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Connections Question

Posted by Mike 371 (A) on August 4, 2016 at 19:24:26

Please forgive me for not necessarily understanding all that I'm going to try to ask. For years, I've been somewhat happy with my Kef Reference 103/3 speakers, and Onkyo TX-SR605 AV Receiver and a couple other devices (Onkyo CD changer, SiriusXM receiver and an Ipod Classic) connected to the TX-SR605. The Kef speakers came with a "Kef Kube" back when I purchased them in 1988. Dumbed down, the Kef Kube is a bass boost equalizer made specifically for the Kef 103/3s and which, when originally bought, the Kube was connected via the tape loop on the Nakamichi receiver I once owned. The Kef Kube ceased working so I simply have been using the speakers without the Kube and while the speakers weren't as full and the deep bass I previously enjoyed wasn't there anymore, they still sounded darn good as compared to other stuff out there that I sampled. Only if I spent a small fortune could I get new speakers that would surpass my Kefs so I stuck with them despite not getting the full benefit from their design.

Fast forward to a few years ago and I started to try to educate myself a bit more on home theater systems and in doing so, learned (from Onkyo) that I was taking a "huge" risk that my Kef 103/3s, which are rated at 4 ohms, might cause damage to the TX-SR605 or vice versa because the TX-SR605 was not equipped to drive speakers rated at less than 8 ohms. So I began looking at new receivers and, in the process, also started looking around for a new Kube in order to get the most out of my speakers. Having no luck finding a used Kef Kube and learning from Kef that they do not make the Kubes anymore, I was left basically one option, purchase an equalizer to mimic the Kube.

From reading through several audio forums, I learned that A number of similarly situated Kef owners had success with replacing the Kube with the Behringer Ultra-curve Pro 2496 DEQ. At that point, I pretty much decided that that was the best solution for my Kube problem. Also, I decided on buying the Onkyo TX-RZ800 AV Receiver as well.

I then began to research how best to connect the Eq to my new receiver. I soon learned that once I connected the TX-RZ800 to the Behringer, I would need to connect the Eq to a power amp. Changing directions and after some research, I decided on the Outlaw Model 5000 power amplifier.

Now feeling pretty comfortable with all my choices, I went back to checking out how I was going to connect all this stuff.

Based upon my research, here's what I'm thinking—I should connect the Onkyo tX-RZ800 front pre-outs to the Behringer EQ (it's a two channel equalizer, perfect for my Kef 103/3s). The Behringer Eq should then be connected to the front inputs on the Outlaw. The remaining 3 channels can be connected directly between the pre-outs on the TX-RZ800 and the Outlaw's inputs with all speakers originating from the amp. Here's where I run into some problems. I'm so used to just two types of connections, RCA or digital optical, that the specs on the behringer threw me a bit of a curve. The Behringer Eq only has XLR inputs. It has an ax RCA output so I can connect it to the Outlaw amp but my question is, how do I connect the TX-RZ800 to the Behringer Eq? I think, but am not certain, I can buy an XLR to RCA (female) adapter and then run the RCA cable from the fronts on the receiver to the adapter which then connects to the Behringer through one of the XLR inputs. It would be great if the questions ended there but then, as I'm doing more reading, I begin to read that balanced connections are preferred and to do that, I'd need to add at least one more component, an unbalanced to balanced converter box or boxes. So if I make a balanced connection between the receiver and the Eq, what difference will that make given the fact that the only way to connect the Outlaw amp is through unbalanced RCA inputs? I could buy a more expensive amp that has XLR inputs but is it really worth it given my application? I can't seem to find an answer to the question, for a standard home theater setup, does it really matter if you use unbalanced (RCA) or balanced (XLR) connections? The cable runs I'm looking at are no more than 3 feet long, not long at all. Another question I have, can you use another converter box in order to get a balanced connection between the Eq and the Outlaw amp even though the amp doesn't have any XLR inputs? I think the answer is no because the source (Eq) may be sending the signal through the XLR output, but once you convert or change the input to the standard RCA jacks, the connection becomes unbalanced, correct? Finally, the receiver has a dedicated subwoofer out so I'll not need the amp to drive my sub, not sure that matters but it seemed that this issue with balanced versus unbalanced connections appeared to be associated with discussions regarding subwoofer connections.

Thanks in advance for your assistance.

Mike 371

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