and drive a amp.. It just wont work... even if you figured out a way to do it, its not optimal or reccomended. if you work there, instead of getting the 282 (i owned one myself) get a better receiver.. and sell the 603. The 282 won't do much better then a real good real watts receiver... Grant it a better amp would improve sound, just not the 282 so much.. Its a good amp, but think of it as a onkyo receivers amp section just in a separete case.. your not gonna notice much improvment IMO..

dudeinaroom

Tommy,
I recently bought an Adcom amp for my system. I have a technics receiver that does not have pre-outs. it's a dolby digital receiver, and the amp I got is a 2 channel. What I did is hooked the amp up to the headphone jack and it work great. I had to buy a potentiometer from radio shack and a couple of rca jacks and a little black project enclosure and used a headphone to rca adapter cable(total cost for parts was less than 20 bucks). The reason I did this was to match the volume of my amp to my center ans surrounds as the adcom is quite a bit louder. I t works very well. Also I can use the little black box as a passive pre amp for the amp by hooking any fo my sources directly to it for when I feel like doing so serious 2ch sacd listening. Any ways thats what I did and it works well for me for now, until I can get a pre pro and a 3 ch amp for my center and surrounds.

Good luck,
Ted

DollarDave

Check out the AudioSource amps, several models (AMP100, 200, and 300) have line-level and speaker-level inputs. If I am not mistaken, they are a subsidiary of Phoenix Gold which owns Carver and a few other decent companies. ubid.com has them every so often as re-furbs and e-bay always has some. I haven't heard them, but I think I remember RuSsMan recommending them...

*Seby*-Polk-

tommyboy wrote:

I should have gotten the damn hk 635 for $500.

Is one of the best options in the market. But you must consider (don't forgot) Denon, Yamaha or Marantz.

There are other great options..NOT ONLY HK..

Denon AVR 3805
Yamaha RX-V2600
Marantz SR 7500

Try to listen those models and tell me ....

crazy

tommyboy - welcome to the club! I too have the Onkyo 603 and was shocked to find out recently that it doesn't have pre-outs.

There is only one decent way out - sell it and get the 703 (expensive) or the HK. Even the $240 HK has pre-outs. Onkyo screwed us on this one.

Just sell it and get something with pre-outs.

Check out this thread - I asked the same questions!

http://www.polkaudio.com/forums/showthread.php?t=39415

tommyboy

crazy wrote:

tommyboy - welcome to the club! I too have the Onkyo 603 and was shocked to find out recently that it doesn't have pre-outs.

There is only one decent way out - sell it and get the 703 (expensive) or the HK. Even the $240 HK has pre-outs. Onkyo screwed us on this one.

Just sell it and get something with pre-outs.

Check out this thread - I asked the same questions!

http://www.polkaudio.com/forums/showthread.php?t=39415

Thanks guys for the very quick replies.

I really didn't want to sell the 603 but i guess it has to be done... I have been driving myself crazy with my home theater since i got my first a year ago. I went from the onkyo HTIB 570, returned and got the onkyo 770. the sub and surrounds were terrible so a couple monthes later i uprgraded to the velo vrp12 and plk r15s.then in january I got the monitor 50s,csi3, and onkyo 603. I noticed how terrible the velo vrp was and sold that on ebay and got the velo dps10(much, much better and for only $170). I was planning on keeping this system for at least a couple years and i really like it, but the one thing I rushed on was the reciever.

Since i work a CC and get a discount, I am going with HK whenever I get the money to. would I be better off going with the hk 235/240 with seperate amp or Hk 635 no amp?

thanks a lot guys for helping out.
tommyboy

cfrizz

buy the most receiver you can afford that has preouts & the features you want, and then start saving for an amp.

Skynut

cfrizz wrote:

buy the most receiver you can afford that has preouts & the features you want, and then start saving for an amp.

Ditto.
I was glad my onkyo had pre outs once I came here and found out what they were. Now I am on the upgrade path to nirvana.

Shizelbs

Tommy. I am in the same boat as you. I like my 600 Onkyo just fine but the preouts, or lack thereof, is my biggest regret. Maybe my biggest blunder yet in this hobby.

Anyways, no, don't add an amp to your 603. Can't you swing an upgrade to a 702/703?

George Grand

Damn tenderfeet. Bogus answer that you can't drive an amp with an amp, because you can. Look on e-bait for a Carver "Z-coupler". It goes in between the two amps and lets you do exactly what you want. Bob Carver developed it especially for guys like you. Send him a thank you card.

reeltrouble1

There is only one true Eagle round here, and that is GG.

I am only buttering you up so you won't be so pissed at me when I end up with the dame.

RT1

George Grand

Yup. The "Babe", that sizzling "Babe".

danger boy

George Grand wrote:

Damn tenderfeet. Bogus answer that you can't drive an amp with an amp, because you can. Look on e-bait for a Carver "Z-coupler". It goes in between the two amps and lets you do exactly what you want. Bob Carver developed it especially for guys like you. Send him a thank you card.

Interesting. i've never heard of one of those.. how rare are they? How much do the cost? I don't need one myself.. but am just curious is all

George Grand

Do you find it interesting because you never heard of one? The've been around since the mid 80's. They were about $50 when new. I don't have a clue what they might sell for now. The sky is probably the limit. I mean, Pioneer and Sansui receivers are selling for $400-$500 on that site, so something meaningful might sell for more.

danger boy

Yes, i've never heard of one... just not one of those things that would ever come to mind.. i guess if I needed one... i would have heard of them somewhere down the line.

SuperDave

Get something with the pre-outs!:D

SuperDave
Yamaha RX-V992 (Center,Rears)
Adcom GFA-5500 (Main)
Denon DVD-1920
Sony XBR 27"
BrightHouse DVR
Polk LSi25 Main
Polk LSiC Center
Infinity RS1 Rears
Monster THX Cables

George Grand

Please tell me you're not as stupid as you sound. If you can't say that, try not saying anything.

SuperDave

Are you saying the hot setup is to use a coupler? I don't think so.

brijenjas

Is this what you are talking about George?

http://cgi.ebay.com/Carver-Z-1-Wide-Band-Z-Coupler-for-M-400_W0QQitemZ9714935712QQcategoryZ39783QQssPageNameZWD1VQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

George Grand

Yes that's it in the e-bait auction.


No, I said it was the AFFORDABLE answer to the man's dilemma. I also said it was something that lets you drive an amp with an amp, which everyone said wasn't possible. Well, it is possible isn't it, and you are as stupid as you sound aren't you?

Tour2ma

I have a Z-1, that I bought for grins. GG is spot on about it being a budget minded, functional means to an end.

And $49 is high.... one auction just closed at $20 + change and last year more went for $15 than topped $20.

tommyboy

The reason I wanted to go with a two channel amp in the first place cause about a couple monthes ago, I hooked the monitor 50s up directly to the onkyo tx8511 and the speakers had clean highs and surprisingly tight bass. Now it of course didn't sound anything like a powered sub, but I never heard that tight bass from these speakers before.

Of course, when I brought them home and hooked them to the 603, the bass was not clean and tight. So I know these speakers have better potential i felt if i just get a two channel amp, I would hear the detail like i did before (if not better).

I saw some used avr635 on ebay for about $250 with about 6 hours left but I see that jumping up pretty high.

faster100

well i assume if your not in your 50's or 60's you might not know about this particular item.. In 1980 i was 7 years old

Ok thier is ONE way to do it cheaply.. nothing i know of currently.. But then again i don't know every item on the market...

seems like a cool item, in a fix..

Tour2ma

tommyboy wrote:

I hooked the monitor 50s up directly to the onkyo tx8511 and the speakers had clean highs and surprisingly tight bass. Now it of course didn't sound anything like a powered sub, but I never heard that tight bass from these speakers before.

I saw some used avr635 on ebay for about $250 with about 6 hours left but I see that jumping up pretty high.

That's ebay...

What you heard were your 50's connected to enough power to control them.

The Z-1 is a legitimate, economical route to solving your dilema. And once you start down the path to separates, you'll never go back...

tommyboy

Tour2ma wrote:

That's ebay...

What you heard were your 50's connected to enough power to control them.

The Z-1 is a legitimate, economical route to solving your dilema. And once you start down the path to separates, you'll never go back...

Like I said before, I really don't know much about seperate amps so please bare with me...
I have a few questions.

First, just say I get... the avr235. Would it sound good if I used a two channel amp for just my towers and the recievers amp for the 3 other? I was looking at the price of some of the 5 channel amps and they were pretty expensive.

second, Should I have the same brand for both the amp and reciever or does matching brands with amps dont matter?

third, What would you guys consider to be the best cheap amps out there(don't forget that I don't have a high end lsi system:) ) at the MOST $400? Like I said before the only one I know about is the onkyo m282...

All I want is what I got out of my monitor 50s when I hooked them up to the onkyo 8511 and its only a $300 reciever but please give me more recommendations cause I know there is more (and better) than onkyo out there.

Sorry for so many ?s and the long post...
thanks for the help
tommyboy

Skynut

spend some time on audiogon and ebay searching for amps.
Find names that are selling in your pricerange and do some research.
I think Onkyo made some good amps on their higher end.
I have the m282 and it worked fine for what I was doing with it. Now I am thinking about adding it to the garage system.
Once you see what you can afford (and maybe even more importantly) what looks good to you then ask questions about those specific models.
There are way to many opnions about way to many amps. In my opnion.