Picked Up A Ton Of Equipment

[HipKat]

So a customer of mine just gave me a ton of Audio equipment and frankly, I have no clue how to connect all this stuff - well ,the receiver, amps, etc. Obviously I can connect an CD Changer lol.
It was all setup in a media room and was there when he bought the house in 1991. He's never used it.

Here's the list:

Luxman DC 114 CD Changer

Sherwood AM-7040 Power Amp

Sonance Sonamp 260 Amp

Sonance Sonamp 360 Amp

(3) Luxman R-114 Receivers

Sherwood EQ-1330 Equalizer

Panasonic PV 8450 VCR

Pioneer CT M6R Cassette Deck

Surround Sound, Inc System 3000 Surround Sound Decoder

I want to set it up so I have music in my garage an outdoor patio, but like i said, I have no clue how to connect the Receiver, Amps, SSD, and which speaker outs to use.

If anyone wants to lend a hand, I'll take pics of the back panels

 

[waylew]

Check google and see if you can find manuals for the stuff,would probably be a good first step.

 

[HipKat]

Check google and see if you can find manuals for the stuff,would probably be a good first step.

I did that last week and could only find 2 -the Sonamp 260 and the Luxman receivers but neither really give a good description of how to connect to each other. ANy other Manuals I could find, they needed to be paid for to download but since this stuff is so old, not much is out there. It's all from around 1990

 

[harshness]

Most line level audio is either going to be RCA or XLR connections. Maybe some 1/4" but not likely. Speakers are usually bare wire "post" terminals, banana plugs or pins (yuck). 1990 was probably too early for the SpeakOn (aka Neutrix) speaker connectors that a lot of pro gear uses today.

Looking at illustrations of what Sonance offers today, I'd guess spring or pin connectors.

At least it isn't 70 volt.

 

[HipKat]

Correct, RCA connectors with post terminals. I'll take pics of the back panels of the components I want to put together tomorrow. My garage has poor lighting so pics would look horrible lol

 

[waylew]

I did that last week and could only find 2 -the Sonamp 260 and the Luxman receivers but neither really give a good description of how to connect to each other. ANy other Manuals I could find, they needed to be paid for to download but since this stuff is so old, not much is out there. It's all from around 1990

Yeah,I don't trust those pay sites,don't really believe they have what I'm looking for and they're just phishing for data,esp. CC #s.

 

[HipKat]

Yeah,I don't trust those pay sites,don't really believe they have what I'm looking for and they're just phishing for data,esp. CC #s.

Exactly. They looked less than official to me

 

[HipKat]

OK, pics.

From top down:
SSI Surround Sound Proc., Sonamp 260, Sonamp 360, Sherwood AM-740

Front

Luxman R114 Front

Back

 

[harshness]

I have to say that I don't understand your boggle. These pieces are mostly straightforward and reasonably well labeled.

The trick today is finding analog audio sources. If the impedance of the speaker output isn't labeled, assume 4-8 ohms.

Unless you have a special application, I'd probably stay away from the Sonance VCA 1 as it requires considerable thought, begs for some obscure speaker configurations and is perhaps the oldest piece here at 30 years.

Don't be put off by the 47 ohm legends on the RCA inputs as that's standard for line level analog audio.

The "signal processor" ins and outs on the Luxman receivers are for adding an analog equalizer or effects processor to the system. They are very similar to the pre-out and main-in connections but apply to all inputs.

 

[HipKat]

I have to say that I don't understand your boggle. These pieces are mostly straightforward and reasonably well labeled.

The trick today is finding analog audio sources. If the impedance of the speaker output isn't labeled, assume 4-8 ohms.

Unless you have a special application, I'd probably stay away from the Sonance VCA 1 as it requires considerable thought, begs for some obscure speaker configurations and is perhaps the oldest piece here at 30 years.

Don't be put off by the 47 ohm legends on the RCA inputs as that's standard for line level analog audio.

The "signal processor" ins and outs on the Luxman receivers are for adding an analog equalizer or effects processor to the system. They are very similar to the pre-out and main-in connections but apply to all inputs.

I guess my biggest concerns are one of or more of the amps and the SS Decoder. Components, like CD players, Equalizers, I get that, did many of them back in the day, but I never played with amps before

 

[harshness]

I guess my biggest concerns are one of or more of the amps and the SS Decoder.

There's no magic in amplifiers (other than getting them to turn on an off). They take a line level signal in and pump out speaker level. The only real design work involved is making sure the speaker impedance matches the output impedance.

Vintage Surround Sound decoders aren't of much use since Dolby Digital is what most all content is going to be encoded today. Vintage decoders typically dwell in the left, center and right channel domain and depend on an analog multiplexing scheme that is long gone. Some of the fancier ones offered simulated "surround" but it was all based on analog schemes.

 

[HipKat]

There's no magic in amplifiers (other than getting them to turn on an off). They take a line level signal in and pump out speaker level. The only real design work involved is making sure the speaker impedance matches the output impedance.

Vintage Surround Sound decoders aren't of much use since Dolby Digital is what most all content is going to be encoded today. Vintage decoders typically dwell in the left, center and right channel domain and depend on an analog multiplexing scheme that is long gone. Some of the fancier ones offered simulated "surround" but it was all based on analog schemes.

Knowing this stuff is from like 1990, I'm thinking i can live without the SS Decoder.

So I get the line level in and out, but not sure where those lines are coming from on the receiver, or is it pre-out to line in and line out to main in? And then connect the speakers to the amp instead of or with the Receiver speaker connectors?

 

[harshness]

So I get the line level in and out, but not sure where those lines are coming from on the receiver, or is it pre-out to line in and line out to main in? And then connect the speakers to the amp instead of or with the Receiver speaker connectors?

Those aren't anything you need to concern yourself with. Speakers should be connected to the binding posts (I use banana plugs). You can choose whatever input you want other than "PHONO". If you do need to use that input (because you have so many analog sources), make sure you slide the switch to AUX. PHONO inputs often have an amplifier on them so that they can handle the lower voltages of turntable cartridges.

As I said above, the pre-out and main in are more or less the same as the Signal Processor in and out. Unless you have an equalizer or an effects processor, leave them alone.

Analog is like plumbing or DC circuits. Its mostly either line level or speaker level and as long as you don't try to cross them up, you're golden.

Finally, unlike RF, you do NOT need to terminate unused connectors.

 

[HipKat]

Those aren't anything you need to concern yourself with. Speakers should be connected to the binding posts (I use banana plugs). You can choose whatever input you want other than "PHONO". If you do need to use that input (because you have so many analog sources), make sure you slide the switch to AUX. PHONO inputs often have an amplifier on them so that they can handle the lower voltages of turntable cartridges.

As I said above, the pre-out and main in are more or less the same as the Signal Processor in and out. Unless you have an equalizer or an effects processor, leave them alone.

Analog is like plumbing or DC circuits. Its mostly either line level or speaker level and as long as you don't try to cross them up, you're golden.

Finally, unlike RF, you do NOT need to terminate unused connectors.

No, no phono.... yet lol. I have an EQ, but wasn't sure if I'd use it or not. And sorry if I sound completely naive, but are you saying to connect an amp to a component input?? Can't be right.

Let me try and clarify. I know how to hook up a receiver, speakers, components, etc. It's primarily the amps I'm confused about. I only need one, obviously and the big Sherwood is the one I most interested in adding

 

[waylew]

From the rcv,PRE OUT to input on the amp,not sure on variable or direct,just try em both.Just make sure the volume is turned all the way down when you first power up,or you may be in for a LOUD surprise.

 

[harshness]

There needs to be some sort of pre-amp between any source and the amplifier to give you control over line levels (and ultimately over volume). That could be the pre-out from the Luxman, a mixer with RCA jacks or a conventional preamp.

As I said before, getting the amps to turn on and off is often the trick -- especially if you use very efficient speakers -- as a certain "volume" level (voltage) from the preamp is required to "wake" the amps and keep them awake.

These modular systems can be a whole lot of work (which is why fully integrated Audio/Video Receivers rule the day for most) but as I said, they're conceptually straightforward.

 

[HipKat]

There needs to be some sort of pre-amp between any source and the amplifier to give you control over line levels (and ultimately over volume). That could be the pre-out from the Luxman, a mixer with RCA jacks or a conventional preamp.

As I said before, getting the amps to turn on and off is often the trick -- especially if you use very efficient speakers -- as a certain "volume" level (voltage) from the preamp is required to "wake" the amps and keep them awake.

These modular systems can be a whole lot of work (which is why fully integrated Audio/Video Receivers rule the day for most) but as I said, they're conceptually straightforward.

Whole lot of work is right. Maybe I should get some speakers, maybe an older set of CV's, get the receiver hooked up and going them figure out the amps. Seeing the original setup with all this had 3 amps, I wasn't sure if the Sonamps were acting as pre-amps or what. I wish when I picked it up, it was all connected still so I could have just taken note of the wiring

 

[harshness]

Preamps live in the line-level domain (<2 volts). Amps take line-level in and put out speaker-level voltages.

If these are a system, the Luxmans were the pre-amps/tuners and their speaker outs were perhaps not used.

Amps can be bridged (two amps put in series with the output of the second biased off of the first -- I don't think these models can be bridged) but they cannot be stacked (run in parallel). You only get one shot at applying amps to a line-level signal and then it becomes speaker-level. Once the signal reaches more than two volts, it can no longer be fed to an amp.