Connecting turntable to Yamaha RX-V663 receiver w Pure Direct

starcopy

Active Member
Hi. Am hoping to get some sound advice about connecting a vintage TT to my Yamaha RX-V663 AVR (currently being used to drive a 5.1 HTS.) I play CDs through my Blue Ray player connected via HDMI. And I stream music via Pandora.

But my goal here: to properly connect/use my Denon TT with the Yamaha. I have a solid vintage preamp ready to insert between the TT and Yamaha to bring the cart's signal up to line level. A few questions:

Q. Where is the best place to connect the preamp to the Yamaha? CD? DVD? DVR? Any available unused set of red/white audio inputs? (But if I do, won't I be sending an analog signal to a digital input?)

Q. I also have VCR audio inputs. An analog option? But I might be re-connecting a VCR soon so I'd like to keep these open.

Q. Will selecting Yamaha's Pure Direct function while playing vinyl do anything positive? I've read that it turns off many processes to keep the signal clean, but might also disable the subwoofer?

Q. Do I ask too many questions LOL?

Many thanks for any advice.
 
Red and white RCA connections are analog not digital. Use any one you wish. I am not familiar with the "pure direct" Check the manual for that.
 
Duh on my part. You are absolutely right about red/white RCAs all being analog. Hooked it up to the CD input and sounds rather nice. Need to give it some serious listening time and experiment with the various sound settings: "2 channel," "straight," and "pure direct."
 
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Yeah I know your Yamaha doesn't have a phono amp so you need the pre amp, any jack will work. What pre amp do you have?
I have a RX-V 730, it's the smallest RX with a phone amp but it's really weak. I should get a pre amp for mine
 
And, yes, if you use Pure Direct, then there will a straight analog path from inputs to speaker terminal outputs and therefore no sub output.

That's how it works on my Yamaha AVR.

Here is an old block diagram for Yamaha Pure Direct - I think it still applies to other models as well:
v1800-pure_direct_block.gif
 
Interesting. On Denon AVR's, in either Direct or Pure Direct modes speakers get a full-range signal with no processing while a copy of the signal IS (optionally) processed and frequencies below the specified cutoff (usually 80Hz) are sent to the sub. I'll have to remember to keep Yamaha's different implementation in mind. Thanks for the info.
 
Interesting. On Denon AVR's, in either Direct or Pure Direct modes speakers get a full-range signal with no processing while a copy of the signal IS (optionally) processed and frequencies below the specified cutoff (usually 80Hz) are sent to the sub. I'll have to remember to keep Yamaha's different implementation in mind. Thanks for the info.
Well, in Pure Direct - the Yammies obviously send full range to L/R fronts, but since there is no A/D;D/A conversions, there's no way the subwoofer output can be derived (unlike some AVRs that I guess have full analog bass management).
 
Here's been my experience with the Yamaha RX-V663 in a 5.1 setup:

1. In "Pure Direct" mode the subwoofer is not in play -- and the sound is compromised accordingly. And I believe that most/all "unnecessary" circuitry in the RX-V663 is turned off. Even the display goes dark while the Yammie plays on. Klipsch subwoofer is set to "auto" (as opposed to "on" or "off") and adjusted to take everything under 80Hz.

2. However, switch to "Straight" mode and the subwoofer does come alive -- and the sound becomes full bodied and kinda nice as you might expect. Same settings as above.

And, to answer your question from above, Parman, I'm using a vintage APT Holman Preamp.

Thanks for all the replies. It was that "analog signal" versus "digital signal" thing that was tripping me up. But it appears that an analog signal can remain an analog signal (at least here in "pure direct" or "straight" mode) even when the preamp (analog output) is connected to a CD input with red/white RCAs (analog) and even though the input is labelled "CD" (which certainly sounds "digtal.") If I connected a CD player to those same CD red/white RCAs, would the Yammie now recognize the signal as digital and process it as such?

Now if I can only figure out whether to set the subwoofer phase at O or 180.
 
Now if I can only figure out whether to set the subwoofer phase at O or 180.

Generally whichever way sounds better in your normal listening spot.

As far as the CD thing, that is simply an input label so you know what inputs are active when you push the CD source select button. The red/while (right/left) inputs do not carry digital signal. Digital signal from a CD player would have to be input through either a coaxial or optical digital input (or HDMI on a newer unit) from a like output on the player.
 
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Hi, whoaru99. So, listening to a CD in a CD/DVD player connected to a receiver's CD input using red/white RCAs is analog all the way even though the music is stored digitally on the CD as a long string of numbers? Just trying to understand. Thanks.
 
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Hi, whoaru99. So, listening to a CD in a CD/DVD player connected to a receiver's CD input using red/white RCAs is analog all the way even though the music is stored digitally on the CD as a long string of numbers? Just trying to understand. Thanks.
In side your CD/DVD player there is a unit called a DAC or digital to analogue converter. It converts the digital signal from the CD/DVD to analogue and sends it to a receiver via RCA.
 
Yeah I know your Yamaha doesn't have a phono amp so you need the pre amp, any jack will work. What pre amp do you have?
I have a RX-V 730, it's the smallest RX with a phone amp but it's really weak. I should get a pre amp for mine
Many thanks for all the replies.
 
Most AVRs I've used have had threeish modes:

1. Full DSP turned on. All signals run through whatever processing is turned on. Analog signals go through an AD->DA process. Any effects activated act on the signal. This is where you get your "5 channel stereo" etc.
2. All "effect" DSP turned off, but AD->DA still happens for bass management. Any phase correction/roomEQ still happens.
3. "Pure Direct" means no AD->DA for analog inputs but also no bass management. Full range signal to mains, no signal to sub.

I usually roll in #2 as my mains can't handle not being crossed to a sub very gracefully (bookshelves).

I'm in the process of looking into separate analog bass management solutions.
 
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