DVD sound via audio-only sound system?


Can I physically connect a DVD player (not yet bought) to my stereo pre-amp? I want to run only the sound portion of movies through my stereo if possible. Also would like to play CDs on it (if I buy one).

Today I saw a Consumer Reports review of DVD players, which seemed to imply that your pre-amp needs to have either a coax or optical digital input in order to accept the sound from a CD player.

Is this true? Or do DVD players have "conventional" (i.e., unbalanced RCA-type jacks like most CD players use) interconnects? Is the digital input only required for "multichannel" (i.e., more than 2 channels), which I don't have?

Thanks for clarifying this!

- Eric
ehart
Yes, DVD Players will play just like a CD player through the line outputs into any preamp. I use a Pioneer DVD this way. And yes, the digital out is only for playing AC-3 and DTS surround sound and could also be used with an audio DAC.
yeah, that'll work fine. i do it with my dvd and it sounds damn good, even through "only" 2 channels. it's amazing how stereo spatial info can be recorded out-of-phase etc. to sound like it's all around you.
If you connect using the DVD player's 2 channel RCA line outs to the preamp's L/R line ins, the preamp shouldn't care what the source is. The info you read applies if you want to use home theater multichannel decoding in the preamp. As long as you'll be satisfied with 2 channel audio you'll have no problem. Be sure to check your DVD setup for the suitable audio out setting. If its set for Dolby and you connect to a non-Dolby preamp, it could cause damage.
I do not believe there is any such thing as a Dolby audio out setting on a DVD player. There are settings for the type of digital out, but the wrong one will not cause damage, the decoder just will not understand the signal. There are separate composite audio and video outs on many DVD players. These are the wrong ones for your purpose.