Yamaha RX-V4600 + 2/3 ch amp?

[pr33tz]

Hi,

I'm thinking of adding a 2/3ch amp to my existing receiver. What would be a good amp to compliment the Yamaha?

Or would I be better off with a dedicated pre-amp? If so, what would you recommend for around £800-£1000 (pre-amp and power amp)?

Is this any good?
http://www.superfi.co.uk/index.cfm/p...roduct_ID/3064

I'd be using Acoustic Energy Aelite 3 fronts, Aelite Center and Aelite 1 rears for 70% music, 30% movies.

Thanks in advance!!

[Resonance]

Originally Posted by pr33tz

Hi,

I'm thinking of adding a 2/3ch amp to my existing receiver. What would be a good amp to compliment the Yamaha?

Or would I be better off with a dedicated pre-amp? If so, what would you recommend for around £800-£1000 (pre-amp and power amp)?

Is this any good?
http://www.superfi.co.uk/index.cfm/p...roduct_ID/3064

I'd be using Acoustic Energy Aelite 3 fronts, Aelite Center and Aelite 1 rears for 70% music, 30% movies.

Thanks in advance!!

Is this the amp you just bought from ads section? Why are you considering replacing it so soon with a pre-power combination?

In my experience a power amp does improve a Yamaha for music, but ultimately a separate pre-amp would be better.

[pr33tz]

Yea, it is. For movies it's perfect, beautful sound, can't fault it. But with music it's not as good. Don't get me wrong, most would be happy with the sound but I've got "the bug".

I do listen to quite alot of music and I'm thinking maybe I should invest in a power amp to make best use of my speakers. But then I think, if I'm going to do it, may as well do it properly and get a pre-amp to. Then I think, that's going to cost me a small fortune so I'm back to square one. It's a vicious cycle!

I'll probably get a power amp now and see how I get on. Then maybe upgrade to a pre-amp later. Is it possible to have an AV receiver, pre-amp and a power amp connected together? If not, would a pre-amp/power amp combo perform just as good as an AV receiver when it comes to movies?

Originally Posted by Ian-R

Is this the amp you just bought from ads section? Why are you considering replacing it so soon with a pre-power combination?

In my experience a power amp does improve a Yamaha for music, but ultimately a separate pre-amp would be better.

[Resonance]

Originally Posted by pr33tz

Is it possible to have an AV receiver, pre-amp and a power amp connected together?

You CANNOT connect the speaker outputs from the amps together.

It's perfectly possible to do it another way though. On the pre-amp you only really need an input selector (for music inputs, eg CD, plus one from the pre-outs of the Yamaha) and a volume control to be able to do this. However the volume control is the slight complication as it is required for music, but not for AV. You would just have to set the pre-amp volume to a pre-determined setting to balance with the rest of your speakers every time you listen to AV sound.

Originally Posted by pr33tz

If not, would a pre-amp/power amp combo perform just as good as an AV receiver when it comes to movies?

It's personal preference, but I think so.

[sjalloq]

I've just done this with my 4600 and the difference was huge. I'm now driving my MA RS6's with a pair of NuForce monoblocks. Their control of the speakers is amazing. For £1000 you should be able to get a very good setup that will allow you to upgrade the rest of the system when you have more funds. Definately go with the power amps for now I'd say. eBay would be a good place to start. Get a pair of Linn LK140's or something and bi-amp your fronts.

[rowlandhills]

Cheaper than a pair of LK140s would be an AV5125, if you were thinking about the option of second hand Linn power amps. Would give you 5 channels of nominal 125w amplification, but can also be used (as mine is) to biamp a pair of stereo speakers (leaving one channel unused). Cost is about £600 on ebay.

If you were also looking at ways to incorporate a stereo preamp for better two channel music, then again Linn have an option to help out (can you tell that I'm a Linn fan ) in that many of their preamps have a "unity gain" mode which can be setup so that it will passthrough a signal unaltered to the power amps. In this situation, you'd connect the L&R pre-amp outputs from your Yamaha to one of the inputs on the preamp, set that input up for "unity gain" mode, then connect the Linn pre-amp outputs to the power amp. You would also connect up any stereo sources (eg. a CD player) direct to the Linn preamp. When listening to music, leave the Yamaha off and simply use the Linn pre and power amps. When watching movies, select the relevant "unity gain" input on the Linn preamp, and it will just pass through the L&R signal to the Linn power amps, avoiding the issue mentioned by Ian-R of needing to balance your volume controls.