Bypass Preamp& Amp

"What happens is that both volume pots are fuctioning! I talked to intergrated company today and they assure me this will do no harm to intergrated."

Yes, unity gain. Should be harmless, unless its severly overdriven, in which case you would certainly notice. No worries but a little bit of a pain to balance the two controls.

You're right, the Denon Preamp is (more than likely) degrading the sound. Which is why I recommend removing the Denon from, if nothing else, that particular loop in your system.

You will need to run Analog L/R outs from the DVD player straight to the Intergrated (Using a another input). Thus bypassing the Denon altogether but you would then be relying on your DVDs DACs and output stage. This is a cleaner/straighter wiring scheme and potentially better but only if the DVD player is up to the task.

Some gear will alow different (maybe better) solutions but I am not sure of which models we are talking about. A DVD player which has a good analog section could be just fine hooked up the way I previously described. And BTW, is exactly how I have my DVD player hooked up.

Isn't that what I already said in my post? The integrated has a pre-amp and the only way the 2 pieces can be isolated for A/B is my way.S/he needs to hear the piece by itself. The compromise is the quality of the "Y" connecters.

Yes Willhiteb, I meant to point out that, your suggestion is correct but I forgot. Sorry for being redundent and forgetful. However, no y connectors are necessary in this case.

I fully agree with Willhiteb. If I were demo'ing I would pull the Denon and cleanly install the new Intergrated for a no compromises audition. The wiring scheme I later suggested, is more of a permanent install configuration for a two channel Intergrated and a Surround Receiver living harmoniously in one system.

Hopefully the conclusion:

There is a element to this story that I have omitted--why do I want to keep the Denon? One reason--The video scaler capabilties. I have let go of needing surround sound. But two days ago, while reading thru my Sharp Aquos Manual, I stumbled across something. The TV does not automatically upconvert the tv signal to 1080i! This is why I bought this TV and when I saw the poor job is was doing I bought the Denon AVR 4306 which has many uses. But the TV needs to be set to auto to upconvert the 1080i! Tonight I did it and the picture on non-hd channels looks fine if not a bit better than with denon.

Lesson: Work with people who are close to you as oppossed to designing and advising on phone. I had this TV 9 monthes and didn't realize it!

Thus I can purely run the intergrated rogue cronus with full NOS retube. And sell the Denon--anyone interested! The source is soon to be a seroiusly modified Toshiba HD-A2. I have been using castle speakers which are horrible. I am thinking of going with Engima--any suggestions?

Right now I am trying to figure the best configration between the TV, satelite receiver, intergrated and dvd. Utilizing either HDMI or componet video. The TV only takes one HDMI

I want to thank both of you for your input!

I thought I finally got out of the Audiophile illness! I guess not!

All's well that ends well. The Cronus is a fine piece BTW.

You'll definitely want to use that HDMI input when you go HD-DVD, so a HDMI switcher may be in order. My TVs built in scaler does just fine with the Component input from the Cable box. I tried DVI and HDMI (vs Component from the Cable box) and I cant see a difference. I do strongly prefer the HDMI output from my DVD player upscaled to native 720p. Your mileage may vary, so I merely state my preferences, which should be taken with a grain of salt.