Greetings all. I've read this thread over the last week, and have really appreciated the info and discussion. I'd love to hear your amplifier opinions, if you'd indulge some background info.
Due to ongoing complications related to the plague, we've finished our basement and I've moved my desk down there. All of that inspired me to set up my audio equipment after five years of storage (we moved to this house 5 years ago.
So... I have a 5 channel setup, a big tv, and a new couch is coming. We like TV shows and movies, but music is much more important to me. All this stuff (not the TV) was bought back in 2001 when I was excited about multi-channel SACDs and concert DVDs. Now most of my music comes from Apple Music (2 channel streaming, don't judge me) but I just ordered a Pink Floyd box set that comes with Blurays of some albums and live shows. Favorite music is all over the board, including Tool, Radiohead, Elbow, and Alice in Chains, but also modern jazz, classical guitar concertos, bluegrass, and more.
I have 2.3s for the mains, an MCS1 for center, and 2 OG PowerPoints as surrounds (what we called "rears" 7.1 brought "back" speakers into the world). These are matched with a
Onkyo PR-SC866, Krell Home Theater Standard and two SVS CS-Ultra subs running on a Crown K2.
I have mild sensory processing disorder, and am very sensitive to treble "ringing" (think trumpets, violins, and similar audio icepicks). Audessey MultiEq has been a godsend in this area, as I've been able to use a rolloff curve that almost entirely solves the problem for me without feeling making things sound muffled or muddy to me (which just "turning the treble all the way down" used to do).
OK, a lot of background info I guess (sorry). Just one more thing.
I can only get three of the Krell's five channels to work. I haven't experimented a whole lot with it yet, but I did attempt to replace a fuse on one of the channels with no luck. I've looked into repair, but it seems Krell has had some trouble over the years and at best I'd be shipping this 100-pound monster away ($$) leaving me with almost nothing for a while.
So right now I'm not running my subs at all, I have my 2.3s running off of the Crown K2, and my center and rears are running on the three working Krell channels. If I do nothing more, it already sounds "pretty darn good", but can't quite reach the heights I had with the setup at the old house playing, say, a Nine Inch Nails concert. I have an eARC adapter coming out of my TV that I'm using for source switching which works fairly well but feels like a band aid.
So anyway, I'm looking at options and I want to maximize joy without being stupid. But I know that "reasonable" means something different to everyone.
I want to give the Crown back to the subs. Option 1) I could replace the pre-pro with a good receiver, and use the three Krell channels for the L/C/R and the receiver amps for the rears and possibly some height channels. Or, Option 2) I could buy a nice stereo amp to drive the L/R and use the three Krells for center and rears. Option 3) I could replace the Krell with a new 5 channel amp, try to repair and sell it.
Option 2 appeals to me. Getting a musical but powerful stereo amp to make music on the 2.3s sound as good as I can get them sounds like the most fun and potentially rewarding. But I don't know anything about amps and would love to discuss options with y'all. Thoughts?
