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Seeking Advice on Stereo/HT Setup

Hi All,

I'm a relative HT newcomer and am looking for advice on the most
effective way to set up a stereo and HT system in the same room and on
the same speakers. I'd love your advice on setting up the
interconnects, speaker cables etc so I can use both stereo and HT
without the hassle of swapping out cables etc. Thank you for your
help!

Here are my components so far:

Logitech Squeezebox (for streaming FLACs from my PC)
Cambridge Audio DacMagic
Cary SLP-05 (for stereo pre)
Adcom GFA-555 (for stereo amp)
Arcam AVR-600 (for HT/surround)
Oppo BDP-103 (Blu-ray video and SACD)
Vandersteen 2ceSig IIs (mains; bi-amp/bi-wire capable)
Vandersteen 2W (subwoofer)
Vandersteen VSM-1 (surrounds)
meowist
paraneer's avatar
paraneer
818 posts
 
I concur with Bdgreg also. You already have everything you need to integrate a 2 channel system into your HT system.

I took a look at the back pannel of the Cary you have. Run two interconnects from the L/R main pre-outs on the Arcam AVR to the Cinema L/R inputs on the Cary. Then run another pair of intercommects from the Cary's main outputs into the Adcom amp. Then use the Arcams internal amps for your center, surrounds, etc. No swapping cables - the Adcom amp will always be used to drive your L/R main speakers whether you are listening to 2 channel via the Cary or HT via the Arcam. You may have to press a button. most likely on the Cary. Consult your owners manual.
meowist OP
7 posts
 
quick follow-up. i have this setup up and running now and it's working great. thank you all!
dtc's avatar
dtc
1,047 posts
 
Enjoy! Great setup.
meowist OP
7 posts
 
Thanks Dtc! One more Q for you: for your slp-05 do you leave the power supply and the preamp on at all times, or just the power supply? do you do this with other components such as avr etc? im not sure if doing so would lead to excess wear or power consumption. thx again!
dtc's avatar
dtc
1,047 posts
 
I leave the SLP-05 on all the time, both power supply and preamp. It sort of depends on how often you use it. If you use it daily, the conventional wisdom is to leave it on, which puts less stress on the tubes, since powering on is the worse time for tubes. In home theater mode, you can turn everything off. So, it sort of depends on usage. I am using stock EH tubes and except many years from them. I have had the current ones in about 2 years. But, people go both ways on this.

For the Arcam, I would only turn it on as needed. It is solid state and I doubt it really needs to be on very long to reach its peak performance.
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