Disclaimer/note: I'm an EAD & REL dealer. (and glad to be one!)
The bass management is not in effect when you go through the analog pass through. The ideal being to have the closest thing to a straight wire going through the processor.
If your source is digital and especially if you need bass management it is a pretty good option to use the very high quality DAC's in the EAD, use the EAD's bass management, and hang a nice REL subwoofer off of the main speakers using the REL high level input. REL's allow you to attach at either the line level output of the preamp (the same output going to the amplifier), or at the high level between the amplifier and the speakers. I experimented with the EAD, REL's and my surround sound setups. I found the best performance came from using the REL off of the main speakers then using the EAD to auto-program the bass response for my room.
When you set up the 8800 you use a supplied microphone and let the processor produce a series of tones which 'program' the processor to produce the best sound in a given room.
A last option that is a great way to go is to just buy an EAD DVDMaster and use it's multi-channel variable output straight into an amplifier.
The bass management is not in effect when you go through the analog pass through. The ideal being to have the closest thing to a straight wire going through the processor.
If your source is digital and especially if you need bass management it is a pretty good option to use the very high quality DAC's in the EAD, use the EAD's bass management, and hang a nice REL subwoofer off of the main speakers using the REL high level input. REL's allow you to attach at either the line level output of the preamp (the same output going to the amplifier), or at the high level between the amplifier and the speakers. I experimented with the EAD, REL's and my surround sound setups. I found the best performance came from using the REL off of the main speakers then using the EAD to auto-program the bass response for my room.
When you set up the 8800 you use a supplied microphone and let the processor produce a series of tones which 'program' the processor to produce the best sound in a given room.
A last option that is a great way to go is to just buy an EAD DVDMaster and use it's multi-channel variable output straight into an amplifier.