Just Curious - About using a AV Receiver as main unit

You guys love to exagerrate and speak in generalities. Cheap stereo integrated will not be better simply by virtue of that layout. The highest end AVRs back in their day were made to meet or exceed separates for home theatre and many thought them superior due to additional abilities that greatly affect sound like room correction and internal dsd decoding to reduce jitter. As a consequence of their high prices some also had very good preamplifier sections matching the best home theatre separates. Consequently many sounded really good in 2 channel mode. A relatively cheap stereo integrated is not going to have 180 watts per channel for one thing, and quality is commensurate with any components original when new price tag. Buying used you can often get much higher quality for the same cost of buying new but you have accept the risk. Just saying if you do your research and find a good example it can pay off. Yes, nobody wants them anymore but that is due more to size and complexity of use than sound quality. If your willing to take the time to set one up properly you may really appreciate the versatility. For example, extra channels can be reassigned to biamp speakers. I’m not sure my KEFS would be able to handle the extra power but some people say this can be a performance improvement and I have that option.

Ordered a fully balanced Yamaha se - 2200 integrated recently which should have an advantage over my old Denon AVR in terms of sound quality for music. I love researching audio equipment and this amp will allow me to hook up my tube dac using XLR to take advantage of all 8 tubes. Figured I'd take the advice I was given to see what's possible with a good 2 channel integrated because I do mostly listen to music via cd, SACD, blue ray, and hi res streaming. I'll report back with my impressions in a couple of weeks. I've heard KEF R 3s scale well to better quality comoonents so I'm hoping the same holds true for my R300s (similiar previous model)

Listening to my new Forte 4s powered by my trusty Onkyo receiver as I write. Dan Fogelberg's "Souvenirs" is easing my worried mind...

The Yamaha as-2200 arrived yesterday. The first thing I noticed is it accentuated the top end and sounds more refined overall. Playing rock like Led Zeppelin I didn't think the difference was night and day but liked what I heard. Today I hooked up the tube dac via XLR, put on some Gino Vanelli (early jazzy stuff) and woah...this amps got rythm! For the ultimate test I put on the Body Heat album by Quincy Jones. The effect of going through XLR is dramatic. I'm in the middle of the soundstage with background singers and harmonica sounding like it is coming from behind me. I also hooked it up to pass through my home theatre and can't tell much difference (still sounds excellent!). My conclusion is adding a 2 channel amp to your existing AVR can be worth it but primarily if you can also upgrade your connection and other aspects to make the most out of the difference. Doesn't change my opinion of how great my Denon sounds though, especially decoding dsd but indeed it makes a difference for stereo when streaming. I probably need more time for the Yamaha's highs to settle down just a bit or try dsd to completely fall in love with it. Doubt I'd made the jump if I hadn't also been adding XLR and activating additional tubes in my dac. The only problem is this amp has no line level input for a sub. Going to try using RCA to the preout and then hopefully it will play when using the yamaha alone and with the denon. Not really missing the sub right now playing Carol King and Folgleberg's beautiful acoustic songs. This amp has plenty of punch!

Well the Yamaha is broken in now. I have to say, there is something special about running your speakers full range in stereo without a sub to see what they can do. I like percussion and in my bedroom the R300's really slam on drums. I'll be moving so the system will be going in a family room soon and I may have to go 2.1 but I hope not as I'm enjoying this option. Haven't really a b tested with the Denon but thats apples and oranges anyway considering I was using 2.1. Given the Denon was overated at 140w and the Yamaha is underated at 90 it doesn't seem to be a huge difference between the two, but it did allow me to run xlr from the dac and passthrough the Denon so its worth it for the options it opened up. The cool looking VU meters on the Yamaha really spice up the looks too!