How do I hook up a reciever as a pre amp?

[SUGENEREIS]

I am trying to use a sony str da7es as a pre amp and a denon 3805 as the amp. I thought it would be as simple as connecting the pre outs from the sony to the ext in onthe denon but I get no sound. I had the speakers hooked up to the denon while all the sources went into the sony. Any advise would be helpfull.

 

[mulester7]

I am trying to use a sony str da7es as a pre amp and a denon 3805 as the amp. I thought it would be as simple as connecting the pre outs from the sony to the ext in on the denon but I get no sound. I had the speakers hooked up to the denon while all the sources went into the sony. Any advise would be helpfull.

.....SUGENEREIS, no one has taken a stab at your question yet, so I will do so based on experience with receivers even though the ones I owned were not surround receivers.....first....do you have the gains/volume knobs up on BOTH units?....second....make sure you have the correct input chosen on BOTH receivers....third....run a source to the Denon to make sure the Denon is fully functional....and....you could run a speaker or two off the Sony and make sure it is fully functional with a source to the Sony....fourth....I'm not familiar with an "in" named "ext"....try another "in" like for a CD player or any input except "phono", which is usually the only low impedence input, and you MUST use a high impedence input on the Denon with it receiving the L&R signals from an outside pre-amp.....

.....there is nothing wrong with inputting one pre-amp to another, but I must ask, are the pre-amp and processor sections of the Denon not good enough for you to only use the Denon?.....the Denon 3805 is heralded at this site, and I'm not familiar with your Sony unit at all....are you sure the Sony unit has ANY section that will outperform the Denon's sections?....I'm most curious why you desire to have things hooked up as you do....and welcome to Audioholics.com, the best audio and video watering hole/oasis around......

 

[SUGENEREIS]

Thank You For Your Crack At My Problem. The Reason I Am Trying To Do This Is Because The Denon Has A Much Better Fuller Sound For Music While The Sony Has A Much Cleaner Open Sound Processing Movies. On Movies The Denon Is Unclear Mud Which Is Especially Noticeable Through My B&w's. I Am Hoping That If I Use The Sony As A Processor And The Denon As The Amplification I Will End Up With The Best Of Both Worlds. At Least If I Can Narrow Down The Problem Then I May Just Sell One And Buy An Amp For The Other. I Know The Denon Is Well Recieved All Over The Net But This Is The Outcome Of A Direct Back To Back Comparison All Things Being Equal Such As Set Up Ect....
I Am Going To Try Some Of Your Suggestions And Will Post The Outcome.

 

[MDS]

I hate to state the obvious, but sometimes the simple things get overlooked. Did you select the 'ext in' on the Denon?

 

[mulester7]

Thank You For Your Crack At My Problem. The Reason I Am Trying To Do This Is Because The Denon Has A Much Better Fuller Sound For Music While The Sony Has A Much Cleaner Open Sound Processing Movies. On Movies The Denon Is Unclear Mud Which Is Especially Noticeable Through My B&w's. I Am Hoping That If I Use The Sony As A Processor And The Denon As The Amplification I Will End Up With The Best Of Both Worlds. At Least If I Can Narrow Down The Problem Then I May Just Sell One And Buy An Amp For The Other. I Know The Denon Is Well Recieved All Over The Net But This Is The Outcome Of A Direct Back To Back Comparison All Things Being Equal Such As Set Up Ect....
I Am Going To Try Some Of Your Suggestions And Will Post The Outcome.

.....ok, SUGENEREIS, I am anxious to hear back from you....maybe someone who knows surround receivers better than I, which would be about everyone here, will post some suggestions in the meantime, so be sure and check back later tonight......

 

[mulester7]

I hate to state the obvious, but sometimes the simple things get overlooked. Did you select the 'ext in' on the Denon?

.....MDS, does the "ext" input of the Denon being used mean only the amp sections of the Denon will be in play?......

 

[MDS]

It should. That is the multi-channel input that you would use for DVD-A/SACD so I don't see why it wouldn't work if you send it 6 channels from another preamp.

 

[j_garcia]

Really, what you are trying to do makes little sense (to me anyway). The amps in the Sony should be quite adequate (4ES tested right at it's rated power with all channels driven), and you aren't going to gain anything by using a similarly powered receiver's amps.

 

[SUGENEREIS]

Ok here is the scoop. As mds stated sometimes it is the obvious. Although I did hit the "ext it" on the denon I didn't think to turn up the volume @##$$. Ok when you are all done laughing an interesting thing happened. By using the sony as a pre amp and the denon's amps via ext in I ended up with the positive signature from each. I got the warmth/depth of the denon's amps for music and the clarity/ openess of the movie processing from the sony. What took me so long was all the combinations that are possible having two recievers. Interestingly enough as usual with these experiments as I went back and fourth I managed to tweek the denon via auto set up mic to match the sony for movies almost identically which is easier to work with then two recievers so this was a worthwile endevor.
To answer j garcias question you are right I wasn't looking for more power as the sony is more then adequate it actually is far more powerfull then the denon but it sounds thin, tinny, and tiring with music. You can't imagine the difference in sound quality the denon amps have over the sony which is why I was trying to get the best from both.

 

[j_garcia]

If you're trying to get the best, I'd have spent that cash on a solid AMP that will have more real world output than the Denon and most likely the Sony in the same price class, not another receiver. I have to say, I''ve never heard anyone say Denon was a "warm" sounding brand.

There are also a ton of options on the Sony. It took me quite some time to configure my friend's 3ES to get it to sound just right, because there are so many options it's actually difficult to set up.

 

[mulester7]

Ok here is the scoop. As mds stated sometimes it is the obvious. Although I did hit the "ext it" on the denon I didn't think to turn up the volume @##$$. Ok when you are all done laughing an interesting thing happened. By using the sony as a pre amp and the denon's amps via ext in I ended up with the positive signature from each. I got the warmth/depth of the denon's amps for music and the clarity/ openess of the movie processing from the sony. What took me so long was all the combinations that are possible having two recievers. Interestingly enough as usual with these experiments as I went back and fourth I managed to tweek the denon via auto set up mic to match the sony for movies almost identically which is easier to work with then two recievers so this was a worthwile endevor.
To answer j garcias question you are right I wasn't looking for more power as the sony is more then adequate it actually is far more powerfull then the denon but it sounds thin, tinny, and tiring with music. You can't imagine the difference in sound quality the denon amps have over the sony which is why I was trying to get the best from both.

.....SUGENEREIS, you could still add a slave amp for your front mains taking the L&R signals from the pre-outs of the Denon....very good job of experimentation and checking out all possibilities.....