AV amp confusion - Onkyo and Arcam

[Maxf]

I've got an Onkyo 905 which I'm currently using for music as well as AV. My speakers feel a bit underwhelmed by it in 2 channel so I'm going to add some more powwwweeeeer and a more musical amp for 2 channel.

I'm looking at picking up some Arcam gear - specifically an Alpha 10/10p combo but am confused as to the functionality and how it will work with my 905.

Does anyone know if the alpha 10 will accept the front/2chan feed from my onkyo 905, and more importantly if the gain can be set to an 'AV' mode?

The manual is here: http://dl.owneriq.net/9/9ef87e01-1c64-4a71-86da-3e...

Music sources will feed straight into the new amp, but I want the new amp to act as a power amp and drive the front speakers for films.

[Mr_Yogi]

I don't know your amp, but the normal way is to set up the arcam with your two main front speakers and your stereo sources (CD player/ tuner/ media player/ tape deck/ etc). This should give you the best sound for stereo by taking the AV amp out of the system completely.

Next connect the 905's pre-amp outputs to a spare input on the Arcam. When using the 905 you will have to adjust the volume on the Arcam to match the front and rear channels (somewhere around 11-1'O'clock usually), and just remember where is goes for next time, or put a small sticker on the facia. One thing you have to remember is to turn it down after you've finished, or you'll get one hell of a fright when you next listen to a CD

If the Arcam has a dedicated AV loop you can just plug the 905's pre-amp outs into that and it should bypass the volume control altogether

[Maxf]

Thanks for that - thats how I configured it all with my old system - but these speakers are rather more expensive so I want to avoid any damage.

The alpha 10 does have an AV input, which Id connect to my AV amp, so can be used as a power amp - what I'm confused about is whether the alpha 10 has a gain setting which I can pre-set to avoid having to alter the volume on the arcam for AV listening.

Does that make sense?

[Mr_Yogi]

Having had a quick look at the manual I would say the Processor loop, is just a normal tape loop, for when we used to have add in AV processors which only had amplification for the surround speakers, and not something that bypasses the volume control. However I could be wrong, it has happened before

[ndg]

I've got an Alpha 10 and 10P, and the AV input can be set with a unity gain. This is the reason I started looking at these. Although I ended up with the DAVE module, so now use this for surround too. I loose Pro Logic II but the basic pro logic sounds good enough for the TV. I didn't need any of the video switching mind.

N.

[Maxf]

ndg said:

I've got an Alpha 10 and 10P, and the AV input can be set with a unity gain. This is the reason I started looking at these. Although I ended up with the DAVE module, so now use this for surround too. I loose Pro Logic II but the basic pro logic sounds good enough for the TV. I didn't need any of the video switching mind.

N.

Great - thanks!

It would be quite cool to end up with a few 10p's to run the centre, rears and side channels - but that depends on getting a good deal. The main priority is a 10/10p for the fronts and maybe a 10p for the centre to ensure they match.