AVRX 4000 Front Pre-out - No sound

[Alex2017]

Hello,

I have a rather simple question. I have a Denon AVRX4000 and I recently just received a Rotel RMB 1075 amp. I connected the Front Pre-Out of the AVRX4000 to the Rotel amp, connected the speakers to the amp and expected to hear sound. All I'm hearing is silence. What am I doing wrong?

Thanks,
Alex

 

[lovinthehd]

You try any of the other pre-outs other than Right or Lefts? IIRC preouts should be live full time. Might also want to double check your amp assign settings....

 

[Blue Dude]

The preouts should be live regardless of the Denon amp assign settings. Try another source, like a DVD player, and make sure the problem isn't with your Rotel amp or connections. Careful, because it'll be really loud! Once you've verified your connections and new amp are good, rerun Denon setup and Audyssey.

 

[lovinthehd]

Second thought, you don't literally mean the rca jacks on the front of the unit, you are referring to the L/R "front" pre-outs on the back panel, yes? Does this avr have multi-ch inputs? Sometimes people try and use those....

 

[KEW]

BlueDude's suggestion is good, but I would go one step further and use a portable player or laptop which has a volume control. I don't believe the Rotel has volume controls and will be wide open, so use some crap for speakers, just in case!

 

[KEW]

Might also want to double check your amp assign settings....

... and a factory reset is always worth trying.

 

[KEW]

I'm reaching here, but it may be possible that your pre-outs are assigned to another Zone which has the volume down. Don't know if it could work that way or not, but these AVR's are wiley bastards!

 

[Alex2017]

Thanks so much guys! It turns out it was the +12V trigger on the Rotel RMB 1075 amplifier. The +12V trigger was set to "ON", and I didn't connect the trigger wire to the Denon just yet. After switching the trigger to OFF, sound came out right away. Thanks again for all the help!!

 

[PENG]

Just curious, did you hear a difference? The 1075 didn't tested (S&V magazine) any better in power output than any recent mid range Denon AVR. It is probably best to use it only for the front 3 channel where it counts most so the power supply can provide more reserve to those 3 channel. The Denon can deal with the remaining channels easily.

 

[Alex2017]

The systems I tested were:
1) Denon AVRX-4000 with Polk RTIA9 speakers (biamped)
2) Denon AVRX-4000 preout to Rotel RMB-1075 with Energy Connoisseur C-9 speakers

One system will stay at my main residence, the other at the cottage. So I didn't really get to test the difference between using the RMB-1075 vs AVRX-4000 amps, I wasn't really interested in this, since I also believe the difference in amps will be negligible.

 

[PENG]

The systems I tested were:
1) Denon AVRX-4000 with Polk RTIA9 speakers (biamped)
2) Denon AVRX-4000 preout to Rotel RMB-1075 with Energy Connoisseur C-9 speakers

One system will stay at my main residence, the other at the cottage. So I didn't really get to test the difference between using the RMB-1075 vs AVRX-4000 amps, I wasn't really interested in this, since I also believe the difference in amps will be negligible.

Thanks for the additional information. My suggestion to use the 1075 only for the front 3 speakers still stands. There is no point wasting the internal amps of the X4000. It is better to "waste" the 2 internal amps in the 1075 because then you will get something in return, that is, more headroom for the front channels. Its all in theory/math though, in practical sense it probably won't make audible difference most of the time.

 

[Alex2017]

Thanks! That's definitely what I would do if I were keeping the Rotel amp at home. But the two systems I'm setting up will be:
Main Residence: Denon AVRX-4000 with Polk RTIA9 speakers (biamped) and CSIA6
Cottage: Rotel RSP 1098 with RMB 1075 with Energy C9 speakers and Energy C-C3

I hope I made the right choice. I found the Rotel and Energy combination extremely revealing and brighter, with a much better soundstage. But I'm afraid it will be too fatiguing over time since I listen to music constantly at home. At the cottage it will be nice to get the immediate boost and wow-factor from the system when I visit. I tested the system with Flacs, HD music and SACDs, but I also did a quick spotify test, since sometimes I do use it when I want to listen to something immediately and I don't have it handy (instant gratification). In spotify I listened to "Beatles - Come Together" --- It sounded fantastic on the Rotel combination, I almost decided to keep that system home. Then I just quickly checked "Pink Floyd - Time"... it sounded so awful on the Rotel combination, the system was so revealing... I never heard Pink Floyd sound so bad. On the Polk it sounded more laid back, darker... you couldn't tell how awful the spotify quality was. This was actually a major determining factor for me.

 

[PENG]

Thanks! That's definitely what I would do if I were keeping the Rotel amp at home. But the two systems I'm setting up will be:
Main Residence: Denon AVRX-4000 with Polk RTIA9 speakers (biamped) and CSIA6
Cottage: Rotel RSP 1098 with RMB 1075 with Energy C9 speakers and Energy C-C3

I hope I made the right choice. I found the Rotel and Energy combination extremely revealing and brighter, with a much better soundstage. But I'm afraid it will be too fatiguing over time since I listen to music constantly at home. At the cottage it will be nice to get the immediate boost and wow-factor from the system when I visit. I tested the system with Flacs, HD music and SACDs, but I also did a quick spotify test, since sometimes I do use it when I want to listen to something immediately and I don't have it handy (instant gratification). In spotify I listened to "Beatles - Come Together" --- It sounded fantastic on the Rotel combination, I almost decided to keep that system home. Then I just quickly checked "Pink Floyd - Time"... it sounded so awful on the Rotel combination, the system was so revealing... I never heard Pink Floyd sound so bad. On the Polk it sounded more laid back, darker... you couldn't tell how awful the spotify quality was. This was actually a major determining factor for me.

The RTIA9 may do better in bass and dynamics if you pair them with very powerful amplifiers, though at low listening level in small to medium sized room that should not be a factor.

The C9s are going to sound better regardless of which amp you use, they are just much better speakers in high fidelity sense. Replace the RTI with better speakers, then either will be great for both HT and music.

 

[Alex2017]

I do have a small to medium room and usually my listening levels don't go tooo high, although sometimes...

I'm a bit torn, I do love the sound of the C9 system, especially the soundstage - but only in perfectly ideal situations. If a recording is poorly done, low quality, or just very flat... it can sound quite awful on the revealing C9 system! On the other hand, the RTI speakers have absolutely zero soundstage - especially when compared to the C9s, but all recordings sound generally ok across the board since the speakers are more laid back - although there's certainly no wow factor with this system. I've actually heard friends say "wow" and looked shocked when they listened to some recordings on the C9s... never happened on the RTI system. I guess I'll keep thinking it over for a while. I also need to get my Dark Side of the Moon SACD back from a friend to give the C9 system a fair shot at Floyd.

 

[PENG]

I do have a small to medium room and usually my listening levels don't go tooo high, although sometimes...

I'm a bit torn, I do love the sound of the C9 system, especially the soundstage - but only in perfectly ideal situations. If a recording is poorly done, low quality, or just very flat... it can sound quite awful on the revealing C9 system! On the other hand, the RTI speakers have absolutely zero soundstage - especially when compared to the C9s, but all recordings sound generally ok across the board since the speakers are more laid back - although there's certainly no wow factor with this system. I've actually heard friends say "wow" and looked shocked when they listened to some recordings on the C9s... never happened on the RTI system. I guess I'll keep thinking it over for a while. I also need to get my Dark Side of the Moon SACD back from a friend to give the C9 system a fair shot at Floyd.

Have you read the thread on high quality recordings? If I remember right we must have a hundred or more titles on that list already, and everyone of them had had the vote for good sound quality by at least one or more AH forum members. Hifi sound starts with the source, if the speakers sounds good with good quality source media and bad with the bad ones, they are just being relatively accurate in translating electrical signals to sound.