Use for old receiver?

Would it possible to hook up my old denon avr-2000 to my current receiver (onkyo TXSR500) to drive my fronts? It has a little more "punch" than the onkyo, but I want to keep the digital 5.1 set-up/modes from the onkyo.

Just a thought I have had, don't know if it will work, or if the WAF is gonna be there (she thinks there is too much stuff in the ent. center as it is).

If this doesn't work, anyone interested in the denon?????

Install it your garage, your office, den, or study - put it in a space where WAF doesn't have to matter...

If both receivers have preamp ins & outs you could do what you want. You'd go from the Onkyo front, or main, pre out into the Denon's pre "in". This way you'd be just using the power section of the Denon. If the Denon don't have preamp connections, forget about it. Maybe look for a used power amp down the road, like an Adcom.

I'm a little surprised, I've always found the Onkyo I've heard to be punchy and strong for it's power rating comparative to it's competitors. But maybe Denon put more horse power under the case of their 2 channel vs the HT stuff.

If you have pre-outs and pre-ins, that is.

It works really well. I am still using a 1988-vintage Carver Receiver for my mains. I sorely needed the high-current amp when I used Vandersteens for my mains. It still has way more punch than the multi-channel receiver, makes all the difference for music.

I use the same pre-loop for my subs, which are hooked up in stereo.

Try it out. How can it be bad to lighten the load from that AV receiver, which has too many channels going on, IMHO.

Next step: I am going to borrow a nice used Adcom 555 sitting in Father-in-law's basement.

jocko

Thanks all,

I have some time this week w/ the wife out of the house, so I may try to hook it up and see how it sounds.

Mr. Peabody---The Onkyo is pretty good, but the Denon is higher powered, and is even heavier (not that always means much). I think it was a pretty good unit in its day, just not Digital.

Thanks again, Happy New Years to everyone

OBG

it's the wussification of modern receivers. Those old amps put out huge power and didn't have to lie about it like the newer ones (i'm speaking of the amps that the "average" person buys of course). The capacitors in some of them are bigger than my fists..arrr arr arrrrrrrrrr.

The dilemma you face is common..you need something to be able to decode the new formats..DD, DTS..etc. but also need the power to drive some big speakers without selling your house and first born...I think you will be pleased by pre-amp'ing the FL and FR to the older unit. I'm personally looking for an older stereo receiver right now to push some mach one's my father in law has...good luck!

Ah, Mach 1's should be fun. If you could go the expense, strap them to a used Adcom and let the 15's rumble. If you didn't want to go that expensive look for a 2 channel Onkyo or another receiver that may offer high current output. Typically those vintage receivers are somewhat better with the discrete circuits but that's not always true. When I was helping my brother get into audio we picked up a used vintage Sansui that we soon learned lacked much in the detail department when comparing to a vintage Luxman. Of course, those 2 pieces were in a different retail bracket new. Neither of them had the punch of a 48 wpc Onkyo I had around for my son. A vintege HK would slam as well.

Had the time this afternoon to pull the Denon out of the closet and the Onkyo out of the HT cabinet.

Dang, no pre-outs on the Onkyo. There went my idea. With all the equipment out and with all my spare wires out, I messed around a little. I wanted to compare the Denon to the Onkyo. There definitely is a difference in the power output, the Denon just has more punch (15 watt or so listed, but sounds like even more to me).


With that out of the way, would it be a problem to have the Onkyo and Denon wired to the speakers at the same time?? I would only have one unit on at a time. I would only listen to CDs (or radio) w/ the Denon (possibly hook up PS2 to it too).

Thanks for the advice and any more advice on the above question.