In your current setup, your receiver (which incorporates an amplifier) is being used in place of an amp. Thus if you were to purchase an amp, you would simply replace your receiver with it. Just to make it clear, this would mean your mixer's output goes to the amp, and your speakers plug into the amp's output.

Now, another scenario is if you want to continue to use your receiver, but still buy an amp to power your speakers with. This would mean your receiver would need to have a 'pre-amp' output (ie. an output that is simply a non-amplified signal, usually using RCA leads) which you would hook your new amp upto. This would mean your mixer's output goes to your receiver, then your receiver's preamp output goes to your new amp, and your new amp's speaker (amplified) output goes to your speakers.

Any questions? Hope this helps!

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"I played 12.30 til close at 3am at the club (Antro), following on from an Australian dj,
which seemed unusual in deepest Texas." - Judge Jules

First let me say thank you. I didn't think anyone was going to reply. How do I know if my receiver has a 'pre-amp' output? I have a Pioneer VSX-D811 and it is a surround sound receiver. Is there really any point in keeping it hooked up? Will it better the sound quality? (because it is a high end receiver.) Thanks again!

Greg

It says in my manual that I have a pre-amp output on all channels. Does that mean I can plug my amp into any of the audio outputs without damaging anything? Thanks

http://www.pioneerelectronics.com/p...3_34976,00.html

you bet.

with most amps, there will be an assortment of preamp'ed outputs that will send whatever the source selector is set to...

you'll probably have atleast 3... like an outpu for a tape deck, MD/DAT, etc etc... usually you can pick any one of them and feed that to your amp.

No idea how much your looking to spent, but crown and qsc make very good amps.. both companies offer a range of amps from basic to super-pimp models meant for highend live sound solutions.

One of the best values, IMHO, is the crown CE series... good simple solid amps that sound quite nice.
The XLS series by crown is thier "base" model and is a good value, but I'd say you get more for your money with the CE series.

Thank you both for your help. I have one last and final question. Is it pointless to have a receiver hooked up between your mixer and amp? Does the receiver do anything, like better sound quality?

quote:

Originally posted by Localsky Thank you both for your help. I have one last and final question. Is it pointless to have a receiver hooked up between your mixer and amp? Does the receiver do anything, like better sound quality?

it might be pointless, it might not... It won't give you better sound quality, if anything it'll hurt it. but very unlikely enough to notice with your own ears. (unless you overload it, of course!)

generally, the audio circuitry in (good) recievers is fairly solid...

It's only pointless if the amp does nothing but serve as a junction for two cables. If you are using the amp for something, like the other preamp outputs to drive other devices, it's probably a good thing.

before I bought a zone mixer, I used a sony 945 receiver at house parties as a signal distribution device. It has 6 or 7 preamp outputs, so it was an easy way to get a line level signal to the amps, lights, recording device, and computer. as an added benefit, it powered the passive monitors speakers as well.

[gets a little off topic] while I am talking about my ole sony str-de945, I must say these amps are one heck of a good value. Sure, they're not made anymore, but they are tanks with excellent audio quality and seem to be very hard to kill. mine went through a dozen houseparties, is 4 years old, and is just as good as new Add a puller fan on top of it, and it'll rock out at full volume all night without whining. not many consumer amps seem to be capable of that. it does all the good stuff too - dolby digital for movie excitment, optical and coaxial s/pdif including true 24/96 playback, parametric eq, etc etc.. best consumer amp i've owned.

I was going to reply earlier, but Meridian has answered all your questions now! It's good to see people giving advice that actually have knowledge, in this forum! Nothing more frustrating than seeing a bunch of ignorant fools dishing out their opinion to someone who NEEDS to know something! You're welcome Localsky

___________________
"I played 12.30 til close at 3am at the club (Antro), following on from an Australian dj,
which seemed unusual in deepest Texas." - Judge Jules