[rklein]

Hi All:

Recently I upgraded my HT/2Channel system.  I bought a Khartago amp and some speakers from Klaus at Odyseey.  I also have an Etesian pre-amp on order.  A Marantz SR-7200 receiver handles my HT needs.  However, in using my receiver pre-outs and contecting my fronts directly to the Khartago, it seems I have lost the ability to use the speaker A/B feature on my Marantz Before my upgrade, my receiver powered my fronts and I connected 12 gauge speaker wire to the speaker B connections.  This wire ran under the floor in a crawl space and up the wall where my lazy boy chair is.  At this point the speaker wire is  connected to an old but still good pair of stax electrostatic head phones.  Now with my current setup, not only do I not get sound in my head phones when I switch to speaker B, my front speakers continue to play beautifully whether speaker A is chosen, speaker B is chosen or no speaker is chosen.  Can someone please enlighten me on a fix.  Will by yet to be delivered pre-amp play a role in this mystery

Thanks,

rklein

[djbnh]

Have you spoken about this with Klaus? He's excellent with customer service and advice...

[rklein]

Unfortunately, Klaus is visiting his Mother in Germany for a week or two.  I will also try calling the store where I purchased my receiver from.  They are pretty good to deal with and also quite knowledgable.  

rklein

[rklein]

Well, I just got off the phone with the Marantz dealer and he has informed me that by using the Khartago amp and bypassing the receiver amp for my fronts via the pre-outs on my receiver, I gave up the ability to use my Stax headphones.  He explained that both speaker A or B is controlled by the same amp in the receiver and by bypassing this amp and using the Khartago, speaker A & B have essentially ceased to exist.  His option was to buy a cordless headphone, which by the way, is not in my immediate plans considering the jack I just spent with Klaus.  I guess another option would be to have my headphone speaker wire connected to speaker B terminals on the back of the receiver (like I did before) and just unhook the pre-outs when I want to watch late night TV or movies through my Stax.   ain't technology a wonderful thing.

rklein

[Wayne1]

If the Marantz has a set of amp in jacks, as well as pre-out, you can use a "Y" adaptor to go between the out and in of the Marantz and still go out to the Khartago.

This will allow you to use the Marantz amp to power your headphones and the Khartago to run your speakers. If you want the main speakers off, just turn off the Khartago.

[rklein]

Hi Wayne:

You idea sounds like a winner.  Could you please explain it again in more detail.  I'm not quite following you...  and I am assuming that a Y adapter can be easily obtained locally.

Thanks much,

rklein

[rklein]

Hi Wayne:

One further question for you...  won't I be diminishing or degrading the signal by using a Y adapter.  This in not too critical for me in regards to listening through the Stax headphones, but I am worried about further degrading the signal between the Marantz and the Khartago.  Although this may be a moot point once I get the Etesian pre-amp from Klaus.

Thanks again for your help,

rklein

[Wayne1]

Using a "Y" adaptor, such as this one , will not degrade sonics all that much, if at all.

All you need to do is connect the two male connectors to the pre-out and amp in connectors on the Marantz. The cable going to the Khatrago can then be plugged into the female connector.

If having an extra connector inline bothers you, a longer "Y" cable can be made with a short run between the in and out of the Marantz and a longer leg to the Khartago with a male connector.

When you get the preamp, you will still need to run a cable to the Marantz and turn off the Khartago if you want to listen to headphones only.