EQ

[AZpbaddict]

I would like to hook up an old graphic equalizer to my new AV receiver. I don’t need it to enhance the sound. But I just wanna be able to see the graphic part. Is there a way to do that without hurting my receiver and just been able to see the lights. I’m a visual person and that’s what would like to look at while I listen to music and or watch movies

 

[Paul McNeil]

Well, I think that conventionally, one places a graphic equalizer between the preamplifier and the amplifier. This won't work for you. But maybe if your receiver has 'low level' left and right outputs, you could see the spectrum on your graphic display, though it would not affect the sound reproduction in any way.

 

[lovinthehd]

Modern avrs aren't too conducive to connecting such gear (and often have one built-in now). If you just want a display of lights, think there are some out there. My old 2ch graphic eq had lights but just to indicate where the sliders were set....do you want that kind of lights or some sort of light show that follows frequency/intensity or ?

 

[WaynePflughaupt]

You will need an AVR that has two fully independent HDMI outputs - one to connect between your AVR and TV. For the second HDMI output (typically for Zone 2 or similar), connect it to an HDMI audio extractor. It will have RCA stereo outputs that you can connect to your equalizer in order to get the display. The display is all this arrangement will get – the EQ will not affect any audio programming.

In my experience, two fully discrete and independent HDMI outs are required. My previous AVR had two HDMI outputs that were not discrete. Connecting the extractor to one of them would blow out the DD 5.1 capability, leaving me with only the old-school Dolby Pro Logic matrixed surround sound. YMMV.

Regards,
Wayne A. Pflughaupt

 

[Eppie]

I would like to hook up an old graphic equalizer to my new AV receiver. I don’t need it to enhance the sound. But I just wanna be able to see the graphic part. Is there a way to do that without hurting my receiver and just been able to see the lights. I’m a visual person and that’s what would like to look at while I listen to music and or watch movies

It would have been helpful to post the make and model number of your AVR. Then we could look at the connections and tell you if and how to do it. You need either line level outputs or a device to convert HDMI to analogue audio. If the AVR has pre-amp outputs, you could try the main L+R channel pre-out but note that most of the dialogue in movies goes to the center channel. This would work ok for music. If your AVR has two HDMI outputs (some have a main HDMI out and a second monitor out) you could get an HDMI audio extractor and feed that to the EQ.

 

[JerryLove]

I would like to hook up an old graphic equalizer to my new AV receiver. I don’t need it to enhance the sound. But I just wanna be able to see the graphic part. Is there a way to do that without hurting my receiver and just been able to see the lights. I’m a visual person and that’s what would like to look at while I listen to music and or watch movies

Attach the pre-amp out to the EQ in (assuming you are not using it for some other purpose).
Or, if there's a tape or monitor out, you can attach that and make sure you have monitoring on.

Knowing the receiver and EQ (and what plugs you are already using) would help.

 

[WaynePflughaupt]

An analog Zone 2 output could be used, as long as your AVR converts digital inputs to analog. That feature was only seen on upper-tier AVRs in years past; not sure how things are now with regards to this.

Regards,
Wayne A. Pflughaupt