Looking for advice connecting an equalizer

My receiver is an ONKYO TX-NR609 home theater receiver. Today I stumbled upon an old equalizer that I thought might be fun to mess around with. The ONKYO has no Tape Monitor in/out. All I want it for is CD playback, what's the best way to connect this up then ?

 

You can hook the equalizer output to the CD input of the Onkyo and hook the CD player up to the line in on the equalizer. This is not ideal because the CD will always route throught the equalizer, though it may have a true bypass position.

 

If the CD player has both digital coax and stereo analog outputs, connect its digital coax output to one of the receiver's inputs and connect the CD player's stereo analog outputs to the equalizer's inputs and the equalizer's outputs to a different inputs on the receiver.

That way you can do easy A/B comparison from the comfort of your La-z-boy recliner with remote control in hand.

 

Thanks Doug, I thought that may be an option but, wasn't sure if it was the best, but I don't have may options I guess. The receiver has VCR/DVR audio in/out, would that work ?

 

Thanks Capt !

 

Sure thing. I would use the digital coax from the CD player as the baseline and fiddle around with the equalizer's settings played through the stereo analog outputs to see if I could improve the sound to my liking.

 

Yes. Any line input will do.

 

OK ! So, stupid question time, so the equalizer connects as a loop so to speak ...... EQ>AMP>EQ ? How does this come into play with my CD>AMP connection ?

 

This may make it easier ......

 

I may be mistaken, but based on the rear panel:

To equalize everything: AVR.VCR.Out -> EQ.In -- EQ.Out -> AVR.DVR.In

To equalize only CD player: CD.Out -> EQ.In -- EQ.Out -> AVR.CD.In

 

Yeah, I think the VCR/DVR in/out are my saviour. I've never connected one of these up before (as you can tell). The VCR/DVR is a selectable setting on the front panel though. Going by the "equalize everything" option I presume I have to have to have it selected on the front panel ? How does that effect the CD input ?

 

This may be better !!

http://i.i.com.com/cnwk.1d/i/tim/2011/02/11/txnr609_re_300.jpg?tag=mncol;rvwBody

 

Think of the AVR as a seperate preamp and amp, with the VCR Out being the preamp sending the audio signal out to the amp, but the signal is intercepted and manipulated by the Equalizer before being sent on its way to the amp, which in this case is AVR's DVR In.

My memory is kind of fuzzy since it's been decades since I last futzed around with recording to tape cassette decks through a receiver, but I think it's the last input selected (which would be the CD input) before selecting the DVR/VCR input that determines the audio signal that will get routed through the VCR Out to the Equalizer and back in to the DVR In on the receiver.

 

Hey Capt, thanks heaps for your advice. I'll start messing around and see what happens. Gotta say, I love the Captain Beyond stuff. Did you ever pick up the 2fer on the Australian label RAVEN ?

http://ravenrecordscomau.melbournei...ct_details?category_id=2964&product_id=371550

 

You're welcome.

No, I've never seen that Australian RAVEN two-fer version but I probably have more than 5 copies of the S/T LP and a couple of copies of the first Japanese CD pressing.

As tempting as that RAVEN looks, my New Year's resolution is to try and stop buying more copies of music I already have too many versions of as it is. I don't expect this resolution to make it through February, knowing me.

 

Yeah, good luck with that, especially if you're planning on hanging around here !

 

Well, I tried the 'equalize everything' option and that didn't work. How's my CD>AMP connection supposed to be ? My CD currently runs digital coax to my amp ?

 

CD digital coax out to AVR digital coax in.

CD stereo analog out to Equalizer stereo analog in; Equalizer stereo analog out to receiver DVR stereo analog in.

Play a CD and use the remote to switch between the two inputs on the receiver. There should be sound from both inputs. If there is no sound from one of the inputs, disconnect the other one to see if the one that wasn't making now does.

 

SUCCESS !! Using the VCR/DVR in/outs as a loop wasn't happening for some reason. So it's now running as originally suggested CDout>EQin>EQout>AMP all standard RCA connections. Thanks guys for your help !! This is what I picked up by the way, locally here in Brisbane for $45.00 ......... http://www.hifi.com.sg/bargain/sview.asp?id=896

 

Wow, that's quite a bargain at the price you paid and how much they're asking for it at the linked site. May it provide lots of enjoyment over the years.

 

My Onkyo has a Pure Audio setting which I've liked the sound of but I've always thought it was a tad bright, which I think was due to my speakers. The EQ has enabled me to drop the upper mids and highs ever so slightly to what I've wanted at that setting. I understand theoretically this is defeating the purpose of "Pure Audio" even though it's a more acceptable sound to me ?

 

Yes, the fact to have “tape inputs/outputs” on an amp does not mean existing a “tape loop”, i.e. the “monitoring” function. There are amps having “tape inputs/outputs”, but the monitor function does not exist…

The idea of an inferior but possible realization of “equalize everything” in such a case where an amp has not “TAPE MONITOR” function is not complicated per se, and it lets listen to programs from different sources and record them, equalized or not (by-passed). But rather complicated to accomplish, for it needs an equalizer having several inputs and its own input selector, difficult to find.

See the block diagram of such a realization below please.



Or, in the last resort, a separate commutation station for several inputs is necessary whose output terminals will be connected to the “LINE IN” terminals of an equalizer not having several inputs and its own input selector. There are such commutators available on sale, or a DIY version is possible.

A direct connection of a TT not equipped with a built in phono stage to an equalizer is impossible because its signal will be totally jammed by the EQ’s noise.

 

My advice is don't
Analogue domestic equalisers are phase manglers
Try digital domain if you must,ITunes has one,be sparing
Reduction always better than signal increase, headroom must not be reduced for true fidelity.