Using a home theater receiver as an amp/dac?
Jan 16, 2012 at 1:31 AM Thread Starter Post #1 of 7

skafle

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So we recently replaced our old receiver and now I have one in my room. I'm wondering what the best way to use it is, or if it even will have any effect on my music quality at all. It has stereo and several other inputs. Right now I have an cord running from the  aux jack on my source to the stereo inputs on the receiver, which my headphones plugged in. If this is stupid and won't do anything please say so, thanks in advance.
 
Jan 16, 2012 at 10:30 AM Post #2 of 7
Many of us use our receivers as headphone amps.  I use mine from time to time.  They are a lot better than many would think.  The bottom line is if you enjoy the sound coming out of it.  I use my receiver when watching tv, movies, or playing audio DVDs through my universal player.  It sounds good enough.  I like the sound of my other dedicated headphone amps more, so they get the majority of the play time, but my receiver is pretty good.  I'm sure yours is, too.
 
Jan 17, 2012 at 11:16 AM Post #3 of 7
I think hodgjy is definitely right as far as liking what you hear out of whatever amp/dac you choose.  But with that said, I know the critique most people have of receiver headphone jacks is that most of the time, they're just stepped down versions of the main speaker amp outputs.  As in, the manufacturer just routes that main amp power through a bunch of resistors to get the signal down to a hp-friendly level and that's not ideal for all cans. 
 
Just throwing my 2 pennies of hearsay in. 
 
Jan 17, 2012 at 3:23 PM Post #4 of 7
Pardon the hyjack, but I am also in the same position.  I have an "old" Acurus ACT-3 pre/pro that does NOT have a headphone port.  As IrishSammy indicated, that even if it did, it wouldn't be an optimium solution.  I need the the pre/pro as a DAQ for my computer and DVD player and an analog switch for my FM tuner.  So if I purchase a headphone amp (something like the LittleDot MkIII) that has volume control, i'll have 2 volume controls in the system to my headphones.  Of the several posts i have read, this is not a very good solution.  So what do i do?
 
Thanks....
 
 
Jan 17, 2012 at 6:12 PM Post #5 of 7


Quote:
Pardon the hyjack, but I am also in the same position.  I have an "old" Acurus ACT-3 pre/pro that does NOT have a headphone port.  As IrishSammy indicated, that even if it did, it wouldn't be an optimium solution.  I need the the pre/pro as a DAQ for my computer and DVD player and an analog switch for my FM tuner.  So if I purchase a headphone amp (something like the LittleDot MkIII) that has volume control, i'll have 2 volume controls in the system to my headphones.  Of the several posts i have read, this is not a very good solution.  So what do i do?
 
Thanks....
 


Does the Acurus have a preamp out?  If so, that would be where you would plug the LD in.  The preamp outs aren't on the main volume control so you wouldn't have to worry about having 2 in your setup. 
 
If it doesn't have preamp outs, there's not much you can do. 
 
 
Jan 17, 2012 at 7:03 PM Post #6 of 7
If there is a tape loop, you can feed the tape out into a dedicated headphone amp, and you'll be golden.
 
Quote:
Does the Acurus have a preamp out?  If so, that would be where you would plug the LD in.  The preamp outs aren't on the main volume control so you wouldn't have to worry about having 2 in your setup. 
 
If it doesn't have preamp outs, there's not much you can do. 
 



 


Quote:
Pardon the hyjack, but I am also in the same position.  I have an "old" Acurus ACT-3 pre/pro that does NOT have a headphone port.  As IrishSammy indicated, that even if it did, it wouldn't be an optimium solution.  I need the the pre/pro as a DAQ for my computer and DVD player and an analog switch for my FM tuner.  So if I purchase a headphone amp (something like the LittleDot MkIII) that has volume control, i'll have 2 volume controls in the system to my headphones.  Of the several posts i have read, this is not a very good solution.  So what do i do?
 
Thanks....
 



 
 

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