2. amps-preamps
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Using a receiver as a pre-amp...many questions

I have totem sttaf (8ohm, 88db sensitivity) l+r, a totem tribe II (6ohm,88db sensitivity) as center, and the totem storm sub. I use the system for both movies/tv and l+r and sub for music...music being the most important to me soundwise. My receiver is an integra 40.3. Ok so here come the questions...

In order to have the system sound good for anything (movies/tv or music) I feel like I have to turn the receiver up too high (around 68-75 out of 100)...otherwise the sound is flat/boring. Do people agree that this is a problem, or I should just turn it up and be happy? Keep in mind that once I do turn it up I am very happy with the sound it produces...overall I like what I have.

What I am thinking about doing is buying three red dragon audio m500 monoblock amps and connecting from the receiver to the amps. Should I expect this to improve the sound at lower levels, or the high volume need is just a function of the way my speakers work and nothing different will happen?

Another option I am thinking about is buying a two channel amp (I am thinking of tube hybrid) to connect to receiver, and using it to power just the l+r speakers to get possible improvement there.

Ultimately I would like to get away from the receiver altogether as everything I read says that a real pre-amp and amp improves sound dramatically...however all of my connections are HDMI (computer music, movies, and cable) and until someone starts making an HDMI dac then I think I am stuck with the receiver.

Sorry for so many questions but as you can likely tell I am a rather new audio person and need advise. Any comments on the questions above would be great...also setup suggestions that I may not have thought of would also help.
jpg1975
jpg1975 OP
18 posts
 
@Loomisjohnson, my budget would be around $2K for the amp

@Tsugury, I play most music from my computer (home built htpc) using MOG connected via HDMI to the receiver) I also have an apple TV and cable box for TV watching (both hdmi). Then for movies I have a samsung blue ray player. HDMI cable are nothing special...I am not a huge proponent of spending a bunch of money on cabling. All the speaker wire is entry level from Tributaries brand (bi-wire to speaker). I am thinking of changing speaker wire to Signal Cable ultra, but this would be in addition to amp upgrade.

Thanks to you both.
jpg1975 OP
18 posts
 
@Loomisjohnson, one last thing about the amp suggestions. Based on placement limitations and WAF the amp cannot be enormous nor produce a lot of heat...probably 17ish wide and 17ish deep would be good.
thuhaile
105 posts
 
maybe class D amp from wyred4sound or bel canto?
bdgregory
1,714 posts
 
In order to have the system sound good for anything (movies/tv or music) I feel like I have to turn the receiver up too high (around 68-75 out of 100)...otherwise the sound is flat/boring. Do people agree that this is a problem, or I should just turn it up and be happy? Keep in mind that once I do turn it up I am very happy with the sound it produces...overall I like what I have.
I'm not sure I would count on a new amp solving your volume setting issue. This is likely in the processor section - most pre/pro's have less gain/sensitivity than analog preamps in my experience. It's possible that external amps will give improvement, but you still may have your volume set at 70 before you're happy. I would also add that I find Receivers have preamp sections that are equally suspect as the power amp sections. Though this is a generalization made with no experience with your receiver. YMMV
jpg1975 OP
18 posts
 
@Bdgregory do you think a stand alone hometheater pre-amp (for example emotiva umc-200) would be any better with regard to the issue I am experiencing?

Also I see that you have the mani-2's with the beaks on top. Those are nice speakers. Do the beaks do anything for the sound in your opinion? What did you notice?
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