need amp advice

Don't take this wrong (can you see the insult coming? I don't mean to), but you can spend all the money you want on an amp, but your Yamaha is gonna' suck the life right out of the music. Trust me. I thought that I could get by using an old NAD integrated that I had laying around until I could afford a REAL pre-amp. It just didn't cut it. I can only guess that you'll have similar (if not worse) results. You need a pre-amp...Or you need to separate your music system from your home theater system. As they say, "You can't have your cake and eat it too." At least, not on a budget, as most of us are.

i would say throw the yamaha in the ocean and buy the two cj pieces that just showed up on audigon. i think the seller is telescope trader. i do not know who this is but i can tell you that would make you a nice little system.

Ditto above, OR ("overkill"), buy yourself a GOOD PRE for Xmas and keep the Yamaha as a power amp for now. There are many (used) options in yr price-range, Adcom being one, Plinius another, cj yet another.

IMO, buy yourself THE BEST PRE for yr ears that yr pocket can endure (take a look at my post to yr other thread, if you wish).
Cheers

The pre amp is more important then the amplifier and actually amplifies the signal more percentage wise then the amplifier. I would start with a good preamp.

Another possibility might be to buy a good integrated 2 channel amp for the music and use a speaker switch to switch the two main speakers to run either off the Yamaha or off the integrated.

$1000 will buy a nice integrated .... Creek, Cyrus, Audiolab, Densen, Arcam, Adcom, even Rotel. Speaker switches run about $100. That way your main speakers can be used for both HT with the Yamaha in command and 2 channel music with the integrated at the helm.