pre-amp/processor/ Diy amp for pair of speakers

[rebith75]

this may be a noob Q but...I have built 4 dayton br-1's speakers and am going to get/build a sub. I want to build an amp. my question is about how to set the whole thing up.

I am interested in building 2 amps (1 for each set of speakers, is this possible), and I guess using an active sub amp for that.

So do I need some sort of audio processor to input my signal from my dac via rca and output to the amps/speakers. I have done tons of research and yet to find some solid info on this (maybe i dont know the lingo). would the best route be to get an old receiver and use the preouts (would this old receiver distort at all making the quality amp meaningless or is the signal not messed up at all?)

So what are some suggestions on an amp to hand a pair of speakers (dayton br-1's), and how to process the signal from my dac to the amps/speakers and the sub

sorry if this is a ridiculous post

[ThomasW]

You need a volume control, input selector and something to split the sound going to the different speakers. So yes a receiver is probably your cheapest bet. Get one that has pre-amp outputs for the mains if you want to use your own amps for them.

If you want to use your own amps for all the speakers, you'll need a pre-pro, those are generally speaking more expensive than a low buck receiver.

Technics/Panasonic has some low cost class D receivers that people are using for projects like yours.

[Brandon B]

You can get used Outlaw 950s pretty darn cheap now. ~$300-400. Decent analog bypass in stereo and multichannel.

BB

[---k---]

A decent receiver with pre-outs should be fine. Sure a more expensive one would be better. At line levels (since the amp will be doing the work), you shouldn't get any distortion from the receiver.

I wonder about your desire to have a two seperate amps, one for each speaker. This seems like a little overkill to me at this point. In terms of overall system balance, it would seem like a better idea to buy one quality amp and spend the left over money elsewhere.