Clueless: Pre-amp needed?

[mrwood]

I got a Realistic STA200D recently that ignited an interest in audio for me. It came in a stack with a pile of cables and old Radio Shack speakers for $75.

Anyway, It does not seem to work if the accompanying Realistic equalizer is not hooked up.

I wonder if the equalizer is acting as a pre-amplifier? Are there jumpers or something that were removed and that could keep the receiver from working alone?

 

[grateful]

yes the jumpers have been removed. You can substitute a patch cord for the jumpers.

 

[mrwood]

I am still clueless: patch cord, where to install it. Do I make a patch cord?

 

[grateful]

A cord with rca plugs on each end. You have 2 of them that you are using to connect the eq to the receiver connect from preamp out to main in.

 

[mrwood]

Ok. How do I use it as a jumper?

 

[grateful]

Just connect one cord from preamp out to main in. The cord jumps the signal from the preamp section to the power amp section.

 

[ozmoid]

You can use your regular interconnects, or you can find a short pair designed just for bridging the pre-main RCA's, like this:


Also, many amps use the chassis for the ground, then use a solid wire to connect only the "+" (center) terminals:

 

[mrwood]

Aha!

Thanks Osmoid and Grateful. One last thing: Would taking out the equalizer be helpful? I'm dubious of it's benefit. It is a Realistic 12 band and looks to be the same vintage as the STA-2000D.

 

[x_25]

Try it with and without, pick the way that sounds best to you. :thmbsp: I leave my EO in but bypassed because mine has a cool spectrum analyzer on the front (I am a sucker for blinky lights).

 

[Puma Cat]

The more components you can take out of a signal path, the better. Any compenent will add noise, hence the ideal audio component has long been said to be a straight wire with gain.

 

[Splatter Pak]

As long as there is no turntable in the system, a preamp can be dispensed with, and I went that way for some months, as detailed in my thread Look Ma - No Preamp. The upside is better, cleaner sound; the downside is having to swap out cables, and knowing what cables go with what component. Now, I'm using an Akai preamp, which does a much better job than I expected. It was intended as a temporary unit, until I got something serious: a Meridian preamp is on the way, and I have high hopes for it. :thmbsp::sigh::thmbsp::sigh::thmbsp::sigh::thmbsp::sigh:

Splat