Best next step to upgrade sound?

Braudio 7, the key to great sound (along with great speakers and a source, of course) is the amplifier. Great, beautiful sound happens in the amp. At any listening level.

Braudio7

There's watts, then there's WATTS!

your thoughts are my own too, for the present. I use an Odyssey Stratos SE I bought new and well outfitted direct from Klaus just a couple months ago. Bought it without audition too.... just based upon recommendations I got from right here on the 'gone.

It does nothing I can really take it to task about and to be very honest, I’m quite impressed with the performance given the price. But there are many such amps around I suppose.

I plan on adding either another 3 ch Odyssey amp, or moving directly onto the Odyssey Extreme Mono blocks. the latter format will make the TX SR 805 drive my middle and rears. I will probably opt for the former scenario as I have a pretty decent two ch tube rig in place already. Having around a pair of SS monos as well as a pair of hollow state monos is just a real nicety or plus, not a necessity.

How an amp performs at whatever level depends on more than just the amp itself. Generally speaking, At 1600 - 1750 new, the Odyssey isn't an Oh my God, or even out freaking' standin', amp.... but it is very good. In performance and value. To be sure, I’ve a fair amount vested in cables too though.

Even using only the Onkyo 805 receiver through a pair of MIT Shotgun S2s, it does mighty good. Mighty good indeed.

I hardly ever peel the paint with it... if at all. Average to moderate levels is about all I can stand. 94db avg is about my max, and then for only a single song or two. Some ZZ or DEf is usually the ticket for me then... elsewise, it's Ella, Frank, Eva, blues, and big band jazz... some Americana as a rule…. And hollow state power.

A quality amp will play well regardless the volume, if all else is in order. Speakers mainly are it's limiting factor, though the whole of the system can't be discounted or ignored either.

My speakers are rated at 93db, so I'm not getting into the meat of the amps power band at all. Likely I'm running it most often around 12wpc or less. 80-90% of what we hear usually is made in the first 20wpc. So it ain't a question of watts. Lots of watts just gives you headroom... and safety.

The amp puts out reprtedly 180wpc… the rec puts out reprtedly 130wpc. What’s the diff? Definition. Impact. Stage. Tone. Body. All were improved, some marginally, some more so.

IMO it comes down to quality of the amp itself, not the max output. Evidence of a quality amp can be determined without cranking the volume. That's for kids... and those who perceive very loud as very good. Mo betta definition, more natural tonality, better control, depth of soundstage, solid imaging, etc., earmark the better amps. Weight too is a clue. Power supplies are key, and better ones aside from switching and digital amps, have great big transformers and quality parts connecting them to the circuit topology. There's more clues of course, but your ears and budget will make that call... or as with me, trust. I simply trusted some other members I've gotten to know here and went on their say so this last go ‘round..

Don't ignore the aspect of a real nice integrated unit either, as I suspect you want a very good two ch setup in the end. In the 1500 - 2500 used mkt, some great amps, and some great ints can be had.

it's all in what your mindset and or long range plans are about, and the budget too, in the end. Both ways will be a step up. Have no fear about that. ATI, Odyssey, McCormack, Parasound, and other's have a lot to offer in used gear for under $1K. Add a nice power cord to it, and I assure you things will improve sonically.... and there's tons of threads here on "best amps under..." to read too. I’m sure you’ll do what is good for you and yours, which ever way you choose to go. Take care.

Blindjim, Cerrot, thanks for the thoughtful responses, they are appreciated. What I am going to do first is spend some time listening to my modest system now and ask myself what it needs. The next step will most likely be an external amp or a dedicated cd player. But I'm also rethinking the whole "cd thing" as well. Why not just use the MacBook and an external DAC?

In terms of an amp, what I'd really be excited about is tube power. I enjoy the warm sound of tube amplifiers with my electric guitars, and I'm asking myself if that isn't the sound I'm looking for. I've got some decisions to make.

Bite the bullet man... you're a closet tube head! Step into the light!

Get yourself a real nice disc player... dig your rig... and investigate that Prima Luna int. It's not too pricey, and offers both SET and ultra linear output. A couple folks here have personally recommended it to me before I bought the Dodd amps and I was thinking strongly about an int myself.

there's tons of ways to go with music... the notebook + DAC is only one of 'em. With the right selection there, you might even forego the new CDP. I'm in the midst of trying to improve the sonics of my USB out from PC to DAC... and things are getting there... slowly.

What seems to be most integral there is the ripping.. The better, the better. The DAC too plays a tremendous part as well. But going back to basics... if the signal ain't super to begin with... well, there's no making up for it later on...

Take your time, and have fun... there's no dead line... just 'The Dead'

It's been almost a year, so I'll update this thread for those who might be interested. I'll pose another question as well.

I ditched the HT Receiver and got myself a legit integrated (for me, multi-channel is overrated since don't watch a lot of films). I have also added a decent CDP, quality interconnects, speaker cable, and some power line stuff (conditioner, power cords). And wow, did the sound quality improve.

In fact, the only thing that is the same are my Infinity Beta 40 speakers. And I have to be honest, they don't sound that bad. I listened to a couple budget floorstanders recently - the Monitor Audio RS6 and the PSB Imagine T (I mentioned this in another thread). Neither caused me to want to pull out my wallet. I didn't care for the MA's treble, and while the Imagine T sounded better than my speakers, they were not better ENOUGH (and they were being driven by Bel Canto REF 500 monoblocks). So what I have concluded is this: It will behoove me to take my time with speaker selection, and it may end up that I'm going to spend quite a bit more than I thought I would.

So in the meantime, I am considering adding an external power amp to my current setup. My question: How important is it to match an external amp to my integrated if I'm not bi-amping? I can guess that a Rega Exon for example, would sound good with my Rega Mira. But what about something class D like Channel Island D100, or D200, or one of the PS Audio digital amps? I would plan on running a pre-out from my integrated. BTW, I'm asking about class D amps primarily because this is a living room system and space and appearance are considerations.