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

Hello. I have posted in the past, but have since learned a little bit more from reading audio forums, and doing some research and have come to somewhat of a juncture. 

I figure I could "stair step" up on my own and enjoy the ride, or, ask those who have most likely been where i am before and skip a few steps =). 

My current setup consists of a Yamaha adventage-A3070 AV receiver (150wattsx8ohms 2chd), and 2 Polk LSIM707 towers. 

I've been looking at used Classe amps here on audiogon, or possibly a new parasound Halo A21 power aplifier,  and have thought about purchasing them. 

My question is, would my Yamaha advantage 3070 even be a sufficient pre-amp? It has pre-outs for all channels, and it also has an ess sabre DAC for my digital flac files. Or would using the Yamaha as a pre completely destroy the sound of the power amplifier? Essentially wasting $1,000-$3,000. 

My other question is pretty obvious. Should I trade up, just spend the $1,000-$3,000 on better set of speakers I've been eye balling like  the EMT-LFT8s, and stick with the Yamaha receiver's power for now. 

If it were you. What would you do? 


moskaudio
david_ten
5,480 posts
 
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.

mrdecibel
3,064 posts
 
@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 ? 
soix
9,571 posts
 
I guess that would be correct if you're only running front L/R speakers and don't need to balance with center, surrounds, etc. 

charles1dad's avatar
charles1dad
10,250 posts
 
I agree with david_ten, +2 soix, good post. A receiver is "not" equal to a good quality amplifier if high quality 2 channel stereo is the objective. Anyone who suggests that amplifiers make no or minimal difference is offering poor advice IMO . Speakers are important, so is the quality of amplification. Not an area to cut corners.
Charles
moskaudio OP
28 posts
 
@soix  @charles1dad 

I was inclined to agree from the beginning with essentially starting over. And  in a post above i mentioned the probability of buying a different set of speakers and an amp. Adding a matching preamp to the setup will be just fine. 

As far as the preouts and loop in/loop outs go I have a fairly good understanding of it and that won't be an issue. 

The other thing I've thought about, which @2psyop  mentioned, is, speakers for different purposes. 

The Yamaha Adventage 3070A has so many various decoding modes for home theater and surround type setups its ridiculous. small/large center presence for L/R. small/large surround presence for L/R. Ref SUBw presence for L/R, that I really dont need a full surround system with the Polk 707s. The Ref SUBw presence is enough to shake my house with the 707s. and the small surround and center on the polk 707s also do the job. They actually do make it sound like most of the surround coded audio is coming directly from the left or right of me. So overall, I'm happy with this for home theater. I'd add the 706 center or the 703s for surround but this would obviously sap too much power and strain the receiver and probably just weaken the bass and overall system and I would need to get it it's own 5 channel amp. Which I don't want to do. 

I may keep the 707s and AVR for this home theater setup.

When I want to listen to music, simply move some a few interconnects and banana plugs around and hello new music 2.0 setup!

I really appreciate everyone's input and posts on this. And I think I've learned there is no need to try and cheat or cheapen my way around it like @soix mentioned with an AVR preamp setup baha. 

I will be trialing new speakers, and then looking into pairing a pre amp/amp after finding a pair of speakers that sing to me. Maybe it'll be harbeths, maybe it'll be EMTs, who knows. Let the fun begin!
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