Amp questions - Looking for advice

macspost

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Hi there,

I'm new to this whole home cinema deal (and this forum) having recently been given an amp and some speakers by a friend. There are two parts to this post really - firstly I have a problem with the amp and I want to know if anyone has any suggestions or whether it is worth fixing, and secondly there are a couple of amps I am looking at as replacements if it isn't worth fixing or just as an upgrade and I'm not sure which is better, I've been reading lots of past posts on the subject and I realise that this is somewhat open to opinion but would still like to ask....

The amp is a Yamaha DSP-A595a, quite old I know but it still sounds ok to someone like me that is used to just the TV speakers. The problem that I have is that the SR speaker does not turn on when the amp is first turned on so I only get sound from the other 4 speakers and the sub. If I turn the volume right up then the SR speaker suddenly kicks in and then I can turn the volume down and it stays working, its like it needs the initial boost to start it working each time. Even after this the SR speaker seems to stay quieter that the SL speaker so I have to compensate for this by setting the SL speaker level to -10db so they sound the same, annoying but not the end of the world. I have tried swapping speaker connections etc and it is definately the amp doing this.

I do have the money for a new amp and am wondering whether it is worth trying to fix the A595a or whether I should just change it. The amps I am looking at are the Denon 1905 and the Yamaha RX-V750, both of which I have found for about 220 quid and both of which seem to be regarded quite highly. I suppose the questions are - which one would you recommend and do you think I would notice a significant worthwhile difference in sound quality and "spatial processing" from these newer amps compared to the A595a? The features (or the ones that I would use) don't seem to be that different, they all do DD and DTS etc but I don't have a lot of experience in how much difference you really notice between the quality of different amps that appear to do the same thing.

Also I have read on this forum about there being a difference between the EU RX-V750 and the UK DSP-AX750, other than the receiver (which I wouldn't use much anyway) is there a significant difference between the output of these units? The cheapest I can find the DSP-AX750 for is 350 pounds which is 130 pounds more than the EU version of the amp, are the changes in the UK version really worth this difference?

Thanks for any advice you can give,

Mark
 
If it was me, I probably wouldn't get the amp commercially repaired. But I would have a look inside to see if I can do it myself. It sounds like a dirty point, so I would clean up the insides by using a hair-dryer to remove any loose material, and use a "cleaning agent" and a cotten wool bud to clean some points.

Welcome to the forum, and make sure that the amp is not connected to the mains while you do the above.
 
Thanks for the reply, I will have a go at cleaning it myself to see whether this fixes the problem, is there any kind of cleaner you would recommend? Also any particular points to look at / clean, I've never looked inside an amp like this so wouldn't really know where to start.

Also I have been told that using hair dryers / vacuum cleaners inside computers can cause damage as it creates a lot of static, do you know if this is the same for an amp or should it be safe?
 
Best to use compressed air for blowing dirt away - contact cleaner would probably be ok for cleaning parts of the amp
 

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