Kef R11 amp

[Cyral]

I will probably buy the Kef R11 this month. Will demo them first against the R7, to see if they’re a substantial upgrade. If they are not, will probably go with the R11 anyway as WAF thinks the more woofers the better.. lucky me.

But I’am still not sure what amp/avr to buy. Have my eyes set on either the denon x3700 or x4700 as I will buy a subwoofer for movies in the future.

Are there better options short term for music for around the same budget? Will the AV receiver be significantly worse compared to a stereo amp?

 

[Ugg10]

If you are only using one pair of stereo speaker and a sub I.e. not centre, rears, sides, atmos etc. then a stereo amp will definitely out perform an AVR for the same price. Depending on the sub you can either connect to the per-outs on the amp (line level) or the speaker terminals (speaker level) but most stereo amps do not have subwoofer crossover control so you will need to use the controls on the rear of the sub and then tune by ear for crossover point, phase and volume. However with the R11 you may find you don’t need a sub. Also worth bearing mind that if you get a stereo amp with HT Bypass (also called processor mode or pre/power mode) you can integrate it into a surround system later so long as the AVR has front L/R preouts.

Based on the price of the Denon looks like you budget is up to £1500. If you look in the ex demo or clearance section of some of the larger dealers then you might find the following in budget (or just above) or just drop down a leave and should go fairly well with the Kefs-

Arcam SA30 (SA20)
Nad C399
Rega Elicit-R (Elex R)
Yamaha AS1100
Musical Fidelity M6si (M3si)
Roksan Atessa or K3

Best thing is when you audition the speakers also get them to set up a couple of amps and see what your ears like.

 

[Paul7777x]

I’d also see if you can find a used Lyngdorf 1120.

An AV receiver is not optimal for stereo. Even stereo films.

The 1120 will also integrate any sub you may buy quite superbly not an easy task without good DSP, and Room Perfect is very good indeed.

And as Ugg says, you may find you can do without a sub with the mighty 11s. Certainly there’ll be no rush to get one.

 

[Cyral]

Thanks for the suggestion so far. The Lyngdorf 1120 seems like a good deal. However, slightly above budget for now.

Will they have trouble driving the R11 at high volume? 120 watts at 4 ohm seems plenty though..