Y 'ing preamp outputs

[ksrigg]

Probably a question I already know the answer to.....

If I use a Y splitter, or split the preamp output using a splitter....so I can bi-amp...sending the pre's signal to two seperate amps.....will it cut the output of the preamp in half? I know typically you get 1.7 volts of output to drive the amp, from the pre... If you put a splitter on it, will the signal then be only .0.85 volts?

Is this bad...a no no? Does it really alter the signal in any other way?

I know I probably should use a second front output to bi-amp, but I can't figure out how exactly to do it...maybe there is a way.. I have the Sherwood Newcastle P-965 which has the same outputs on the back chassis as the Outlaw 990,so Joe, if you or someone else has one of these premaps, maybe you can help me figure out how to do this correctly...or maybe it really doesn't matter all that much..

Thanks for all your help guys..

 

[kevin]

Thats how I do it Sutton... A Y splitter !!

 

[ksrigg]

Yeah, me too.....but I wondered WHAT we are doing when we do it. We may be really straining our amps, or something even worse....limiting the power ultimately going to our speakers...that's what I'm thinking. We might be better off to try to use another pre out to get the full 1.7 or 2.0 or whatever ouput the pre is designed to deliver to the amp...plus I don't know what this might be doing to impedance and other things...I know that Joe and Lee and Mark are probably chuckleing as they read this...thinking...."those dumba$$e$..

I'm going to have to re-think my amp plan, and probably bi-amp the Linus Arrays and the Altecs (if I can) to fully utilize all the power I have in my rack now...I think it is going to be about 4K at 8 ohms to drive the surround system...not counting the sub you are going to help me build. I still have to figure out what amp I am going to use to drive it..right now I'm thinking a bridged Hafler P-500 should get the 15" Lambda going...I still don't know what size to build the box. The simulations say about 5 cu. ft. but that is what we built your, and you ended up cutting it down, and ended up with about 3 or 4 cu. ft. Gotta calculate it and see though. I'm wondering if yours would have been fine if we had let the driver break-in a little longer, or is the calculations were just off.. Maybe the T/S params were just plain wrong too....

 

[kevin]

I told ya you can have one of my p-500's... Id say when Mark gets time to put those transistors in the one he has it will be ok.... I hope. Then we can get some more of em and fix the one I got. That will be one for my sub and one for the one you dont have... lmao...

 

[orange]

Unless you are anti-Right To Y...

You may not be as popular at the dinner table...I would let the bloggers and papers deal with that.

 

[Gepetto]

Hi Sutton
A typical solid state pre has very low impedance outputs (like 50 ohms) so driving 2 power amp inputs like you have should not present any problem using the Y cable splitter. The amps you are driving have a 10K ohm input impedance so you are effectively driving 5K with a 50 ohm source which represents about a 1% signal attenuation. This means you just have to turn up your pre 1% more to compensate

 

[laatsch55]

Sinewaves are a funny thing Sutton, they don't mind propagating.

 

[stuwee]

Am I missing something or should there be an active crossover in the path here, why split a signal between two amps if you don't regulate the fequency the amp will use, ie; the Halfer for the mids and highs, the PL for the bass.

 

[Fairchild]

In my case Craig my Legacy's are already set up for this. I remove the jumper between the highs and lows in the corssover, I run the highs with my Adcom and the lows with the Hafler.

Difference being my Thoebe has two main outs on the back for this purpose.

Jim

 

[speakerman1]

In my case Craig my Legacy's are already set up for this. I remove the jumper between the highs and lows in the corssover, I run the highs with my Adcom and the lows with the Hafler.

Difference being my Thoebe has two main outs on the back for this purpose.

Jim

In most cases the speakers x-overs are wired to do it. The Epo 16s can be tri wired or amped. When I did it before I used mono-blocs.

Larry