need amp advice

You know what's odd about these forums... in this one everyone says the amp is the most important, in the Digital forum people say the source, in the speaker forum it's the speakers.

I understand the logic behind all of the arguements, but in the past 6 months I've gone from spending $1800 on 5 speakers and sub... to $2000 on mains and center channel... to $3000 on mains and center plus $400 for a CD player... to also considering an amp.... and now a pre-amp too! In 6 months, I've gone from $1800 to $5000!

So, with $4000, how would you split it?

Sorry ... it was an honest answer. I don't think the Yamaha will bring out the best in those speakers.
But I may be wrong (it's not uncommon !)
Is there any chance you could demo the various options ... if so then I'd do that. Take home a pre, a power and an integrated each costing around $1000 and see if any option is obviously better or worse than the others (noting that using both the $1000 pre and $1000 power is not an option since it blows your budget). I suspect that the question will then answer itself whether to get
1) New pre
2) New power
3) Integrated + speaker switch
4) Save it for the wedding.
Best of luck ... but don't take the dealer's advice without a home demo (or take your Yamaha to the dealer and listen to the Cambridge-Soliloquy setup at the dealer with various amps).

I can take all of it home for a few days and demo it, suppose I could do the same with the amp, and pre amp. Sounds like a good way to go.

I know the Yamaha won't get everything out of those speakers, that's why I plan to upgrade it eventualy. But I'd hate to buy speakers now to "match" the Yamaha only to upgrade it later and the speakers be the weak link then.

from what i've heard, this speaker is amp sensitive, that is with some amps it will sound boomy/shrill etc. with others it will sound wonderful. matching the amp to the speaker it in my opinion critical. there is a lot of info in this forum and in audioasylum on this speaker you should look at before you make any conclusions re what your upgrade, and future ones should be. good luck.

The 5.3s are very revealing in exposing the characteristics of upstream components. I agree with many of the above posts that the preamp is probably more critical at this point, especially since the 5.3s present a relatively benign load to amps.

I also agree that you should take some stuff home for a demo, and the decision will likely become an easy one. I'd highly recommend trying the Adcom GFA-750 preamp as it's very transparent and also has a home theater pass through feature that will let you seamlessly integrate it with your Yamaha, which can continue to do the surround processing for movies and surround music. You can then add a stereo amp later for the L/R fronts, which will leave you with high-end components throughout the critical stereo path while your Yamaha powers the center/rears and does surround processing.

As far as amps go(if you go that route instead), I'd consider Sim Audio, which Soliloquy has used to voice their speakers. I'm using a McCormack DNA-0.5 Rev. A that is in your price range(used of course) and works exremely well with the 5.3s--highly recommended if you can find one. Since you're obviously using your system for HT as well as stereo I won't bother with tubes.

As a fellow owner of 5.3s I can tell you that proper placement will be as or more important than your components in getting the most out of these speakers and your system. In my experience they don't really open up in terms of the soundstage and midrange unless you get them around 4 ft.(or more) from the back wall. This may not be possible in your situation, but the point is don't neglect speaker placement in your quest for better sound. Best of luck.

Tim