Connecting an external amp to a MarantzSR5500

[Azgrower]

Okay, this being my first post..I guess I will introduce myself. I am getting into HT slowy but surely. I have been into car audio for the past 17 yrs (since high school), and have been into the DIY mobile audio scene the past 4 yrs, thanks to diymobileaudio<dot> com . With my obsession in DIY gear, its carrying over to HT. My front stage in my truck consists of Peerless Exclusive 7" mids and Seas tweeters run actively via the amp. I installed it myself and even built my own RCA interconnects.

Now, moving on, my problem is this. I have a Marantz SR5500 AV receiver running a set of Athena Technology Audition towers. I recently purchased a Behringer A500 external amp (partsexpress.com). I connected some RCA interconnects (some DIY cables I made tonight with Gepco cable, shielded on the source side) to the receiver's pre-amp outputs and ran them to the amp's inputs. I then connected the speaker cables to the amp's speaker outputs. However I can not get any sound out of the speakers. I referenced the manual to see if there were some setup options that I failed to follow, but I did not see any. I assume the pre-amp outputs are automatically detected. However I did notice the subwoofer pre-amp output DOES need to be activated. This will come in handy next week when my HT sub is delivered (Dayton Titanic MKIII 12" kit from partsexpress). The source is a Marantz cd player connected to the receiver via optical cable.

If anyone else is running a Marantz receiver with an external power amp, please chime in and let me know what I am doing incorrectly. Thanks in advance!

D

 

[Azgrower]

bueller? bueller? anyone bueller?

 

[jinjuku]

Trouble shooting 101: Swap out the cables for some manufactured cables in the preamp section for a start. Check power (I assume it's on).

 

[Azgrower]

I have done the following systematic checks:

1.Connected the CD player directly to the amp, then wired the speaks...everything works fine.

2. Re connected the receiver to the cd player (not using the external amp), then connected the speaks to the reciever, works fine.

3. checked my DIY cables with DMM, they check out okay and are working with the above scenarios

4. Used some Knu Koncepts RCAs and still NADA

5. Power is on....

So far everything is pointing in the direction of the preamp outputs...I cant figure it out yet...

 

[Seth=L]

I have done the following systematic checks:

1.Connected the CD player directly to the amp, then wired the speaks...everything works fine.

2. Re connected the receiver to the cd player (not using the external amp), then connected the speaks to the reciever, works fine.

3. checked my DIY cables with DMM, they check out okay and are working with the above scenarios

4. Used some Knu Koncepts RCAs and still NADA

5. Power is on....

So far everything is pointing in the direction of the preamp outputs...I cant figure it out yet...

Be sure you are connected to the preouts and not the 5.1 analog input. I made that mistake once.

 

[mtrycrafts]

I have done the following systematic checks:

1.Connected the CD player directly to the amp, then wired the speaks...everything works fine.

2. Re connected the receiver to the cd player (not using the external amp), then connected the speaks to the reciever, works fine.

3. checked my DIY cables with DMM, they check out okay and are working with the above scenarios

4. Used some Knu Koncepts RCAs and still NADA

5. Power is on....

So far everything is pointing in the direction of the preamp outputs...I cant figure it out yet...

And, to add to Seth, the right preouts in your application, left and right channels? I don't think the pre outs need a special turn on command.

 

[Azgrower]

And, to add to Seth, the right preouts in your application, left and right channels? I don't think the pre outs need a special turn on command.

on the receiver the outputs are listed as L and R, and on the amp inputs its listed as channel 1 and channel 2. I matched the Right speaker with R output/channel 1 respectively

 

[mtrycrafts]

on the receiver the outputs are listed as L and R, and on the amp inputs its listed as channel 1 and channel 2. I matched the Right speaker with R output/channel 1 respectively

Then, I am at a loss why it would not work. Broken internal wire at the output? But not both ch.
Need more detective work there

 

[Azgrower]

for some reason resetting the receiver back to factory presets did the job. I dont know why, but it did. I matched the volume control with the amp's gains and I am really loving the sound reproduction....well worth the $200 with free shipping from PE. Now I cant wait for the sub to be delivered....Thanks guys!