Hello!
I recently installed a 7 zone audio system in a clients home and ran into a little unforeseen issue.
The preamp that I installed does not have a "fixed" pre-out. Yes, there are a few line level outputs. The problem is that I would prefer to feed the power amps a "fixed" signal WITH tone control capability. Tape outputs are of course immune to the effects of the base and treble controls.
I specified an NAD c165bee preamp for the system. I chose this preamp because it had 2 pre-outputs one that is variable and the other fixed, or so I thought. Pre-out 2 was indeed variable just like pre-out 1, but pre-out 2 has an additional gain control located on the back of the unit that can back off the signal -12db. Anyway, no "fixed" out WITH tone controls.
I took some time and searched the net for a preamp that could provide fixed pre outputs, but to no avail. I find this interesting because I would think that this would be required for most basic distributed home audio systems. Let me ramble on a little about the overall system to further explain.
There are 7 zones in the house. Each zone consists of a pair of in wall speakers and a volume control. The rack system consists of an HD radio tuner and a 300 disc cd changer feeding the pre-amp. The pre-amp feeds a 12 channel power amp that cascades to a secondary 2 channel power amp. The power amps then feed the v/c's that in turn feed the 7 pairs of speakers.
At no point can I have the volume knob on the pre-amp adjust the volume of the overall house. Only the individual rooms v/c (in my opinion
![]()
) should adjust the rooms volume. This will help to keep the confusion down for the clients.
Does anyone out there know where to find a good preamp or possibly have a creative solution to this problem?
Thanks all!
I recently installed a 7 zone audio system in a clients home and ran into a little unforeseen issue.
The preamp that I installed does not have a "fixed" pre-out. Yes, there are a few line level outputs. The problem is that I would prefer to feed the power amps a "fixed" signal WITH tone control capability. Tape outputs are of course immune to the effects of the base and treble controls.
I specified an NAD c165bee preamp for the system. I chose this preamp because it had 2 pre-outputs one that is variable and the other fixed, or so I thought. Pre-out 2 was indeed variable just like pre-out 1, but pre-out 2 has an additional gain control located on the back of the unit that can back off the signal -12db. Anyway, no "fixed" out WITH tone controls.
I took some time and searched the net for a preamp that could provide fixed pre outputs, but to no avail. I find this interesting because I would think that this would be required for most basic distributed home audio systems. Let me ramble on a little about the overall system to further explain.
There are 7 zones in the house. Each zone consists of a pair of in wall speakers and a volume control. The rack system consists of an HD radio tuner and a 300 disc cd changer feeding the pre-amp. The pre-amp feeds a 12 channel power amp that cascades to a secondary 2 channel power amp. The power amps then feed the v/c's that in turn feed the 7 pairs of speakers.
At no point can I have the volume knob on the pre-amp adjust the volume of the overall house. Only the individual rooms v/c (in my opinion
Does anyone out there know where to find a good preamp or possibly have a creative solution to this problem?
Thanks all!
