I've been using my 1050 as a pre/processor with a B&K ST1400MKII powering the front speakers. I noticed that I was getting very little sound from the surrounds (hooked up to the 1050) even with the trim at max, +10dB. I had been considering a separate passive preamp where I could switch from HT to music only but was concerned how it would integrate with the 1050 and whether I would lose, or lessen, the surround capabilities. Yesterday I received a Channel Island VPC-1 and hooked up my CD player to one input and the 1050 to the other. I fired up the CD and, as expected, the sound was nothing short of glorious. I switched over to TV and to my surprise the surrounds were so loud I had to back off to +3dB! I had assumed that running the 1050 through a passive pre would result in a weaker sound, if any change at all. Anyone know what caused this? Not that I'm complaining, on the contrary, this is what I've been hoping to acheive.

The VCP-1 has a volume control, doesn't it? (I'm going to assume for the moment that it does.) The signal for your mains (and only the mains) is being rounted through the VPC-1 and it's associated volume control. That would lower the volume of the 1050's output on the mains as compared to the volume of the surrounds and center (which all skip the VPC-1's volume control), giving you the significant change in level between mains and surrounds. That's my guess, at least.

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

Hi gonk;
Yes, the VPC does have a volume control for the fronts when in position 2 (CDP hookup). When switched to position 1 (1050) the volume control on the VPC-1 is inactive. I'm not speaking of the difference in levels between the fronts and surrounds, that was to be expected (I have to turn the volume up now to get the same level on the fronts as before). All of a sudden I'm getting a tremendous increase in volume from my surrounds by running the 1050 through the VPC-1, whereas before there was virtually no sound at all from the surrounds. I'm curious to know why running the 1050 through the VPC-1 has caused this dramatic change???