AVR plus outboard amp(s).

[DonBattles]

While I have been fairly happy with my Onkyo 605 I find myself wishing it had pre-out's. I really like the Onkyo bang for the buck so I'll likely go with another model, perhaps an 805(806) or 875(876). From my reading thus far the I'm leaning towards the 805. As for the amp I'm looking at another bang for the buck company, Emotiva and particularly the XPA-3. Later if need be I could add the RPA-2 to make a solid 5 channel system and have a great two channel amp for stereo listening. Anyone running a similar set-up?

 

[MatthewB.]

I started a thread over at Sound and Vision which may help with your problem. I have an Onkyo 805 that I used strictly as a preamp and after one year, it stopped working. The local Onkyo repair guy said using my 805 as a preamp was bad and destroyed the circuits inside. Anyway the gurus over at S&V put my mind at ease about using my Onkyo as a preamp, but am including the link, so that you can rest assured that using it as a preamp isnt a problem (as compared to what the service tech told me). It is still at the regional service center (only been there less than a week) so hopefully I will get a detailed answer as to what caused mine to go on the fritz.

http://forums.soundandvisionmag.com/showthread.php?t=608014

 

[MatthewB.]

By the way I was using mine with four outboard stereo amps (one bridged for the center channel) to drive a 7.1 system.

 

[DonBattles]

I started a thread over at Sound and Vision which may help with your problem. I have an Onkyo 805 that I used strictly as a preamp and after one year, it stopped working. The local Onkyo repair guy said using my 805 as a preamp was bad and destroyed the circuits inside. Anyway the gurus over at S&V put my mind at ease about using my Onkyo as a preamp, but am including the link, so that you can rest assured that using it as a preamp isnt a problem (as compared to what the service tech told me). It is still at the regional service center (only been there less than a week) so hopefully I will get a detailed answer as to what caused mine to go on the fritz.

http://forums.soundandvisionmag.com/showthread.php?t=608014

So I read the thread you linked to and my take was that using the 805, or any Onkyo for that matter, as a pre-amp might be a problem. Maybe a dedicated pre-amp is the best way to go, I was leaning toward the 805 upgrade from my 605 because I could add outboard amps in stages and still have 5.1 or 7.1 ability in the process. I'm pretty much set on Emotiva, the reviews here at AH have all been pretty good and they are affordable when compared to other's on the market. Maybe I will buy the XPA-3 while it's on special and order the UMC-1 when it's released in March. Still I cannot for the life of me understand why a company would put pre-outs on a receiver if this was going to cause failure. I understand that there are tons of Onkyo's in homes and therefore there are likely to be some horror stories but this really has me tentative in making the move to the 805.

 

[MatthewB.]

Don, don't let what happened to me sway you. I heard from onkyo today and they said it was a part failure (not for being used as a preamp) They couldn't get into what part failed yet because it was still being serviced, but as the gurus over at S&V have stated, chances are nil that it was using it as a preamp that caused the failure, it was more likley just a failure of a part itself. Could've been something not related to the preamp at all. When I get the full story later this week or early next week, I'll fill you in on what part failed and why. Please remember that Onkyo sold Millions of these units and on the net all you hear is about the few that did fail. Granted these receivers have had a fair amount of problems, do some research and find out what receiver you would feel comfortable with buying to use as a preamp. But also agree a dedicated preamp would be a wise and logical choice, since you have the amps.

 

[audion3wb]

I'm using my Onkyo 705 to pre-amp into my Emotive UPA-7 and everything is hunkey dorey with me. I will say I wish my 705 didnt run hot enough for me to cook my breakfast on. So with that said If I were in your shoes and I knew I was leaning toward seperates already I would just commit to it and buy seperates instead of buying an AVR with pre outs, because from what I hear all Onkyos run hot and if I can avoid it I will allways try to keep from running extremly hot equipment.

The only reason I have a 705 and not a processor is becuase I bought the 705 thinking I would eventually get an amp, then I wound up deciding I wanted one sooner than I expected, so looking back I wish I just got a processor right off the bat instead.

 

[MatthewB.]

audion, best thing you can do is buy a simple fan to blow across the top (I use a 4 dollar, 4 inch WallyWorld fan and it kept mine very cool to the touch. After my latest issues, I decided to upgrade that fan to one that sits directly on the receiver and blows air in and pulls hot air out (in conjunction with the wal mart fan). Seiously with Onkyo they run way hot and you need a fan. mine is on top of a Bell-O rack that is open up all the way around and it still runs way hot.

 

[audion3wb]

audion, best thing you can do is buy a simple fan to blow across the top (I use a 4 dollar, 4 inch WallyWorld fan and it kept mine very cool to the touch. After my latest issues, I decided to upgrade that fan to one that sits directly on the receiver and blows air in and pulls hot air out (in conjunction with the wal mart fan). Seiously with Onkyo they run way hot and you need a fan. mine is on top of a Bell-O rack that is open up all the way around and it still runs way hot.

I actually plan on getting some fans installed in 2 of the shelves of my entertainment center to deal with the heat. My DVR box runs pretty hot also and being in there with other equipment I want to keep things as cool as possible(no the onkyo is not in the same shelf as the DVR box). Ill look into those suggestions though, thanks.

 

[jvgillow]

Happy 805 user with outboard amps here. In fact I only used the internal ones for a few minutes when I first got it to confirm that they did function.

 

[DonBattles]

Happy 805 user with outboard amps here. In fact I only used the internal ones for a few minutes when I first got it to confirm that they did function.

How long have you been running this set up? I ask because my guess would be that failure, if caused by use as a pre-amp, would not be right away. And id I may ask what are you running for amps?

 

[MatthewB.]

Hey Jeremy, how are things going, since I met you at Mazers GTG two years ago? I have used my 805 as a preamp almost a year to the day, when mine blew. I was surprised at how fast Onkyo is fixing mine. I was told 2-3 weeks, but they already will have it tested and fixed after one week. I have read over at AVS and other sites, that around the one year mark is when people are having problems, so hopefully yours will not suffer the same affiliction as mine.

 

[Shock]

Using a receiver as a pre-amp would not cause the receiver to die any faster than normal use, in fact it would most likely have the opposite effect. Since the heat inside the receiver would be considerably less than if it had to drive it's amplifiers as well.

Think about it, the amp only does audio and video processing and no amplification. Common sense would seem to imply that using a receiver like that would extend the life of it not shorten it.

I may be way off, but to me personally that's what I can gather from using a receiver as a pre-amp.

 

[MatthewB.]

Shock I thought the same thing, till I talked with the tech who claimed that sending the Onkyo a signal with no load was leading to a failure of the circuitry. Again this was a local Onkyo tech and not a regional one, so the guy could've been a crackpot. I agree with you, I think using it as a preamp would lengthen the lifespan, but i will not be certain as to the cause of my Onkyos demise till they call me and tell me exactly what part failed and why.

 

[jvgillow]

The 805 does seem to have its share of issues, I know a number of people on AVS were having problems with the front display dying after several months.

I've only had mine for a few months, but I bought a refurbished one so hopefully Onkyo already corrected any issues it may have had.

All my HT amps are Audiosource. Sold my set of 7 Amp One/A units that I had, currently have 3 Amp300 units and 2 refurbished Amp200s on order from J&R. Eventually another pair of Amp200s.

 

[WmAx]

Check out factory refurbed higher end Yamahas for pre-amp use; you won't need any fans blowing over them to keep them from frying. LOL. The RX-V1700 or RX-V1800 as an example. They also look very high class with the very simple front with polished thick aluminum panel and all controls hidden under a metal access door except for the volume control and source selector dial and other very basic function controls.

I use a RX-V2600 (same chassis and front panel and supposedly near identical pre-amp section as the RX-V1700, RX-V1800) fed to a Behringer DCX2496 that feeds to several high quality professional Yamaha amplifiers to drive fully active speakers. Of course, I use it just for stereo use, but they will work equally well for surround.

-Chris

 

[jostenmeat]

Using refurbed 805 as pre/pro. I believe it is the best bang for buck item that I bought out of a whole lot of items. I haven't really had to deal with CS, OTOH, so I suppose I should consider myself lucky?

Guys, you can change the impedance setting to 4 ohms, and you will note that the temp drops dramatically. Only consider if using as pre/pro, or if volumes are only ever moderate, with heat dissipation being a main priority. I believe only the max power available will be reduced, just as fmw once described this function to be like a governor on a car engine.

Instructions are to rerun XT, though there's plenty of argument if that's even necessary. I don't really care, because other reasons to rerun them have and will come frequently enough, in any case.

The 805 does seem to have its share of issues, I know a number of people on AVS were having problems with the front display dying after several months.

Yeah. The resistors are too weak. Also, IIRC, it's possible that the only reports of this was when display was left at bright. Even on low setting, it's nearly as bright as some other components on bright setting.

Here are detailed, photographed instructions on replacing the resistors.