Can onkyo Tx Sr 705 be used as power Amp

mahiruha

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Hello,
I am planning to get a valve pre amp. My problem is right now i don't have a separate power amp. I am wondering is it possible to connect this pre amp to onkyo 705 and how? If not can somebody please guide me what are power amp options available within 30K range.
Thanks,
Mahiruha.
 
if the onkyo doesnt have a "preamp out" "power amp in" in its connections then you will not be able to.

whats the rest of your set up
 
Hello,
yes my receiver has pre amp out. Are they same as power amp in. I can say it has Front surround , center , sub pre out.In case if I connect a stereo preamp do I just connect the stereo out from the pre amp to pre amp stero out of the receiver ????
 
pre amp out is not same as power in. I doubt your receiver would have it. Connecting preout to pre out is connecting two outs. It's like you know - gay! It may be legal, but sound reproduction will not be there! You need a female input for power "reproduction"!
If you have a power in, the pre-outs would be connected by small jumpers into it.
Though you can use receiver as a power amp by somehow tapping into the power section - which I was planning to do as well with my onkyo, it may not be very good for music. I would suggest you to get a used 2 channel power amp to do justice to your pre.
I called up an onkyo service station, and talked to a guy. He agreed to visit my place and mod the onkyo for pre out and power in (I have none in my receiver).
But since then, I purchased an hk6550 integrated (which I am enjoying even without the lyrita pre - which is waiting to get modded by Viren himself) so now I would probably not tap into onkyo's power. I will just get a pre-out from it - to connect it to the integrated for front channels while watching movies.
To tell you the truth, I was watching "Walking Tall" today on just the stereo amp connected to the dvdp - and I didn't miss my surround sound and subwoofer at all. Explosions were large and full of body. Sound was big enough to match the big image on projector.

regards
 
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Hello Spiro,
I guess your answer is correct.In that case we won't use the processing power of 705 only processing of valve pre amp will be used.But r u absolutely sure about this.
Thanks.
 
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Hello Spiro,
I guess your answer is correct.In that case we won't use the processing power of 705 only processing of valve pre amp will be used.But r u absolutely sure about this.
Thanks.

I consider your need to use 705 amp section only & not preamp,
in that case using 7.1ana input,which bypasses preamp is best way.
If 705 has pure direct switch,it shld shut other vid processor sothat full power can be used by amp section.....
 
analog in will NOT bypass pre-amp of 705. Only that it does not have any "digital decoding". Analog inputs may still be converted back to digital and processed for bass control, crossover etc. Unless you use a pure direct mode which doesn't apply any processing. But "pre" - that's volume control will still be there I assume.
I think you have several options
1. buy a pure stereo power amp - in lyrita pre there are multiple 2 channels inputs that you can switch. Connect pre outs of left/ right from your avr to valve pre. So when watching movies, or for any reason putting avr to duty, the stereo power amp will still power your fronts. There may be "too much gain" as onkyo pre will also provide a gain, and your valve amp will as well.

2. Get your avr modded by any onkyo service person - to give you a direct tap into power in, and preferably a "line-out" instead of pre-out. So that whenever you are ready to move to option 1, you get the best results.

3. buy a power amp and keep two sets of speaker cables. This requires you to switch cables manually (or use the switch created by venkat) but keeps your music and movie systems separate, with no mods needed.

4. buy pre/ power/ integrated/ speakers from lyrita (I am assuming you are going the lyrita way) and keep two complete separate systems for music and movies.

I am also in the same situation as you - I have a lyrita pre that I want to put in use. But exploring options. I think 4 is the best and I would go for it soon. However, I will experiment almost all options that lie in between.

regards



I consider your need to use 705 amp section only & not preamp,
in that case using 7.1ana input,which bypasses preamp is best way.
If 705 has pure direct switch,it shld shut other vid processor sothat full power can be used by amp section.....
 
you can use your AVR 705 as power amp by connecting your pre amp line level output to the line level input of the SR-705 and then fix the volume level at half way mark. This way you would be able to use the processing of your tube amp and power section of 705. Although this won't result in the best possible sound but this method generally works.
 
Hello anm,
thanks for your suggestions. I guess its not a good idea to tamper with the existing onkyo. The route 4 you have suggested seems to be the best one although most expensive. I haven't fully convinced my mind yet to shell out that much dough but lets see when a suitable alignment between my mind and heart can be achieved.
Thanks,
Mahiruha.
 
you can use your AVR 705 as power amp by connecting your pre amp line level output to the line level input of the SR-705 and then fix the volume level at half way mark. This way you would be able to use the processing of your tube amp and power section of 705. Although this won't result in the best possible sound but this method generally works.

Hello ashish,
thanks for your thoughts. What is the logic behind keeping the volume level at the half way mark.I have seen thata sonodyne produces power amps. Do u have any idea regarding those??
thnaks,
Mahiruha.
 
according to my ONK330,I can not use BASS & TREBLE opt with 5.1 ana input,its direct option,manual too mentions it.stereo in yes, so to use as power amp stereo from 5.1(7.1) incan be use to bypass preamp.
 
Hello ashish,
thanks for your thoughts. What is the logic behind keeping the volume level at the half way mark.I have seen thata sonodyne produces power amps. Do u have any idea regarding those??
thnaks,
Mahiruha.

I am using one in my setup to power my fronts the model number is SPA202 and as far as the SQ is concerned its bang on. The only thing which I have changed is the stock power cable with the DAC power cable and that made a huge impact on the sound. Home Audio > Sonus Series, take a look at the specifications and then you will understand that its a class product for its price, look at the input senstivity which is 775 MV whereas popular model of Rotel has the input sensitivity of 1.5V so this product paired well with my Onkyo AVR i.e 905 which has a output voltage of 1 V from Pre Outs.
 
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Hello Ashish,
how much is this power amp from sonodyne? Since you are using a very high model of onkyo avr why did you need this power amp?
Thanks,
Mahiruha.
 
Hello Ashish,
how much is this power amp from sonodyne? Since you are using a very high model of onkyo avr why did you need this power amp?
Thanks,
Mahiruha.

Sonodyne's power amp costed me 19K, I bought it to power my front FS speakers from Polk Audio the model is RTI A7 which needs contineous power of 140W to perform optimally and since I have Nr905 which also boast of 140W Rms per channel at 8 ohms and I am also running a full 7.1 setup from my amp so I decided to relieve my amp from Powering the front and lets dedicate its powers for the center and the surrounds which really helped in getting a lot more detailing from the rest of the setup. As I normally listen at reference level, either for movies or music so in a way this arrangement has benefited me to an extent.
 
19k? I was thinking it was for 10k in one of our communications.. It looks pretty good though - I saw the pic on the link posted by you. I thought it would be some cheap looking piece but it looks quite nice.
 
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