HT bypass question

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Anthony A.

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Hi everyone;


i was hoping some of you could chime in and explain to me exactly how to setup an ht bypass. to be specific, i would like to get rid of my pre/pro and buy a very good preamp that connects to my amp and cdp (through analogue). then (in the future), i would like to add another amp for my center channel and buy a receiver for my surrounds. now, how exactly do i connect this all up, assuming that the preamp has an ht bypass switch.

another question: will the soundfield of the surrounds be affected since my front end will have an amp and the surrounds will be run from the receiver? any help and of course experience from anyone who does this is greatly appreciated. thanks.
 
Main Pre Out from Processor/Receiver goes back to HT ByPass on Pre Amp - this then makes the Volume on Processor/Receiver control all speakers.

Other speakers that are powered by Processor(Receiver) output to speakers, or you Pre Out from Processor to outboard Power Amps for these speakers.

Does this help explain?

Dan
 
okay, so if i understand you clearly, the front l/r preouts from the receiver go to the l/r inputs of the preamp. they are then "turned on" when you flip the ht bypass switch, correct? also in regards to the ht bypass switch, is its only fuction to bypass the preamps volume control? specifically, will the front speakers have the "sound" of the preamp or will they be using the receiver's "sound" (with the ht bypass switched on)?
 
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L/R goes to HT ByPass L/R inputs on the Pre Amp. This bypasses the Volume on Pre Amp. This is how you get the single volume control.
 
okay, understood. and in regards to the "sound", (assuming i have a tube preamp) when the ht bypass is engaged, will the signal still be passing through the tubes and thus exhibiting their "sound" or will the preamp simply be "shut off" and the receiver does everything?
 
Anthony A. said:
okay, understood. and in regards to the "sound", (assuming i have a tube preamp) when the ht bypass is engaged, will the signal still be passing through the tubes and thus exhibiting their "sound" or will the preamp simply be "shut off" and the receiver does everything?
Not sure about this occuring or not....Maybe someone else can chime in and validate your question..
 
DTB300 said:
Not sure about this occuring or not....Maybe someone else can chime in and validate your question..

I don't know how it works with other pre-amps, but on my BAT I can set any input as a "zero gain" input which allows that input to function as a HT bypass. Essentially it dis-engages the BAT's volume control from that input and the volume is controlled by whatever source is feeding that input. When I had my HT running through the system in my old setup this worked very effectively, and yes, it did seem to add some of that tube "presence" and warmth when compared with running the same front channels directly from the HT Pre/Pro. Of course it couldn't alter the source signal feed, it could only introduce it's own intrensic virtues.
 
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The preamp, in bypass mode, reverts to its maximum gain. The volume control, as stated by others, is relegated to the pre-pro. The front channels retain the sound characteristics of the stereo setup. A tube front end will still sound like a tube front end. I use a BAT VK 51SE pre and a Rotel 1068 pre-pro. The front channels are (power)amplified with tubes and the remainder of the ht system - Bryston (solid state.) Right now I'm very satisfied with the sound of this system and don't feel the need to change anything.
 
aliveatfive said:
The preamp, in bypass mode, reverts to its maximum gain.

The 51SE doesn't have a "HT bypass" mode, it has a "fixed gain" mode where you set the gain (usually to unity, not maximum) and the volume control is then handled by the receiver/pre-pro. The "Maximum gain" mode on the 51SE simply sets a maximum volume for that particular input, but the volume control is still adjustable below the level you set.

Most HT bypass modes I've seen are at unity gain.
 
okay, so if the front end (stereo) uses a tube output and the other channels use ss, how is the soundfield for ht only? anyone with experience please help, i am contemplating getting a tube preamp. thanks.
 
My fronts go through the tube preamp, my center through SS, and I don't have issues with the soundfield. The difference between the floor-standing MLs and the wider, lower center ML is greater than the difference between the amps, yet that's not an issue with me either. I also run the ML surrounds through SS. On a well-recorded disc I still get a good soundfield.

One good test of this is Zephyr: Voices Unbound, by AIX Records. There are 12 singers, singing a capella, recorded in a circle. Through my setup I can hear each individual singer as clearly as the others. I'm sure there's still room for improvement (isn't this always true anyway), but I am satisfied with this soundfield. Sound fields of films through dvd are easier to do in comparison, and they sound just fine.

I'm happy integrating audio and video through a tube preamp.
 
jfm said:
I'm happy integrating audio and video through a tube preamp.
I'd second that (although I don't do it in my current set-up - but when I did it was a non issue).

I'd encourage you to go for it and enjoy the wonders that a good tube pre-amp can bring to your music as well as movies.
 
Any recos...

....on make / model of tube pre to use with Martin Logans (Ascent i's and SS amps)? I hear the BAT products have a wonderful interface but unfortunately the 31SE and up are out of my price range.

How about the Modwright 9.0SE? Or I hear Dodd Audio has a nice battery powered pre coming out (?)

Any others?

Thanks!
 
interesting you should say that crawdaddy, i am going to research a little bit about battery powered pre's. from what i hear (from ones who use it), they sound glorious and are whisper quiet.

also, i have another question. right now, i have a stereo setup (l/r fronts) only. i calibrated my anthem avm20, that only the 2 speakers are being used. when i watch movies however, the pre/pro shows that dolby digital is engaged, not stereo. i have all the sounds of the movie coming only to my front l/r (effects, phantom center, etc). so by going with a tube pre (that doesn't do any decoding), am i correct to say that the "sound effects" will be the same? in other words, it will make no difference what the pre/pro is decoding as it is still always a stereo setup?
 
anyone??????


last question for this thread, i promise!!!!


thanks.
 
Anthony A. said:
also, i have another question. right now, i have a stereo setup (l/r fronts) only. i calibrated my anthem avm20, that only the 2 speakers are being used. when i watch movies however, the pre/pro shows that dolby digital is engaged, not stereo. i have all the sounds of the movie coming only to my front l/r (effects, phantom center, etc). so by going with a tube pre (that doesn't do any decoding), am i correct to say that the "sound effects" will be the same? in other words, it will make no difference what the pre/pro is decoding as it is still always a stereo setup?

I'm not sure EXACTLY how the pre/pro combines the front 3 channels in "phantom center" mode. I would expect that you wouldn't see an appreciable difference in the tube pre vs. pre/pro movie watching.

I would think that DVDp itself would do similar processing as the pre/pro when converting to an analog stereo out.

You could try hooking your DVDp up to an analog input on the AVM20 and see if you notice a difference...
 

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