Pre Amp - Pre Out Confusion

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I have a Pioneer VSX-322 receiver. As It does not have a Phono input I have connected my turntable to a Pre Amp and then to a spare input on the receiver. That works fine.
The Sub Woofer output on the receiver is labelled Pre Out - does that mean I have to use another Pre Amp to connect to the Sub - or does that only apply if the Sub is ' passive' ?
The Surround Back outputs are also labelled Pre Out and the manual shows that these need to be connected to an amplifier and then to the speakers. Is that another piece of equipment I need to buy?
 
Solution
It seems I was mistaken, I didn't notice the speaker terminals only allow for 5.1 out of that amp, you are right, you need a separate amplifier for the remaining 2 channels. You can get something like this if you want the 7.1:

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/rocketfish-universal-wireless-rear-speaker-kit-black/8275528.p?id=1171058476489&skuId=8275528&ref=06&loc=01&ci_src=14110944&ci_sku=8275528&extensionType={adtype}:{network}&s_kwcid=PTC!pla!{keyword}!{matchtype}!{adwords_producttargetid}!{network}!{ifmobile:M}!{creative}&kpid=8275528&k_clickid=3bcc27d4-2e0c-e0a8-3a3c-0000372dd181&gclid=CN337oj027wCFc5afgodhiUAEw

Re: the subwoofer, I think it has 2 inputs in case you are using a full range stereo out RCA, such as what you would find on...

festerovic

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Subwoofer pre out- this is very common, its meant to attach a coax RCA cable to a powered subwoofer. It would not work with a passive (unpowered) subwoofer.

Both the Sub Pre out, and the Surr Back Pre outs are the same - when there is a 5.1 signal (or dolby prologic, or other "fake" 5.1 modes) the signal processing in the receiver generates the signal for all the channels, and the Pre outs are balanced line out version of the same sound that would go to the speakers. Its meant to connect to other amplifiers.

This receiver is very strange, that type of connectivity is really not needed. I would expect to see component inputs or a multichannel audio IN, versus 3 out of the 6 signals in 5.1 having a pre-out. Its almost entirely useless for the surround speakers. The one use I can think of would be to run a wireless setup like those Rocketfish wireless systems, so the receiver doesnt have to connect to the rear speakers.
 
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Thanks for your help.
To make sure I understand correctly -

I can only use a powered subwoofer and not a passive one?
Will I need to split the coax RCA cable to connect to both analog inputs on the subwoofer or do I have to find a subwoofer with a single digital input?

I will need another amplifier to run the Surr Back speakers. Does this need an integrated Pre Amp?
If I use 2 x coax RCA cables to connect to the amplifier can I connect these to the analog inputs or do I have to find an amplifier with a dual digital inputs?
Do I connect the speaker outputs on the amplifier to the Surr Back speakers?

 

festerovic

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Ignore what I said above, I think I confused you more than I helped.

The Pre-out RCA jacks on the back of the receiver only output signals, not actual power. The red/black speaker jacks are for connecting speakers to it. The Sub Preout is for connecting to only a Powered Subwoofer. It will have all the high frequencies cut, its just the bass signal. The surround pre-outs are for connecting to another amplifier so that more powerful speakers/amplifiers can be used to power the Surround channels.

You do not need an amplifier for the surround speakers, its built in to your receiver already. Hook up the surround sound speakers to the speaker jacks on the receiver. If you have a powered subwoofer, you can plug the Sub Pre out to it. If you only have passive, then you will have to get some way to amplify the sub preout signal (another amp, or a powered subwoofer).

You should not expect to hear sound from the surround speakers UNLESS the input being used on the receiver is digital (coax, Optical, HDMI) and is also in 5.1 or 7.1 audio. That means that your turntable will not produce sound out of those speakers (it uses 2 analog channels). However, there is a way to make the front left/right channels come out of the surround speakers : there is a button on the remote and on the front of the receiver thats called Adv Surr. Press that until you get EXT.STEREO. That will make all 2 channel audio come of of 4 speakers.
 
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Thanks festerovic,

I already have the manual - but thanks anyway.

I have decided to stick with 5.1 and not go to 7.1 as my room is very small (about 3m x 4m) and with proper placement of the speakers and seating I would end up about 2.5m from my 50" screen. I will not be using Surr Back speakers, just normal Surrounds behind me.

I am looking at buying a 2nd hand Bowers & Wilkins ASW 10CM Subwoofer which has 2 x Line-In connections. Do I connect the Sub Pre Out on the receiver to just one of these? What cable do I need?
 

festerovic

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Jul 16, 2008
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It seems I was mistaken, I didn't notice the speaker terminals only allow for 5.1 out of that amp, you are right, you need a separate amplifier for the remaining 2 channels. You can get something like this if you want the 7.1:

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/rocketfish-universal-wireless-rear-speaker-kit-black/8275528.p?id=1171058476489&skuId=8275528&ref=06&loc=01&ci_src=14110944&ci_sku=8275528&extensionType={adtype}:{network}&s_kwcid=PTC!pla!{keyword}!{matchtype}!{adwords_producttargetid}!{network}!{ifmobile:M}!{creative}&kpid=8275528&k_clickid=3bcc27d4-2e0c-e0a8-3a3c-0000372dd181&gclid=CN337oj027wCFc5afgodhiUAEw

Re: the subwoofer, I think it has 2 inputs in case you are using a full range stereo out RCA, such as what you would find on old, 2.0 channel receivers. They do that so the subwoofer produces a mono (summed) version of the 2 channels, and no bass is lost, say, if the bass panned from left to right. If you had only one of the two stereo pair, it would drop out as the bass panned to the unused side. (does that make sense?) . You should only need to plug the single preout cable into the subwoofer, since the sub preout is mono anyways. That looks like a nice sub.
 
Solution
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Thank you - that explains a lot