Your receiver has bass management for the digital inputs and the stereo analog inputs (which in most cases covers DVD, VCR, CD, LD, and/or satellite), but the 5.1 channel analog input (which is necessary for DVD-Audio or SACD) does not make use of that bass management. This is because the 5.1 input is a "bypass" input, skipping all of the receiver's circuitry and going directly from input to volume control to amplification (either the internal amps or the pre-amp outputs). The ICBM would be located between the DVD-Audio or SACD player and the receiver to provide that bass management. This would be particularly useful if you do not have full-range speakers all the way around (as some DVD-A and SACD discs are mixed with low frequency information in those channels, and that information is lost if the speakers can't reproduce it and it can't be diverted to a subwoofer) or if you do not use a sub (in which case, the LFE channel is simply lost because it can not be redirected to other speakers).

Some people also use the ICBM between their pre/pro or receiver and outboard amplifiers and use the ICBM instead of the bass management in the pre/pro or receiver because of the additional flexibility that the ICBM can offer. For example, your receiver's bass management uses a fixed 80Hz crossover (according the manual online), whereas the ICBM would allow you to use crossover points better suited to your speakers. If you are not using an outboard amp right now, this wouldn't do you any good (unless you wanted to buy an amp, too, of course...).

If you think it might be useful for you, you might want to skim through the ICBM's manual , as most of the possible ways to connect an ICBM to a system are outlined there.

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