Sherbourn PA 7-350 Gain on both XLR and RCA

[creimes]

I now have this amp coming to me, I will be running it on a Marantz AV7702MKI since the EMP-1 I was waiting for has been axed I have asked a few people who own it but wanted to get some more opinions on matching this amp with that processor, some have issues with hiss from their speakers, I have the Chane A5rx-c towers, A2rx-c center and some UAC-8.2 ceiling speakers, the towers and center are rated at 92db efficiency, I guess I will only know once I have everything running hopefully in a week or so

As I remember the XLR usually has higher gain than the RCA ? I do see some amps specs as the XLR having a lower gain than the RCA input, are all amps the same in this respect ?

Chad

[knucklehead]

I haven't had that combo but I have had some experience with RCA singled ended vs XLR connections. This was with some Crown XLS amps. The gain was higher on the XLR connections than with the RCA. Not a problem other than not being able to balance the volume in a zone II amp/speaker combo. The XLR's gave me about 10-12db more than the RCA connections. I used a splitter from the XSP-1 to feed the preamp signal to the Crown amp and a Fusion Flex amp driving a pair of zone II speakers.

If it weren't for the Crown amps having a gain control I would not have been able to balance out the zone II - not enough volume with the Fusion amp, even at full volume. Most amps do not have gain/balance controls. Which is why I gave up on using a 2 channel preamp - there is very little versatility as compared to a decent AVR. Which is why I have the Denon 4520 now. The sound quality is still very good.

I don't know how you will be using this amp in your setup but even if you only use the XLR connections for the front LR or all of them the Marantz will equalize it all out. You can look at the channel trim levels and that info will tell you the db difference between all your speakers. If you want to see how XLR connections affect the speaker levels try using one XLR on one front speaker and feed the other front channel with RCA connections. Run room correction and note the differences in trim levels before and after. That should give you what you're looking for - if I understand your questions and concerns. The Marantz has excellent room correction.  I had the 'Mk 1' version for a while. What Audyssey does with subs is amazing. Sounds like you've got an excellent setup.

[creimes]

Thanks for the reply, yeah Ivor has the MKII version to some pro amps and has those Elusive 1099 speakers that are like 100db efficient and has no issues so I'm assuming I won't but I have read some reviews of the MKI and loud hiss which was reduced with attenuaters so I'm hoping I don't need to do this, I remeber the PA 7-350 being 29db gain but not sure if thats for the RCA or XLR and if one is more than the other but what you mentioned is a good way to find out, though if I have no issues I might not need to I really liked what Dirac did so maybe one day a Minidsp 88DRCA will be in the works.

Oh and the amp will be driving my 5 main speakers

Chad

[creimes]

Anybody ??

KeithL your a smart guy any knowledge of the 7-350

[teaman]

Dec 9, 2016 17:44:16 GMT -5 creimes said:

Anybody ??

KeithL your a smart guy any knowledge of the 7-350

www.soundandvision.com/content/sherbourn-pt-7030-surround-processor-pa-7-350-amplifier-ht-labs-measures#IE4ZHJgIVIfSvRFM.97

Here is one write up that shows details of the PA-7-250. Not sure if it has exactly what you are looking for though. In another post an owner had it listed at 34.8db gain with either the RCA or the XLR.

[creimes]

Well shes in the rack now

She is sooo beautiful

[sebastianr]

You are going to love it, Chad. I have mine hooked up with all XLR cables and I have it biwired to my L C R. I can only hear the tiniest hiss when I put my ear right up to the tweeters of my 92dB sensitive speakers. I have had no issues with it since the day I plunged it in. Sorry, I can't help you out with your gain structure question.

[creimes]

Got a chance to hook up the AV7702 and PA 7-350 and wow I'm lovin it, still preliminary but so far so good, no hiss that I had concerns about after reading up on some issues people had but my setup is quite as can be

[mgbpuff]

As you know from our PM exchange, my 11.2.4 system consists of 7 ear level Sanus Faber Home series speakers driven by the PA 7-350 from the AV7702 Mk1 via xlr and 4 UAC 8.2 ceiling speakers driven by a UPA-7 driven by RCAs. Everything works well and there is undetectable hiss. Enjoy!