Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Home Theater need advise- New to this all

Hi All,
This is my first post here even though I have read most of the threads and gained much first hand knowledge by all of you. I have purchased a sterio pre/amp {Adcom 565/55511] and after reading many of your posts,have decided to purchase the M60's,vp150,qs8's and a hsu 2 sub. My question is that I would like your opinions on a a/v reciever and dvd player that would compliment this setup? Also I have noticed on the back of the Adcom Pre there is a proccessor loop output.Is this where I would connect the a/v reciever? Could I still have the mains connected to the Amp and connect the other speakers to the recieverso when I'm not in HT I can listen to music in 2 channel? thanks....

I'm not much up on 2 channel stereo. It sounds like you've got a good handle on it. Hopefully someone else can help with that.

I could probably help with DVD and receiver recommendations though. Need some info to make a solid recommendation:

What sort of video inputs do you have on your output?
What kind of output is it?
How much are you looking to spend?
Are you hardcore and will want to spend hours calibrating your speaker setup or would you like your gear to help you?

There are probably other questions, but this will help get us started.

As with most electronics, you'll want to take what "the internet" tells you with a grain of salt (for example I'll offer recommendations and I don't own anything..yet), but you're on the right track. You'll find as good a information here as you will at any store.

-Nick

Unless I'm missing something, an A/V receiver would replace your preamp. If you want to mantain a really clean signal chain for stereo-only music listening, you may use the Adcom preamp and amp. But if you want to use the stereo amp in a home theater setup, you need a receiver with preouts for at least the front two channels: this plugs into the amp in jacks on your amp. The vp150 and QS8's could then plug into the speaker output jacks on your receiver.

In this scenario, your receiver is acting as a preamp for all 5.1 channels, but it's only amplifying the center and rears. The only way you could still use your stereo preamp is if you unplugged the receiver front preouts and connected the stereo preamp preouts to the amp.

I would recommend the Harman Kardon AVR 330 or 430 receiver and the Denon 2200 or 2800 DVD player. I think HK receivers are still the most flexible in setup, though Denon & Yamaha products are also very good.

-Cooper

Almost any of the "new" receivers will work fine but as for me, I'll second the precious post for the Denon 2900 DVD and add the Denon 2803 or 3803 receiver. (both have great sound/features but the AVR 3803 adds 20 w/p and video uplink...a great advantage)