will i benefit from new av upgrade

[podracer]

Hi all. Please bear with me on this longish post but i really need advice.
I have a 36"crt recently bought and will keep for many years.
my av amp is a harmen karden av100 ( old pro logic amp, 10-15w per channel)
front speakers Monitor audio bronze b2's and wharfedale valdus centre.
sky box, vcr and DVD player ( with optical out ).
I have felt I need more bass for films and was gonna add a sub but my amp cannot take one. I also feel the amp is not driving the best out of these speakers. so I am lookin at either the sony 1200es or onkyo 505 AV amps both for €375 with richer sounds. all of my audio listening is MP3.

Will I notice an improvement in movie sounds with these amps and perhaps will not need a sub ??

Does the compressed audio enhancer of the sony actually work well in reality ??

If I ignore the HDMI in/out ( not applicable to me )and think 5.1/6.1 sound then would i get a sonically equal amp for cheaper and if so what would you recommend ??

I feel with the rapid improvements in TV tech then in 2 years upscalers etc. will be excellent and why pay more for some of it on an amp now. Let the amp do what its best at I guess in surround sound.

Any advice really appreciated and apologies for long post.

P

 

[Badger0-0]

With 10-15W per channel and those speakers, I'd suggest any modern receiver would be a massive improvement.

 

[podracer]

Thanks for that.
I have had 2 stores suggest that I get a sub for my setup rather than upgrading my amp. Though room shaking bass would be nice if a new amp extracted better sound even a bit more bass from my speakers I'd be happy enough. Subs are big money and placing them in my room near a power source with 2 kids on the go may be tricky.

Do my bronze b2 speakers have a bit more bite than what my harmen karden amp is extracting ?

P

 

[Badger0-0]

Seeing as the MAs are rated at 30-100W, I suspect your'e underdriving them by a fair margin. Seeing as the MAs go fairly low (40ish hz), the Wharfedale maybe lower and lower frequencies take the most power, I'd say there is every chance more power would give you better bass.
Considering what you've been using, I reckon you could get away with a lower end Yam or Denon, which wouldn't break the bank, as even these can throw out a genuine 50W per channel with 3 channels, I would think.

If that sorts the bass, all well and good
If not, then I would be thinking about a sub.