In need of some Amplifier advice. Is therereally any point in it with my current setup?

moskaudio,

I’m not sure if you are aware, but there is a great dealer right there in Moore, OK where you can listen to some speakers. Great guy to work with. I’m sending you a private message. I agree with others here that, as an actual transducer, different speakers will make the biggest difference in the overall sound that you will hear.

I, like you, always wondered if I could improve the two channel sound quality of my receiver by adding a separate amp. I have paired separate amps with several receivers, including a Yamaha RX-V1800, Onkyo TX-NR 809, and Denon AVR-X5200. I always like to get receivers that are in the upper middle of the manufacturer’s range, as I do believe they use a bit better components than their "el cheapo" models, but more importantly, because they offer pre-outs. The amps I have used in conjunction with my receivers include a McCormack DNA-1 Deluxe rev. A, Sherbourn 5/1500a, and Krell FPB 400cx.

Now, my family room system is where I have the newest AVR, which is the Denon. The amp I currently have paired with the Denon is a Krell FPB 400cx, which is a class A power amp. I must say, there is something nice about the sound I am now getting with the addition of the Krell. But it is expensive and runs hot as Hades.

If you do decide to add a separate amp, you will need a set of interconnects and I recommend a quality set.

If it were me, what would I do? Decide what I want....and get just that. If you think you might like the EMT speaker, have a listen to see if you do. But fair warning, those are good speakers not home theater speakers. You may not like the sound from them until you hear them AND you may not like the sound from them if you don’t match them with good hi-fi equipment. They probably need lots of current and clean power and signal to sound their best. Hear them with well matched power amp and source. If you use a HT preamp and amp with speakers like these, you may only enjoy 1/2 of what they could sound like. By mixing, selling, trying again audio equipment many audio nuts end up wasting money, having fun too, but still wasting money.
BTW I had wasted about $6-10k on audio equipment before I knew what I was doing and what I wanted. Big mistake because I don’t make Wall Street kind of money!

Driving a good pair of speakers with any part of an AVR if you care about 2-channel is just silly.  SILLY.  And, as you'll see below, completely unnecessary.  It's like buying a Ferrari and putting Sears Roadhandlers on it.  Sure, you can do it and you still might get some enjoyment from it, but most of the performance you paid a lot for will go unrealized.  You can patch in a good amp through your AVR preouts and that'd be like replacing the rear tires.  Yup, you get to enjoy more of the performance, but you're still leaving a crapload of enjoyment on the table.  Not until you replace the entire AVR in the 2-channel chain with a good stereo amp and pre (and assuming you have a decent source of course) will you get full enjoyment out of good speakers.  And you CAN replace both while leaving the AVR in for TV/video purposes.  Here's how...

Since you have preouts on your AVR, you simply take the front L/R preouts and route them to an unused input -- let's call it "video" -- on the dedicated stereo pre (or its HT bypass if it has one) and connect the stereo pre to the stereo amp as usual, which is then obviously connected to the speakers.  (Same can be done -- even easier and likely more cost effectively -- with an integrated stereo amp). Your high quality 2-channel source goes directly into another input on the stereo preamp or integrated -- let's call that input "CD" -- and you're basically done, and now the AVR is completely removed from the system for more serious 2-channel listening.  When you want to listen to good stereo you choose the "CD" input on the stereo pre, and when you want to watch TV/video you choose the "video" input and that's it.  The only thing is that if the stereo preamp doesn't have a HT bypass input you need to set a reference volume level on the stereo pre that is balanced correctly with the AVR.  I used to just use the 12:00 position on the pre as it's easy to set quickly and fairly accurately. 

Lots of us have done this here with great success, and trust me it's much easier in practice than it looks here in writing.  You'll now have a pure, high quality 2-channel system seamlessly embedded within your video system.  Best of both worlds!  And you can do it in stages as funds allow and fully appreciate the significant upgrade each stage brings.  Of course then you'll want to upgrade your speakers again and on it goes...

The bad news is you need to start over. The good news is you need to start over.

+1 @soix 

if 2-channel is at all important to you the receiver needs to go.  All of it.  Forever.  End of story.

@soix , would it not be better to come out of a tape out ( record out ), instead of a preout, avoiding another gain stage / volume control, or, am I just showing my old age ?