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Technical Question! Please help.

post #1 of 12
5/11/06 at 10:44pm
Thread Starter 
I got my Little Dot II amp in on Tuesday night, and the thing is really impressive for the money. I just bought some nice interconnects for it, thinking it would simply connect to my receiver and I could use it as a headphone out, of sorts. Simple in theory... not in practice.

To give you an idea, I have my DVD/SACD player connected to the DVD in on my receiver, and what I'm trying to do is output the amp FROM the receiver so I can listen through it without having to swap cables all the time. Is this even possible? If not, I guess I'm stuck using the amp as a stand alone with my iPod (which would suck).

Can someone help me with this problem? I thought this would be a simple issue and I just spent a fortune on a set of interconnects for this!
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post #2 of 12
5/11/06 at 10:59pm
You can connect the amp to your receiver's tape loop by connecting to the receiver's tape out (if it has such a connection.) Alternatively, you can use the VCR (DVR) output. The "tape loop" should have both an input and an output and you will only need to use the "out" portion of it. Switch on the tape function on the front of the receiver to listen through your amp. Should work....
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post #3 of 12
5/11/06 at 11:03pm
Thread Starter 
That was my original thought, but would that not eliminate the ability to listen to my DVD player (ie, selecting Tape means I've turned off the DVD on the receiver)?

Sorry if this seems stupid. I'm a little ashamed of this newbiness, but this is my first component system since my Vintage Pioneer Phono rig! I appreciate your response!
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post #4 of 12
5/11/06 at 11:06pm
There should be a tape out function on the front of your receiver that when selected it allows you to select another source to be outputed to the tape out section. You won't be able to listen to it on your loudspeakers since you are not using the other half of the loop, but you should be able to hear it through the headphone amp/headphones.
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post #5 of 12
5/11/06 at 11:15pm
Thread Starter 
There is, and I just tried it out, but the result is tinny, VERY low volume sound. The receiver's volume control has no effect and cranking the amp to max results in slightly louder, very quiet, tinny sound...

Jeez. I thought this would be easy! I appreciate your help so far Pappucho.

By the way, using the Pre-amp OUT section doesn't seem to work either. Works for the amp, but kills the useability of my speakers.
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post #6 of 12
5/11/06 at 11:47pm
Thread Starter 
Problem solved. Thanks, dude. I feel pretty stupid - I forgot to select my "B" speakers.
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post #7 of 12
5/12/06 at 1:43am
A perfect example of the immense value of Head-Fi.

People helping people get good audio. Pappucho, you made my day.
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post #8 of 12
5/12/06 at 1:01pm
So glendale, what do you think of your LD2? And what kind of driver tubes are you using?
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post #9 of 12
5/12/06 at 3:32pm
Thread Starter 
Tyll, I couldn't agree more. Especially nice to see such a fast and COURTEOUS response from Pappucho on a very newb question.

Red Leader, I couldn't be more impressed. All the impressions I read on the LD2 are 100% accurate (including the downsides). Excellent sound for an amp at this price and really, REALLY works well with my K701s. So well in fact, that I haven't taken the time to hear what it does to my Grados!

The only real issue I have with the amp, which was apparently designed with Sennheisers (300 ohm) in mind, is that the lower quality volume pot makes playing at very low volumes impossible - go too low, and the left channel dies out completely. I like to listen at very low volumes before bed.

And Red, I was actually going to PM you over a post you left on another thread (LD Micro vs LD2)... sounds like you have some good replacement tubes for the amp. Can you provide the details? I've heard the microphonics of the tubes the amp ships with are easily rectified by popping in higher quality tubes. Care to divulge?
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post #10 of 12
5/12/06 at 3:39pm
You can also "Y" out of your CD player, and feed each amp seperately. That way you will have less electronics in the path of your "Little Dot" amp.

- augustwest
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post #11 of 12
5/12/06 at 4:37pm
Thread Starter 
I was thinking of that originally, but really wanted to avoid splitting any signals as much as possible. As it stands, I got it going well, and it ROCKS!!!

Thanks everyone!
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post #12 of 12
5/12/06 at 6:27pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Tyll Hertsens
A perfect example of the immense value of Head-Fi.

People helping people get good audio. Pappucho, you made my day.
Thanks Tyll, this is a great community that I am proud to be a member of for this very reason. Glad I could be of help!

The Y adaptor method may also work, but then you're limited to whatever source the Y's connected to. The "tape loop" method allows you to alternate sources without unplugging/plugging any cables.
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