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Using an integrated amp for home theater set up

Here is my set up:
Classe CAP 150
Magnepan 1.6

I'm planning to make the leap to a home theater set up but want to continue using my Classe to run my main Maggies.

Do I now simply buy a home theater receiver and somehow connect my Classe to that amplifier?

I have approximately $1000 to spend on that receiver and plan on using it to run a Magnepan center speaker and magnepan surround speakers. The room isn't huge and only meansures 13 x 19 with an 8 foot ceiling. I know the Maggies are tough to drive but I don't plan on waking up the neighbours with this system.

Any thoughts or suggestions would be great. I have no idea how to incorporate my Classe integrated amp within the home theater realm.

Thanks
butterscotchmusic
danlib1
819 posts
 
I use a nice Onkyo HT Receiver. I use the L/R pre outs to my preamp, which has a Home Theater Passthrough option. From there, the L/R is fed out to my Amp, and then out to my Martin Logan L/R speakers. The Onkyo handles all volume and Audyssey room management for tv and movies. Time for music only? Everything is off except the pre and the amp, and my Marantz SA-11S1 SACD player or AppleTV/Dac combo feeds the system pure unadulterated stereo. There are some good integrateds that have passthrough- Peachtree Nova, Naim Nait 5i, VAC Avatar SE, and many others, so it's easily doable if you want to pursue it.
danlib1
819 posts
 
My apologies- I had my headphones on when I posted my response and I now realize my answer was not what you were looking for. A decent HT receiver will have pre outs that you can use to drive your Classe, using the HT receiver as your preamp essentially. As for HT receivers, since you will be driving the Maggies with the Classe, power won't be your issue- refinement of the signal sent to the Classe will be more the issue. Maybe Kal (KR4) will chime in with some suggestions to help you narrow the field.
dtc's avatar
dtc
1,047 posts
 
I believe the CAP-150 has a "Separate" option (the 151 has this and I think the 150 does also), which allows you to separate the pre-amp and amp sections. The AMP input then bypasses the pre-amp section and goes directly to the amp.

You can use a HT receiver with pre-outs and connect the L/R pre-outs to the AMP inputs on the CAP-150. The center and surrounds can be connected directly to the receiver. The setup, room equalization, volume control etc. is all handled by the receiver.

I am not very familiar with the Magnapan center and surround speakers, but I think they may be fairly low impedence, which means you will need a HT receiver that handles the low impedence. I would look at Onkyo (NR807/SR707), Pioneer Elite(21/23 TXH) and NAD (T 747) as good receivers that can also probably handle the low impedence. Hopefully you can get input from people with your center and surround speakers.

Take a little time to learn about the options and I am sure you will be pleased.
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