Lost in the land of home stereo hook-up's,..!!

[Amp Crazy]

I have been searching high,-&-low for some advice for hooking-up home stereo equpt,-&-so here I am,...!!!

I have a major delima on what will work,-&-how thing's hook together,-because I just recently just got a few more component's to add to my home stereo system,-&-I have never attempted to hook this much together before
ever,..!!!

My main problem is how do I run all six of my speaker's at the same time with the same control to all six speaker's at once,-or is this possible,-because I have one main surround sound amp,-two 2/channel amp's also,-then there are 3/preamp's,-&-along with this I have 2/preamp EQ's one of which is a spectrum analyzer type of EQ,-along with the usual component's too,...!!!

Such as 2,-Yamaha/AM/FM-tuner's one for local station's,-&-the other for a station that's locked on at 110 or so mile's away,-from an antenna that I created myself by making the bandwith narrower than normal,-&-also I changed the tuner frequency on the tunning finger's of the piano with a knife blade,-&-an awful lot of fine tunning+trial,-&-error,-&-with a little luck,-&-sweat involved too,-&-by doing this I channeled the bandwith finer so more powerful station's would not override,-or interfere my favorite FM/station,-but I am getting off the beaten track as to what I need help with,..!!

So let me try to simplify what I am trying to say,-how do I hook all of my compnent's together without causing any damage to any of the stereo equpt,-also with running six speaker's how can I control all of them at once,-&-if I do hook everything together how do I go about it,-&-also am I supposed to run all the speaker's off of one amp to be able to use the other amplifier's through the whole system with the main amp,-&-preamp's along with the EQ's,-&-if I do this am I supposed to jumper all the speaker connection's together such as amp to amp to amp all tied to each pos,-&-neg's of each amp in order for them to produce power to the six speaker's that will be used simultaniously,-that is if this is possible,...???

The reason why I have so many preamp's,-&-EQ's too,-is I like the versitility,-&-expandable frequency's that I get from all of these component's combined,-&-the clairity is awesome too,-so are the high's/mid's,-&-the reveberating low's from the bass,-&-so on,-I can tune everything to perfection with all of these component's,-&-no I am not crazy it really work's quite well when it is all hooked together properly,-in fact there are so many in between little frequency's that I didn't know I had before I set thing's up one day,-I thought we were having an earthquake,-because we have cement floor's,-&-you wouldn't think that bass could go so deep,-it was shaking the foundation at low level's,-&-until I relized what was causing this,-because you could only feel it,-&-hardly hear it I was quite amazed at the depth that was being produced,-&-the sound quality was also amazing,-but I did something stupid,-&-I thought that it still wasn't right because all of a sudden one side went out on the speaker's so I yanked the RCA's out not realizing that I had a couple of dead RCA's,-&-so since then I have replaced these with highend innterconnect's so I will hopefully not ever have this problem again,-KNOCK ON WOOD,..!!

But now I can't seem to get it back the way that I had it,-because I didn't mark any of the setting's as to which wire went where ect,..!!

So I have been going in circle's with trying to figure this out on my own,-But to no avail,-because all I am doing is getting dizzy from doing the same thing over,-&-over again,-WRONG,-I just can't seem to get it right,-&-now with another amp,-&-two preamp's,-&-one more EQ added just recently I am affraid to do this on my own for fear of causing severe damage to my stereo if I do something WRONG,-while hooking these component's together,...!!!

So can somebody out there help me to figure out what to do about this delima
but please explain how to in laymen's terminoligy so my head doesn't explode from too much imput,-I am dizzy enough,-also if you need the back pannel description to help me with hooking my stereo component's together PLEASE DON"T HESITATE TO ASK ME,...!!!

I really need some knowlageable help on this,-because it has become a nightmare that wont end until everything is setup correctly once,-&-for all finally,-then I can mark where everything is located so I don't ever have this sort of a problem AGAIN,...!!!

Thank you,..!!!

Sincerly,-lost in the land of the home stereo hook-up's,...!!!
Amp Crazy,-or David,...

 

[Resident Loser]

Now let me get this straight...

...you put de lime in de co-co-nut and drank 'em both up...I don't know if you can get there from here...

What EXACTLY are you aiming for? If you plan on playing the same program material at the same time, through all six speakers, it's sorta' simple...sorta...

Well, first thing is you must determine which component is to be your master "control" center...this will be your pre-amp...you will need to have a pair of "pre-out" jacks for each sub-"system", which will consist of a power amp and a pair of speakers...generally speaking, equalizers can be wired into each "loop"...you won't need additional pre-amps. Your input source, volume and tone adjustments will be done by this device; the output of every component "downstream" will be affected by the "master"...

Once you start adding additional pre-amps/receivers etc. things become more problematic...you will need "tape out" jacks(on the "master") to feed live-level inputs on the sub(systems)...you lose the "one touch" volume adjustments due to the fixed level of the "tape out" jacks...that's not to say what you want to do is impossible, there are ways of interwiring multiple components, depending on the type and number of input/output jacks required...in some cases cascading units will result in a redundancy of tone controls, which can provide too much boost of some frequencies, which can cause overexcursion and speaker damage at worst or simply distortion at least...adding EQs just exacerbates the situation...

As an aside re: equalizers...I earlier used the word "generally" because it's not exactly a given. Some units may have input voltage limits and/or impedance issues...Most are designed to be put into "tape monitior" or processor loops, others are happy anywhwere in the signal path...

Some things may be resolved with "Y" connectors, however they too can cause mismatches...BUT UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES should you tie speaker connectors together...not to confuse my previous statement, you can "biamp" loudspeakers designed for such a wiring scheme, but that's a whole 'nother enchilada...

Basically, it's sources>pre-amp/control center>equalizers>power amps>loudspeakers...you really need to familiarize yourself with your component's connectivity and to understand what each term actually means...in some cases even certain specs are required reading...

jimHJJ(...good luck...)

 

[Resident Loser]

Ok, I did some research...

...in answer to your PM...which you can follow up on at the Yamaha website...access customer support and click on manaual downloads and follow the prompts...

Anyway, the DSP-E1000(which I found at the UK site BTW-boy I never learn!!!) is your main amp? According to the info I found, it is a processor that has NO amp for the front channels, but does have an 80W center(or centre, if you prefer) and 25W effects channels...

Your C-40 is a typical stereo pre-amp with standard inputs and facilities for two tape decks and a single pair of "pre-out" jacks...

The C-4 has three(count 'em) "phono" inputs: two moving magnet and a third for moving coil-type pick-ups, tuner tape1 and tape 2 AND two "pre-out"s...getting more flexible...

The C-70, cant find any info, found a C-70 classical guitar, an AVC-70 pre-amp and a C-70 tuner/pre-amp...I've found it mentioned, but no real info...

But I digress, your MX 600U seems to be a class "A" amp, 135W into 8ohms...160W into 6ohms...190 into 4ohms...I'd use it for your fronts(your ESS), the Carver is only(ONLY!!!) 100wpc, but possibly a class "D" Switching amp...I'd use it for the second pair of loudspeakers...

The ADC EQ is simply a EQ w/LEDs...could be wired between a pre- and a power amp OR into a Tape Mon loop. If used in the latter manner, you must be sure the tape fuction is always active, the button pressed, switch switched, etc.

Wthout knowing too much about the DSP unit or the C-70, the only advice I can give is check out the Yamaha site...you can download PDFs and wiring diagrams which may help you to understand a bit more...but again it's:

Source outputs into pre-amp inputs, processors and EQs into tape loops or between pre-amp outputs and amplifier inputs, the from amplifier outputs to speakers...

As a simple example, the C-4 has two pairs of outputs named "pre-out"...sooo, from "pre-out1" to the input of the Yammie MX 600 to the ESS and from "pre-out2" to the Carver's inputs to your other pair of full-range loudspeakers...not the subs, and BTW are they actually sub's with proper crossovers to split the frequencies as required, or just som DIY curiosities...there are some things you absolutely need to know...and one of the things is, you really have too many pre-amps, they aren't required AND they aren't going to help things along, just confuse things...

jimHJJ(...it ain't rocket science, basic knowlege and common sense works every time...)

 

[Resident Loser]

Again, in response to your PM...

...you are in a "Catch-22" kind of position...

Audio inputs can be VERY sensitive to overload...they need inputs in the realm of millivolts(thousandths of a volt), perhaps 150mv. This number would include outputs from carts/TTs, tuners, tape decks, CDPs, basically audio sources...once we get into amplification provided by even pre-amps, you have raised the voltage to the one to two volt range; this is well above that millivolt level by a factor of ten times or better. Overdriving the inputs is not good. At the very least, distortion enters the picture...at worst, circuit damage is quite likely.

Now...connecting the DSP's(OR ANY OTHER PRE-AMP's) pre-outs to another component's(OTHER THAN A POWER AMPLIFIER) inputs falls into the previously mentioned territory...could lead to, zzzt...poof...green smoke and the odor of ozone...

You CAN take a "tape out" from one unit and feed it to an "auxl" or other line-level iput(EXCEPT FOR "PHONO IN") on another, but it has been in my experience(save for some rare components) that the "tape out" level is of a fixed output voltage; volume AND tone controls/effects and the like are non-operational...it's pretty much industry SOP...so in effect, your first component becomes an expensive switch-box with some added and fixed amplification. This approach may suit you however...you can plug some of your sources(or even all, if there are enough inputs for them) into one of your pre-amps, connect it's "tape out"s to the auxl/line of the the DSP(assuming it has such), and connect other sources directly to the E1000...you can connect the DSP-E1000 main "pre-amp"out to the Yamaha power amp and loudspeakers and the "surround/effects" output(again, the E1000) to your Carver and it's speakers...it may not be exactly what you want, but...Reminder: in this scenario the only volume/tone/effects controls that will work will be on the E1000. As I suggested earlier, you can send chosen sources via "tape out" jacks to other pre-amps to feed power amps/speakers...the potential for criss-crossing inputs/outputs is only limited to the number of input and outputs on the various components involved...again, each pre-amp will need to be adjusted individually however.

If you are still looking for a "one touch" kinda' deal, it is possible, after careful analysis of the various output levels and input tolerances, to arrive at a situation where connecting a "pre-amp out" from one component to an "auxl" or "line" input of another(possibly more than one using Y-connectors)) may result in a satisfactory situation...this IMO, would require investigating and understanding the specs PRIOR to purchase, picking and choosing the various parts based on that premise...but there still would be no real guarantees...Manufacturers DO change the specs without prior notice and print disclaimers saying just that. Newer gear, in fact, has facilities such as multiple zones which can do some of the things you want to do, unfortunately, simply having a collection of gear, and hoping to cobble it all together just is not the way to do it.

You could use Y-connectors from your sources to feed multiple pre-amps/processors...BUUUT...here's where we run into the possibility of input/output mis-matches, backfeeds, lord-knows-what...which at the very least may result in not the highest of fi and again, at the worst, potential for damage...

There ARE ways to do lots of things...connectivity-wise...however, such things require dividing networks, direct-injection boxes, perhaps custom switchers...in a nutshell: professional(read:EXPENSIVE) expertise in the field of the unorthodox...far more than I can supply.

jimHJJ(...that's about all I can suggest...)