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Need a little help with Amplifier hookup...

C

Confusilated

New Member
Hi...I have a Harmon Kardon Signature Series 2.1amplifier, and the inputs appear to be single RCA jacks. This is probably a stupid question, but if it's a single RCA, how do you hook up a stereo input? Is there a special RCA cable that takes both left and right and channels them via a Y connector into a single stereo input? The manual says not to use two imputs from one source because it is not bridged? Wouldn't preamps have left and right RCA outputs for each source? As always, I'm confused... Any help would be appreciated...
 
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There is only one single RCA input on the rear? One speaker output as well?
From what I am seeing on a Google search it should have one RCA and one speaker output (+ and -) per channel though I might be looking at a different amp than you've got. All of the pictures I'm seeing are of 5 channel amps with 5 inputs and 5 speaker outs.
 
teh webz sez it looks like this(?)

fcbjmphvkhvdtbb32uel.jpg


Five channels.
Five innies
Five outties
 
Connect the preamp/source right output to channel 1 input of the amp, then connect the right speaker to the amplifier channel 1 speaker terminals.

Connect the preamp/source left output to channel 5 input of the amp, then connect the left speaker to the amplifier channel 5 speaker terminals.

Frankly, you can pick any two of the amplifier channels to use for left and right. I just provided specific instructions that align with the labeling to help avoid any more confusion.

And, forget what you read about bridging/connecting two channels precautions. You are not trying to bridge/connect two channels together so it's totally irrelevant for you.
 
hmmmm...the photos look like the back of this amp. My thought was to put a left source to one channel, a right from the same source to another channel...but that would mean that you can only hook up two and a half sources? Again confused. maybe use a tape monitor out left, from tape source on a preamp to one input, and one from the right to the other...then anything selected on the pre-amp would go through the amp? Not sure what would control the volume at that point, because I believe recording outputs are fixed volume, no? @whoaru99, does your suggestion imply that this amp is only good for 2 and a half sources? That what it seem like to me...
 
Boy, you are confused.

This is a power amplifier, it is NOT a preamp/receiver/source selector intended to receive input directly from all your various sources.

Maybe if you list all the gear you have we could come up with a way to actually use it properly.
 
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Technically, this is just a 5 channel power amplifier where each channel has its own inputs and speaker (output) connections.

Whoaru99 is correct if you are confused. :D

If you want stereo, stereo is simply 2 channel. Left & right, A & B (not speaker selectors), 1 & 2 etc. Just pick any two of the five that that amp provides and you have stereo. The preamp needs to also be stereo, right & left pre outs. You need two separate patch cords not just one with a Y adapter. :no:

The other 3 channels can be used with another stereo preamplifier and a sub woofer for another location or all five speakers in the same room as front left, front right, rear left, rear right, and center (or sub) depending on any way you want to use it.

Let's see some pics of yours and your preamp.
 
Confusilated said:
hmmmm...the photos look like the back of this amp. My thought was to put a left source to one channel, a right from the same source to another channel...but that would mean that you can only hook up two and a half sources? Again confused. maybe use a tape monitor out left, from tape source on a preamp to one input, and one from the right to the other...then anything selected on the pre-amp would go through the amp? Not sure what would control the volume at that point, because I believe recording outputs are fixed volume, no? @whoaru99, does your suggestion imply that this amp is only good for 2 and a half sources? That what it seem like to me...
Click to expand...

All your sources connect to the preamp. Only the preamp connects to amplifier.

Again, listing all the stuff you want to use may facilitate providing further clarity.
 
You need a separate pre amp, although a receiver might work.

Your AMP has the capability (input jacks) to run 5 channels, for stereo you would only need to use two as already mentioned.

Instead of the numbers on the back of the amp, picture it this way
1 = left
2 = right

3 = out doors (or left rear)
4 = down the street (or right rear)
5 = 2 towns away. (or center)

Hopefully that helps
 
You'll notice you have three different connections for each of the 5 channels on this amplifier.

The Black/Red are speaker outputs so you connect your speakers to those. The RCA present near each of the speaker output pairs are your channel inputs. These correspond to the outputs on your pre-amp/AVR. Those outputs are configured as a single RCA to connect to the amplifier. Don't get them confusilated with speaker outputs which are also present on the back of an AVR. Those are not used to connect to an amplifier.

Your pre-amp controls the volume and what source is being used then feeds that source signal to the amplifier. So with this amplifier you can power a 2-ch, 3 ch or 5 ch system.

Specs:
  • Output Power / Channel
    100 Watt @ 4 ohms, 150 Watt @ 8 ohms
  • Frequency Response
    20 - 20000 Hz
Keep those specs in mind when looking for speakers to be powered by this amplifier.
 
goodolpg said:
Instead of the numbers on the back of the amp, picture it this way
1 = left
2 = right

3 = out doors (or left rear)
4 = down the street (or right rear)
5 = 2 towns away. (or center)

Hopefully that helps
Click to expand...

Yeah, any two channels will work for stereo. But, in addition to the numbers, there are text labels for channel relationships. That's why I recommended 1 and 5 because they are labeled Front Right and Front Left, respectively. Thought that might help with some of the confusion.

1 Front Right
2 Surround Right
3 Center
4 Surround Left
5 Front Left
 
whoaru99 said:
Yeah, any two channels will work for stereo. But, in addition to the numbers, there are text labels for channel relationships. That's why I recommended 1 and 5 because they are labeled Front Right and Front Left, respectively. Thought that might help with some of the confusion.

1 Front Right
2 Surround Right
3 Center
4 Surround Left
5 Front Left
Click to expand...

My eyes won't let me read the small print on the back of the amp (in the pictures in this thread) so I couldn't see the channels already had designations.
 
mhardy6647 said:
teh webz sez it looks like this(?)

fcbjmphvkhvdtbb32uel.jpg


Five channels.
Five innies
Five outties
Click to expand...

I've still got one of those from the early HT days. It's also a great stereo amp - I used #1 for the left channel and #5 for the right. It has lots of headroom in stereo mode. These were based on the Citation models.
 
WobblySam said:
I've still got one of those from the early HT days. It's also a great stereo amp - I used #1 for the left channel and #5 for the right. It has lots of headroom in stereo mode. These were based on the Citation models.
Click to expand...


I was thinking it would work great for a bi amp setup, and use the extra channel for a sub.
 
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