AV Receiver/Amplifier Question

[ahender]

Hi:

When an amplifier is connected to an AV receiver, does the power in the AV receiver automatically shut off?

If no, do some receivers have that option?

thanks...alan

 

[Adam]

I don't know if other receivers have that option, but my receiver does not automatically shut off the internal amplifiers when it's connected to an external amplifier.

If you are running all of your speakers off of external amps, you could manually shut off the internal amplifiers. With my Pioneer, it's a matter of turning the speakers "off".

 

[mtrycrafts]

... With my Pioneer, it's a matter of turning the speakers "off".

Does that shuts off the amp, or just disconnects the speakers from it?

 

[jostenmeat]

If you are running all of your speakers off of external amps, you could manually shut off the internal amplifiers. With my Pioneer, it's a matter of turning the speakers "off".

My question would be: what happens to processing and bass mgmt? If you wanted to apply 80hz xover + PLiiX, they'd still be applied when all speakers are "off"? Dankz.

ahender, if you choose a receiver that cannot have amps turned off, and are running outboard amp for all speakers, you can set it to lower impedance rating. This should drop your rail voltage and energy consumption, at least somewhat.

 

[Adam]

My question would be: what happens to processing and bass mgmt? If you wanted to apply 80hz xover + PLiiX, they'd still be applied when all speakers are "off"? Dankz.

On my Pioneer, everything works just the same. Shutting off the speakers doesn't affect the performance of my system when I used external amps at all. The pre-amp outputs aren't affected; it just keeps the internal amps within the receiver from coming on.

 

[zumbo]

Yamaha RX-Z7 and YX-Z11 are the only two receivers I know of that offer a true pre-amp mode, where you actually turn the amp off, or assign it to the other zones.

Any receiver with pre-outs will still apply all processing to the pre-outs.

The multi-channel inputs, labeled ext. in on some units, bypasses processing.

 

[zumbo]

it just keeps the internal amps within the receiver from coming on.

Pretty sure your amp is on, unless you have an actual option to cut it off.

 

[ChrisJam]

I'm curious, too. Someone told me that if the AVR weren't powering speakers, then the internal amp wouldn't be on. That seemed logical. It's interesting to see that that might not be the case.

I just bought an external amp, and will use my Yammy 659 as a pre/pro. I just sent Yamaha an e-mail asking about this issue. I'll let you know what I hear.

Chris

 

[ChrisJam]

With my Pioneer, it's a matter of turning the speakers "off".

I'm not familiar with Pioneer's menu. If I did this with my Yamaha 659, though, I think that I would be making the AVR/pre/pro think that all my speakers were large, and it'd send the appropriate signal to them--in other words, a full-range signal. That wouldn't be good for a lot of my speakers.

But I admit my ignorance here. This is my first time stepping into the world of separates.

Chris

 

[zumbo]

I'm not familiar with Pioneer's menu. If I did this with my Yamaha 659, though, I think that I would be making the AVR/pre/pro think that all my speakers were large, and it'd send the appropriate signal to them--in other words, a full-range signal. That wouldn't be good for a lot of my speakers.

But I admit my ignorance here. This is my first time stepping into the world of separates.

Chris

I believe you have the option to turn your speakers A/B off on the front of the unit. I just checked on my 1400, and you can actually hear it cut on and off. I did have mine off. The thing still gets hot though.

 

[ChrisJam]

I believe you have the option to turn your speakers A/B off on the front of the unit.

Hi, Zumbo, you're absolutely right. I'd forgotten all about those two buttons.

Thanks,
Chris

 

[zumbo]

Hi, Zumbo, you're absolutely right. I'd forgotten all about those two buttons.

Thanks,
Chris

My unit has powered zones. I can cut my zone 2 and 3 amps off with my remote. If you have this feature, you will see the zones lit-up on the receiver if they are on.

To turn them off, I press the "AMP" button on my remote, then use the ^v buttons until the corresponding zone shows-up on my remote. Then I press the "STANDBY" button to turn it off. I have to go through the steps for each zone.

If I were to ever use the power button on the receiver, it will automattically turn the zone amps back on. As long as I use the remote to power-up the system, the zones will stay off.

 

[Rogozhin]

I don't have a menu option, in my Pioneer 92 elite's gui, of turning off the amps. I have pass through and amp as choices.

I'm running three external amps.

 

[ChrisJam]

I haven't heard from Yamaha yet (see post #8). I'll let you know when I do.

Chris

 

[ChrisJam]

My unit has powered zones. I can cut my zone 2 and 3 amps off with my remote. If you have this feature, you will see the zones lit-up on the receiver if they are on.

I have two powered zones with my AVR. I'll try your trick with them soon, maybe tomorrow. Great tip, thanks!

Chris

 

[ChrisJam]

A little more info

Hi,

I had a little time to play with my AVR tonight. I made sure that my second zone was turned off.

Here's a surprise--at least to me. As zumbo reminded me, I have two buttons for Speakers A and Speakers B. The B set is off. No problem. I thought, though, that when I turned off speakers set A, that I'd still hear my sub playing through the LFE preout. Nope. When I turned off the A speakers, the sub was cut, too. Hmm...

Maybe it'll be different once I have my amp hooked up. (It arrived today, but I have to wait for my new interconnects from Monoprice. With luck they'll arrive tomorrow. My dad's in the hospital, so my time isn't quite my own until he heals and I get him home.) I'll report back after I try the 659/external amp combo. It might not be till next week, though.

I put the amp in place, at least temporarily. It's a cool-running Sunfire (~40 lbs, so not too heavy). It has no vents on top, only side vents. Right now I have it on top of the 659, which is on top of my Marantz CD player. If my Yammy doesn't put out much heat in pre/pro mode, I'll be fine. I might try switching these two, though. I might also try putting the Sunfire on the bottom of this stack, with the CD palyer on top of it, and the Yammy 659 at the very top. But having the Sunfire on top gives maximum air exposure to the amp's side vents.

FYI: I use an antique dry bar for my A/V rack. It's 36-inches wide. The stack I just mentioned is the right stack on top of the bar. The left stack, bottom to top, is VCR, DVD player, and turntable. There's a short drop-down lid just below the top of the dry bar. I keep empty CD cases and DVD cases there, as well as my SPL meter and few other goodies. There's a full-size cabinet beneath that, and I have a power bar in there for misc equipment, plus my cable modem and wireless router. There's a big section left over that's empty so far.

Here are a couple pics:

Dy bar refinished, but not in place as AV center yet:

Tiny corner of dry bar with some AV equipment showing:

I haven't heard from Yamaha about my e-mail question, but I bet it'll take them a few days to get back to me, especially with Thanksgiving thrown into the equation.

Chris

 

[ChrisJam]

I had time to hook up my new external amp tonight. I only had time to determine that all the channels--well, five out of seven, since I only have a 5.1 speaker system--work. I played a few minutes of music. I played a couple minutes of a loud ZZ Top CD. I played a few minutes of a soft CD (soft in recording level, I mean) classical piano concerto.

I found one thing out. Even with my Yammy AVR being hooked up directly to no speakers (except for the sub through the LFE preout), if I turned off my A-set of speakers, I lost my sub signal.

I still haven't heard from Yamaha about my e-mail question.

Chris

P.S. I decided to put the amp on top of the Marantz CD player, with the Yammy AVR on top of the amp. Since the amp has no top vents, I think I'm safe.

 

[ChrisJam]

No answer yet

I still haven't gotten an answer to my e-mail to Yamaha with the AVR/pre question. If I don't hear soon, I'll send another e-mail.

Chris