suds1280

I finally pulled the trigger on purchasing an A52, and I wanted to ask a question, as I could not find the answer in the owner's manual. I wanted to see if I could have both RCA and XLR inputs connected on the A52. I know that there is a selector switch on the A52 as to what inputs to use, but will having both sets of inputs plugged in hurt the unit, sonically and/or mechanically? The reason why I want to do this is because I am going to be using the XLR outs of my HT preamp (Either a C2, AVM20, or Ref 50) to go to the A52, while I am looking to have the 5 RCA outs of my TA-P9000ES 5ch analog preamp going into the RCA ins of the A52, for the purest sonic clarity and straightest sonic path. Also, it helps clear up some of the clutter from behind the HT Pre. I have heard that having both sets of inputs on an amp connected might overload the input circuitry by having more than one input signal being fed to each channel, but by having the XLR/RCA switch on the A52, shouldn't the amp switch off the input that is not selected? I am never going to have both inputs running at the same time, as I will never have hi-res music and movies going at the same time. Or is having both inputs hooked up just a bad idea altogether? Thanks for the opinions and info

Scarp

Hi,

I do not think its a good idea to do this. Even if you switch to balanced, there will still be sound amplified from the unbalanced cables. When I was still running unbalanced, I had accidently switched to balanced with the switch and sound was still coming in, although the volume was a lot lower.

Also another experience was when testing balanced and unbalanced cables. I left a few balanced cables and also connected two unbalanced ones (not at the same channels though). Then switched to unbalanced with the selection switch. The result after turning on the amp was a lot of noise!

So, I am very much in doubt the designers had in mind that you could use both sets of inputs at the same time, or even mixed.

For what are you still using your sony? If you get a C2 then you will get a very good multichannel analogue input, which is a direct passthrough (with volume control). Same for the other brands you mentioned btw.