Happy New Year

I am planning to purchase a 950 as a start for our HT system. Due to a lack of $$ I would like to use the amp sections from several two channel receivers (remove the jumper between the amp and pre section).

Am planning to use 160 wpc Kenwood for the cc and two 70 wpc Kenwoods, one each, for the front and rears or do I need one amp per channel? Will the 950 accommodate this type setup? If so, are there any drawbacks?

I did a search, didn’t find a thread. Apologize if its been beat to death before.

gestes

You say you have "several" receivers. I assume that you can isolate the amp sections on all of them (thru the "main in" jacks.) However if they don't, you need only run the signal in through any high level analogue stereo input on the receiver, and connect the speakers to the F L/R speaker outputs. If you go that route, do a rough balance with the 950's levels at "0" using the individual volume and balance controls on each receiver, and then fine-tune them all with the 950. (That way you won't run out of gain/cut on the 950.) You may introduce a little extra noise by going this route, but so long as you don't need to crank the receiver's volume control too high, it should not be noticeable in real listening conditions.

You need one receiver amp channel per 950 channel. (By the sounds of it you are planning to run in 5.1, not 6.1 or 7.1 mode. For 5.1 you would therefore need three stereo receivers - with one receiver amp channel not being used.) If you go to 7.1 or 6.1 you have some additional options. You can use one speaker for each of the F R/L, C, S R/L, and CS L/R channels - ie. 7.1 mode. However since the CS L/R is a mono signal anyhow, you could go with one speaker (ie. one receiver amp channel) or two speakers (in parallel or series driven off one receiver amp channel) instead. So for 6.1 you can still use three stereo receivers, and with 7.1 you need either three or four stereo receivers depending on what you do with the CS speaker(s).

In the past I've used a variety of receivers and integrated amps cobbled together to construct multi-channel systems. If you already own them it's a very cost-effective way to go - and the sound will be nothing to be ashamed of. Having a single multi-channel amp (or several dedicated stereo / mono amps) will be an improvement when you can afford it. But for now there's lots of satisfaction to be had by getting good sound on the cheap!

Can't see why the 950 (or any pre/pro for that matter) should have any problem with this.

Hope that helps - and that I didn't confuse you (or myself) in the process.

Jeff Mackwood

Jeff, thank you for your time, lot of good information.

Didn’t realize I had so many options. Yes, I’ll be removing the jumper between the amp and pre.

Once again thanks
Gary