I have a somewhat unique setup & need some help deciding if a 1050 would do the trick.

What I have now is:
RCA DTV300 61" HDTV w/ built in DirecTV/ATSC tuner.
Carver C1 preamp.
Carver M500t power amp (251 Watts x 2 into 8 Ohms, 0.05% thd).
Martin Logan Sequel electrostatic speakers (I'll worry about buying the other speakers later).
And a not hooked up RCA 100 Watt powered sub laying around somewhere too.

The TV sound and SAT sound both come out a single Toslink connector. Can I program the 1050 to use the same optical input for both TV & SAT? If not, is there such a thing as a Toslink splitter?

I don't think the internal amp is big enough for the Martin Logans. Can I set the internal amp for 3 ch.mode and use preouts to my Carver M500t to power the mains?

Thanks for the help!
John

You can select the same optical input for more than one source. The 1050 lets you select any of the optical/coax inputs for each source selected. You can download the 1050 manual from this site which may help you understand all it's capabilities. FYI: Although you don't need it for this reason there is a optical splitter available from Radio Shack for $10.
The 1050 does have a 3 channel mode and I assume it will feed the preouts in this mode however I am not positive since I don't use my pre-outs. I will tell you however that the 1050 has more power than its rating suggests. I am powering some pretty inefficient B&W nautilus speakers (87db) with no problem. I don't know about electrostatic speakers. The outlaw support can easily help you with this one.

You can use the internal amp for some channels and the pre-amp outputs to feed an amp for some other channels, so you could easily use your Carver M500t to drive the ML's and let the 1050's amp handle the rest.

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gonk -- Saloon Links | Pre/Pro Comparison Chart | 950 Review

Thanks guys! I'll take a look at that manual. It sounds like it should work fine. The TV doesn't have any HDTV inputs other than ATSC (1 of the first HDTV sets sold) so I won't have to worry about having a bunch of I/O on the receiver.

desperado-
What are you using for rear & center speakers since your fronts are about as power hungry as the ML's? Did you have any trouble ballancing the sound?

I'm thinking of in-ceiling mounting the rear speakers.

I have the B&W HTM2 for the center which is just as power hungry as the main speakers so they are evenly matched. For the rear speakers I have Pardigm Atom's which are less power hungry. There is no trouble balancing the sound since the 1050 is configurable for the Main, Center, Rear and rear center speakers. I had no problem making the 1050 sound great and very balanced. I have had no problems with power. I usally have the volumn at about 55 and it's max is 80 I think. Before I got the B&W's I had cheaper speakers which were more effecient and usually listened at around 45 for the same volumn I get now at 55. I suspect you will have no problem with the 1050. But as Gonk points out you can let your Carver amp help out if necessary.


[This message has been edited by desperado (edited January 04, 2003).]