Newbie amp help......why?

Does your receiver have "Pre-amp out" jacks on the back? If so, you could continue using the tuner and pre-amp sections of the receiver, and hook up a better quality power amp to drive the speakers (bypassing the amplifier section in the receiver). But the signal from the CD player would still be going through the pre-amp section of your Pioneer, so I'm not sure how much would be gained by this. It's all about quality--not volume levels. So I would second Maineiac's recommendation.

ok i kinda understand. i will look to see if it has pre amp outputs. so if i added a amp thats 100wpc it would actually be less power to thje speakers than the regular amp in the pioneer. i was thinking the golds may need more power to run them accurately....is this true? thanks for the replies kevin

Taking it one step further, call around and find a dealer who carries 2 or 3 brands of tube amplifier, and go listen to those. For many people, a tube amp will provide sonics that much more closely resemble live instruments. As others have said, it's not about volume. There are different types of distortion, and tube amps tend to perform in a way that its distortions bother the ear less than the most solid state amps. This is true regardless of how many boxes you are talking about(e.g. receiver vs. amp/pre/tuner separates).
If you don't hear anything that makes your heart beat a little quicker, save your money and buy more music. Cheers,
Spencer

IMO..if your music is acceptable stop right there..its like chasing the audio crack pipe around the room trying to find audio nirvana..the more ya spend ,the more ya spend

Be afraid... be very afraid... one false step here and you'll have fallen into the abyss of audiofoolishness, from which, few ever return.

Sure... it's just a thought about adding an amp, or more subtley, just a harmless question regarding amps. Before you know it, you'll have a new Mercedes sitting in front of your couch! ;-)

Loudness isn't the only reason folks seek out additional, or replacement amplification.

Refinements,quality, both sonically and in regard to the overall builde, are also notes why going to an outboard amp is a valid endeavor. Chiefly, it's the sound though.

80% of the music (perhaps more), is made in the first 20 watts.... consequently, adding an amp 'just for watts sake', isn't usually the best path to follow as it seldom relates to sonic improvement.

Adding any 'this or that' item to a "what ever" product (outside of a pure replacement part) is generally intended to increase performance. In the case of audio, the performance increase is determined 'subjectively' by the sound it makes after the change/addition.

Louder is easy... better is not so easy.

Many separate amps however, will surpass the performance level of those within a receiver handily.