Pre-amp output signal booster?

[Pogre]

The biggest difference adding an amp did for me is I can run my receiver in eco mode now without restricting power to my speakers. It went from running on the hot side to just warm. Hopefully that means I'll get some more mileage out of it. I've had it 4 or 5 years now and it still works like it did new.

 

[McChris]

Hey sweet (lovinthehd)! Thats what I ended up doing today, using another AVR.

Before I found the Marantz, I picked up a Denon AVR1712 from Goodwill auctions for cheap. I got to thinking, a little more "umpf" is nice, and that thing has an amp... hooked it up to the Marantz and put it in "pure direct" mode for my Fronts, with a little extra volume of course.

I dunno what the issue was exactly with the Crown, but this gets way louder than it ever did. I can adjust the Marantz's dB's per channel and maybe get the same results, but doing it this way won't stress my system out when I get in one of those "Lamb of God" moods.

DIY subs? Is this a thing, building your own speakers?
My neighbors are going to hate me.

 

[McChris]

The biggest difference adding an amp did for me is I can run my receiver in eco mode now without restricting power to my speakers. It went from running on the hot side to just warm. Hopefully that means I'll get some more mileage out of it. I've had it 4 or 5 years now and it still works like it did new.

Nice. Yeah with the additional AVR , mine seem to stay cooler as well. I haven't stuffed them in their shelves yet, but I'm worried the lack of clearance is going to trap a lot of heat. Should probably look into getting a small fan or something. I think the Marantz has a 12v output for triggering something on. I wonder if one of those somethings could be a fan?

 

[lovinthehd]

Hey sweet (lovinthehd)! Thats what I ended up doing today, using another AVR.

Before I found the Marantz, I picked up a Denon AVR1712 from Goodwill auctions for cheap. I got to thinking, a little more "umpf" is nice, and that thing has an amp... hooked it up to the Marantz and put it in "pure direct" mode for my Fronts, with a little extra volume of course.

I dunno what the issue was exactly with the Crown, but this gets way louder than it ever did. I can adjust the Marantz's dB's per channel and maybe get the same results, but doing it this way won't stress my system out when I get in one of those "Lamb of God" moods.

DIY subs? Is this a thing, building your own speakers?
My neighbors are going to hate me.

Hard to know, but probably gain differences related.

Of course DIY is a thing....we don't have a huge or particularly active DIY subforum, but take a look around https://forums.audioholics.com/forums/audio/diy-corner-tips-techniques.22/

 

[William Lemmerhirt]

Ever go to Beast Buy to look at receivers? The card on the shelf shows the power output by adding all channels, so what may be only 85W/channel with 7 channels, it would show close to 600W. Completely misleading and it needs to stop.

When I worked in car audio, we used to call wildly overstated power output 'Sony Watts', 'JBF' or 'WLS'. 'JBF' stands for 'Just Before Fire' and 'WLS' stands for 'When Lightning Strikes'.

Yes exactly. I HATE that shitt!!!
Love car audio specs too. My friend owns two car audio shops here. In central MN. Seen lots of wacky stuff.

 

[William Lemmerhirt]

What kind of magic is this? I didn't say "poop"

Have to get creative to slip past the electro gate keeper. Fukkin hate that shitt. Lol

 

[highfigh]

Hey sweet (lovinthehd)! Thats what I ended up doing today, using another AVR.

Before I found the Marantz, I picked up a Denon AVR1712 from Goodwill auctions for cheap. I got to thinking, a little more "umpf" is nice, and that thing has an amp... hooked it up to the Marantz and put it in "pure direct" mode for my Fronts, with a little extra volume of course.

I dunno what the issue was exactly with the Crown, but this gets way louder than it ever did. I can adjust the Marantz's dB's per channel and maybe get the same results, but doing it this way won't stress my system out when I get in one of those "Lamb of God" moods.

DIY subs? Is this a thing, building your own speakers?
My neighbors are going to hate me.

The Crown is rated at 31dB of gain- that should be enough, as long as it receives the correct input voltage. If not, it won't be louder than the Marantz.

 

[gronkee]

TLDR;
Trying to hook up a Crown XLi1500 2 channel power amp to the front pre-amp outputs on a Marantz SR5008.
Unimpressed thus far.


I've read that the Crown XLi1500 is a pretty powerful amp for home stereo use, yet when hooked up to my Polk Monitor 60's, they're barely louder than just straight off the AVR.

I upgraded to a Marantz sr5008 (yeah I know it's old, but new to me). My other AVR didn't have pre-amp outputs and I was going to get a line level converter(?), but later read they can introduce noise and that's a shitty way to go. The Marantz has 7 channel pre-amp outs, I've got the Crown hooked to the Front pre-outs.

As I understand it, most AVR's don't live up to the .75 - 1.4 voltage input that the Crown expects for a signal, but some claim that's just fine, it still powers their tower speakers with lots of headroom left.

But me, I have the gains all the way up; and it's not much louder than just coming off the AVR's integrated amp. I've read that I can somehow boost the signal off the pre-amp outputs and then feed that into the Crown to get full potential. I don't fully understand what kind of device does this, or if this is even a viable approach.

Rather than risk damage to my equipment, I thought I'd reach out and ask for advice.

Thanks in advance
Chris

I have a crown XLi 2500, powering my subwoofers, and can confirm that the 2500 and 3500 (in my experience) need boosters when coming out of MOST receivers. The only time I have had these amps work well without signal boosting was the true balanced output of an Emotiva EMC-2. When used with RCA cables however, I use an inline adjustable signal booster because results are lackluster without it. The amp pulls a ton of power from the wall and could bareley make my subs audible without it. For reference I have a Marantz SR6013, so it SHOULD be good, but it never did. Ps. I am aware of the voltage switch on the back, and it did not help.