Forget Creeping, I kinda fell.... Now what to do?

[brac]

Thanks for all the help so far,
I had almost decided to put any upgrade on hold but I had put what I thought was a low bid on a Sherwood 7 channel Amp. I think I did verywell none the less. So I will have an A-965. of course I still have nothing with pre outs. I see Rotel RSP-980's go very cheap, but have the feeling it's not what I need? I would really like a small screen in my rack, like the RSP 1098, for seeing my signal without the PJ. But that item is a bit much. Anything out there with that feature at less money? I was gonna wait but we watched Zathura last night and to volume needed to be at 72 (out of 90) to really get into the movie. I may be wrong but I've always thought it better not to push your equip. so hard. Also I am not sure my sound is just right, my rear surrounds are ksp-s6 klipsch, but I don't seem to get as much sound out of them as I would expect. Is there a movie that will really show off my 5.1....
I do really need to get on the ball and find a klf-c7 my center channel is a ksf-c5, and feels weak and just a bit off, compared to the rest of the set up.

So the other question is when the amp shows up should I use my receiver for just the fronts, which ups its rating to 120w x 2 and lowers the THD. Then run the rear and center from the pre-outs into the amp?? If I do this will there be trouble matching volume between them???

And of corse my wife will complain if the amp just sits sround but I guess if I power it up it will have an on lite.. to her it would then be working...

Thanks
Brac

[P-Dub]

I think this might be more suited to the Home Theater section. There are a lot of issues that you have covered in your post.

I don't know too much about pre-amps with monitors, so I'm intersted to see what other products are available.

Depending on your receiver, the volume is just an indicator. Do you find you have to have the volume at that level for any other movie? I've had a couple of Sony receivers that I had to move the volume to a pretty high level as compared to my current Yamaha.

What I would say is you should look to calibrate your system using Video Essecials or Avia. This will balance your system and you will be able to tell if your rear surrounds should be higher or lower. If after calibration, you want your rears to be more active, then you can change the settings later to your own personal preference.

With your other speakers, again the calibration disc will help, when you put through the test tones, once you set the volume constant, you will be able to hear the sound change from one speaker to the next. If you have all matching speakers, the test tone will remain the same, if your speakers aren't matched, you will hear a slight difference.

I'm a bit confused, you said you didn't have anything with pre-outs, then later you ask if you could run the rear and center from the pre-outs into the amp?

I would run the front main and center from the amp and the rears from the rec/pre-amp. I don't think there would be trouble matching volume, but I have not tried this type of setup.

On you last point, if your amp has a nice little light it will work. I've had a 5 channel amp at the bottom of my rack for a long time.

[brac]

The Jvc rx900 that i'm using has pre-outs only for center and rear.. not for the front channel.

brac

[wkhanna]

I see Rotel RSP-980's go very cheap, but have the feeling it's not what I need?

No, that is probably is not what you want, as they don't decode many of the later formats. But that is up to you. I would advise you study the owner’s manuals very carefully within Rotel's web site. There is an abundance of info and knowledge to be learned by doing so. You need to look closely at the different styles of I/O's, ( Audio includes: RCA, coax, optical, and the dreaded DB-25, ect. And for Video I/O's: composite, S-video and component). Video is dependent on the TV or monitor your using. You could run your DVD video signal directly to your TV, but one of the features of a pre/pro is to run the video signal through it and then to your TV. This lets you control the TV’s video input using the remote that runs your pre/pro.

I may be wrong but I've always thought it better not to push your equip. so hard.

The easiest and fastest way to damage a speaker is by feeding it with an underpowered amp at the upper range of the amp's maximum output. It is in this range where the amps signal begins to distort, and this distortion will damage your speakers long before playing them at high volume on an amp that is only using say 60% of its available power.

I’ve heard it described this way: think of the amp as a water faucet, and the signal going from it to your speakers as the water coming out of that faucet. The maximum amount of water you can get is largely determined by the available water pressure in the system and the diameter of the pipes. This would be equivalent to your amps power rating. When you turn the faucet on just a little, you get a trickle of water, or low volume from your speaker. Open the faucet some more and the water runs in a fairly even and solid stream, hence your speakers are getting a nice steady ‘stream’ of power and everything starts sounding pretty good. Now, crack the faucet wide open. The steady stream of water is gone and instead, it is spraying out randomly all over the place at high velocity and is very chaotic in its dynamic nature. This is similar to running your amp at or near its limit, and the distorted signal, while sounding loud, is also choked full of distortion. Your speakers don’t like all this distortion and will let you know by either burning out the coil in the tweeter or separating the cone of the woofer from its outer edge. AKA “Dude!!! Are you sure its supposed to sound like that!!!!”

So the other question is when the amp shows up should I use my receiver for just the fronts, which ups its rating to 120w x 2 and lowers the THD. Then run the rear and center from the pre-outs into the amp?? If I do this will there be trouble matching volume between them???

If I remember correctly form your earlier post, your receiver has no pre-outs for the front mains, but does for the rears and center. Then yes, you can probably use three channels of the newly acquired amp to run these speakers. Some amps have gain adjustments for each channel that may be located on the back panel or sometimes on the front. I am not familiar with the one you just got. If it does not, then I’m not sure how you can balance the volume unless your receiver has that feature built into to.

And of corse my wife will complain if the amp just sits sround but I guess if I power it up it will have an on lite.. to her it would then be working...

Like Paul Wu said, just plug it in!

[gd]

I would really like a small screen in my rack, like the RSP 1098, for seeing my signal without the PJ... Anything out there with that feature at less money?

No... I think ATI makes one for twice the price of the 1098... why not find a cheap LCD monitor to fit in the rack http://makeashorterlink.com/?Q2D4517BC ... or get a $4-500 13-15" monitor and place it near your seating... and pick your prepro for it's audio capabilities (or whatever other features you like)... I wouldn't base my prepro choice on whether it had a built-in monitor.

Also I am not sure my sound is just right, my rear surrounds are ksp-s6 klipsch, but I don't seem to get as much sound out of them

Do a recalibration of your system, use an SPL meter (rat shack)... you need to do this anyway, having added a new amp.

should I use my receiver for just the fronts, which ups its rating to 120w x 2 and lowers the THD. Then run the rear and center from the pre-outs into the amp?? If I do this will there be trouble matching volume between them???

That's your only option... kinda bass-ackward, as most users would add amplification to the fronts, where most of the signal is... but might as well hook it up anyway, if only to test your new amp... all the more reason to recalibrate thoroughly... volume matching shouldn't be too problematic, but there will likely be at least a little sonic mismatch between the fronts and everything else, until you get a fully-functional prepro.

[wkhanna]

... and pick your prepro for it's audio capabilities (or whatever other features you like)...

Sage advise.

And congrats on your Amp purchase!