Help with a Hafler amp and AV receiver setup

[anotherkenny]

Hello, diyAudio! I'm new here and help would be very much appreciated.

I have a Yamaha htr-5450 receiver optically connected to my mac mini, which I am using to drive Polk Monitor70 IIs and a Yamaha powered subwoofer (sw-p201). [I'm concerned that the 80 watts/channel of the surround receiver could be underpowering the Polks, but that aside for a moment.]

I came into the possession of a Hafler DH-220 amp, a Dynaco Pat-5 preamplifier, a Dynaco fm tuner, a couple Altec Lansing 811-b horns, and two massive 12~13" woofers in 32"/ 24" / 21" homemade housings.

Obviously because I'm crazy; I want to bring the old school equipment to my first apartment.
Because the Hafler's 840 watt output just makes sense.

I have the two-way system hooked up with Altec Lancing N-800-E crossovers, and the system works. But I can't get the Yamaha receiver to output to the Hafler. When I plug the Yamaha's RCA out into either the Dynaco preamp or Hafler, the signal is tiny.

The output options of the Yamaha are Toslink optical or CDr out, and the system unfortunately doesn't convert to a digital input to an analog output analog. Since I want the Polks to use the digital signal from mac mini, and the Hafler doesn't accept a digital signal, I'm considering picking up a cheap digital to analog converter from ebay.

That's not the problem with the low signal though, because I tried using the mini's analog output to the yamaha's CDr (with a 3.5mm to RCA splitter), and with the old school system plugged into the CDr out, it is still only playing a tiny bit of music.

The Hafler can be played loudly and horribly from my ipod nano, but it can't be used with the Yamaha's output level. The manual says the REC output is 150mV/1.2kohms. This is probably the problem.

Can the Yamaha not be used as a preamp for the Hafler? What is causing the tiny signal? With the other stuff there was a volume level modulator with four speaker wires in and four out, can that be used to raise the Hafler's output? Would using the Toslink output from the Yamaha, converting it to analog RCA with the ebay box, then plugging it into the Hafler work?

+ Is the Yamaha powerful enough for the Polk Monitor70s? It sounds good with the subwoofer but I'm afraid of clipping the signal if I raise the volume too high.

I've never built a home audio system and this is my first post here! People left behind this giant old school equipment built into a house! Thank you for your ideas and help (and sorry for the long read)!

[unclejed613]

first of all, there's no such thing as UNDERpowering speakers, but there is such a thing as OVERdriving speakers.

you live in an apartment, you have neighbors who will complain about you playing your stereo too loud.

yes 150mV seems a bit low level for a line level output, as most amps are designed for full output at 1000-1500mV.

go through the Yamaha setup menus (read the owner's manual please) and see if there;s a way of routing audio out through the preamp outputs.