Using the RDC-7 with the Theta Dreadnaught - question?

[Jon SS]

Since the Dreadnaught power amp has two 12v remote triggers one for surround and one for stereo, can the RDC-7 be set up to send the appropriate signal to the power amp to distinguish between listening to stereo and surround? Therefore only two amps would be switched on and used when listening to stereo.

Does anybody know if this is possible and how to do this?

Thanks

[Burke Strickland]

Jon --

The RDC-7 has two 12 volt triggers (designated A & B) each or both of which may be assigned to be activated with each input source. I'm guessing that since the Dreadnaught has two 12 volt inputs, you could assign the RDC-7's A trigger for stereo and the B for surround and connect them to the appropriate Dreadnaught terminals. Then assign A or B to be associated with the RDC-7's inputs depending on whether they are stereo or surround sources. Note that each operates at 100 mA.

12V TRIGGER
This is a 12-volt output terminal so that the RDC-7 can
control other external devices. For other devices that
have an input terminal of the same kind, you can connect
it to this terminal with 1/8-inch mini-jack cable so
that its power is turned on when you press an input
source button. The RDC-7 is equipped with two 12-volt
trigger terminals and each supplies a current of 100
mA. When you connect to either of these terminals,
make the appropriate settings in the OSD menu.The initial
settings are “A: On” and “B: Off,” so if you are only
connecting to A, these settings will not need to be
changed.

b. 12V Trigger
Here you can set the condition of the 12V TRIGGER terminals
for each input source.
Off:Select to have no output from either terminal A or B.
A: Select to have output from terminal A only.
B: Select to have output from terminal B only. With terminal
B, to avoid problems that may occur if the external
device is turned on simultaneously, the output
is delayed by 2 seconds.
A+B: Select to have output from both terminals A and B.

Good luck!

Burke

PS -- anyone who has actually tried this with a Theta Dreadnaught or equipment with similar separate 12 volt terminals for stereo vs. surround please feel free to jump in here and share your experience with us.

[Jon SS]

Burke,

Thanks for the reply. The only problem I think with that is if you use one source (DVD player) to play both DVDs in surround and CDs in stereo. Can the RDC-7 be set up to distinguish the output from the same source.

Thanks

[Burke Strickland]

In short, yes, you can use the same source connection for more than one named "input", with each "input assigned different playback modes and triggers.

You would have to use two separate "inputs" to be able to use the triggers independently, However, since each "input" can be assigned to any of the digital input connections, you can assign the same digital audio feed (from your DVD player) to "CD" and to "DVD" (using, say "COAX3" or "OPT1") and then set the "stereo" 12 volt trigger for the CD "input" and the surround 12 volt trigger for the DVD "input".

The part about assigning the same digital input to more than one named "input" is not speculation; I am doing that. I have a Sony DVP-S7000 which I am using as my single-play CD deck which I play in stereo mode using one named "input" and also have it set up to play DVDs in surround mode using a different named "input". But of course I only have one digital audio cable connected between the player and the RDC-7 (happens to be hooked up to COAX2, but I could use any of them that wasn't already connected to something else). :>) I have it assigned to both CD and a renamed Video input as the digital input for those sources. (I'm using their default "input" named DVD for a DVD changer.)

Hope that helps.

Burke

[Jon SS]

Thanks Burke. That answer was perfect, I was thinking along similar lines but thought you need 2 different digital cables which would be a complete waste.

Once again, many thanks for the help.