adding power amp to receiver

In my opinion adding a power amp to a receiver will only result in a modest improvement on music. If you plan on continuing to build your system to maximize for music, then add one now so you can move to separates when you can afford a good preamp. There are several threads on this if you search for "receiver" and "amp". Good luck.

Slappy,

I have Denon avr2802. My current HT setup is 5.1. I am not very familiar w/ separate setup. However, based on your response, am I to reason that I can use a 2-channel amp to drive my two front speakers while watching a movie in 5.1 setup? Would my AVR use its internal amp to drive the center and rear speakers while it would send different signals to the front speakers, driven by a separate amp? Is that your recommend setup?

Totally man, you sure can do that.

the Denon is a good reciever in the fact it makes it easy to bleed a 2channel system out of your existing HT even if you dont have all the equipment.

You use the amp with the pre-outs on the Denon (if the 2802 has pre-outs) and run the fronts off of the pre-amp.

the beauty is if you want to leave your existing HT setup AS IS and want to get a 2 channel system, you can do it somewhat like the way i plan to do it.

here is the way i plan to build out a 2 channel system out of my HT and eventually seperate them

Currently, i have the Denon 3803, with all 7.1 speakers.

Step 1, buy the speakers for the 2 channel setup. Use these as another zone off the surround back channels. Theyw ill be amplified off the reciever

Step 2) Buy a good amplifier. Then this will power the 2nd zone and the reciever can start powering the surround back channels and go back to its normal 7.1 setup.

Step 3) But a good CD player and some good cables. wish i had that pre-amp already

Step 4) Buy a pre-amp, then i can finally eliminate the Denon 3803 from the 2channel setup, and use the Pre Amp

At that point, i will have totally seperate systems, I will probably continue to keep them somewhat connected so i can use sources off the HT if desired.

The cool thing is before i even have the parts for a real good 2ch system, i will have a 2 channel system that ain't that bad.

i added external amps to the mains of my yamaha rxv1(odyssey mono's)it was a solid improvement, next i will add a pre-amp with ht by-pass, this will give me a killer 2channel system while still using my ht.

thanx for the replies guys. i'm sorry i did not detail my setup and replied late. i have aegis ones for fronts, kef (k series, old ones) for rears, and infinity for center and, of course, a subwoofer. just want to clear matters regarding my options, which are: 1. adding a power amp, with my receiver acting as the preamp (the power amp with audio quality will drive the fronts) or 2. buying a dedicated integrated amp primarily for audio. the $500-700 budget is for the integrated. room is not that big, rectangular 5 x 12 meters. again, thanx...appreciate your response