2. home-theater
  3. 1033239358

How do I merge home theater into my 2 chan setup?

2 channel is my first love and I'm not willing to tamper with the 2 channel sound that I have at the expense of a home theater. I want to make a move to home theater and integrate it with my current system. I live in a loft...my room is 70 ft long by 22 ft wide and my ceilings are 25 ft high. My next move is a pre/pro that I will only use for video. I love the sound of my 2-channel preamp, so the pre/pro only has to do a good job when watching movies. I've heard good things about the Outlaw 950 pre/pro. This seems like a good match because of its low cost and I won't need an audiophile preamp section. After I settle this pre/pro issue, I will set about getting myself a projector, screen and subwoofer. Does the Outlaw seem like the best bang for the buck in what I'm trying to do here? I've borrowed a pre/pro and I like the sound my amps and speakers can deliver in a home theater setting....even without a subwoofer.

My 2 channel setup:

Preamp..............Audio Research LS-10 solid state (no phono input)
Preamp..............Carver C-19 Tube (I have it connected to the AR LS-10 and use it for a phono preamp)
Speakers............Infinity Kappa 9 (bi-amped)
Amp.................Carver Silver 9-t monoblocks (low pass)
Amp.................Sunfire Signature (high pass)
Phonograph..........Oracle Delphi Mk-I
Cartridge...........Grado Reference Platinum
CD Player...........Carver SDA/360 5 disc changer
Tuner...............Sansui TU-X1

My home theater stuff:
Rear speakers........Infinity Kappa 7.1
Center speaker.......Infinity Kappa Video Series II
Rear amplifier.......Carver TFM 45
Center amplifier.....Carver TFM 45
Television...........Sharp 32 inch
DVD player...........Samsung M-301
128x128mitch4t
slipknot1
1,423 posts
 
Scotty910-

if you are passing digital signal to HT processor, and analog signal to preamp from same unit, just keep the HT processor off and feed the analog signal through your pre and straight to the amp? Vice versa for DVD digi signals.

If I understand your situation, you have both a preamp and an HT processor that can operate independently of each other, amplification that processes signals from both, and a common pair of front speakers. Correct? I also assume that your DVD/CD player passes digital either via TOSLINK or S/PDIF or AES/EBU and also has a set of analog outs, either 5.1 or stereo L/R.
edesilva
768 posts
 
Hmm... I the situation I outlined, the Audio CD signal of the CD/DVD isn't going through 2 preamps, only one. Think about the respective paths for the front channels for 2CH and HT...

CD/DVD is connected to 2CH Pre via analog out, 2CH Pre then goes directly to main amp. To play DVDs, CD/DVD connects to HT Pro via digital out, HT Pro connects (Front L/R) to 2CH Pre via AUX in. The HT signal is the one that passes "thru" two preamps...
mrpoindexter
63 posts
 
Mitch4t,

I may be a little late, but I had the exact same speakers you had, the Infinity Kappa 9 and the Kappa Video. If you want to improve the sound greatly, take the center channel and put it in the fireplace and set a match to it.

Sorry, but the Kappa Video sucks compared to the output of your vastly superior kappa 9. Run the surround sound system in phantom center mode. If you must have a center channel, then try to locate an EMIT K tweeter and replace the EMIT R in the center channel with the EMIT K. Reworking the crossover for the EMIT K would be even better, but a major improvement will be getting an EMIT K in there.

I used kappa 9 as the main speakers for my HT system for about 8 years and was very happy with them. Their new owner is going to be happy with them as well I am sure, but I feel guilty about giving him my old kappa video with the package.
scotty_910
119 posts
 
Thanks again guys. I have yet to purchase a cd/dvd player - I am in the market for one to upgrade my old CD player. As a result, I was not aware that I had the ability to have analogue outs for the cd playback with the l/r front channels for pure audio - to be run to the audio preamp only, then the have digital outs for the dvd portion which run through both preamps - which is fine because with film the sound quality really isn't going to matter that much. As you can probably tell, I really am a neophyte when it comes to dvd video. This discussion has been very helpful!!! Now comes the hard part, choosing the cd/dvd player and the pre/processor/amp!!
More to discover