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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
 
@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?
tls49's avatar
tls49
1,351 posts
 
I absolutely agree with Bdgregory. Just to be clear about the question, if you just forget about the number on the receiver's display, how does the system sound when you listen at different loudness levels, low, moderate, or the loudest you would ever play it?
jpg1975 OP
18 posts
 
@Tls49 I am quite bad at describing how something sounds as I do not have all the proper lingo down. What I will say is that at low to moderate levels the sound seems hollow/lifeless. As I increase the volume into the range I mentioned the system not only gets louder but takes on a more "real" character where people sound like people, pianos like pianos, etc. Then if I continue increasing the volume it just becomes too damn loud to handle and hurts my ears.
bdgregory
1,712 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?
the short answer is maybe. I've tried multiple HT Receivers, and multiple Stand alone Pre/Pro's. The receivers I tried were all modest budget units and some were good, most bad. The stand alone units (Lexicon, Meridian, Proceed, B&K) were all good to excellent, but none of them compare to a quality analog stereo preamp when it comes to music play, so I have a separate Stereo preamp I use for music only. I like the Lexicon best for HT/Video.

As for the beaks - I really don't notice any sonic benefits, but like the way they look ;-)
tonyangel
309 posts
 
If playing music is important to you, build a system for playing music. I went the same route that you're looking at taking and it was a waste of time.

Just get yourself a nice integrated or separates and be done with it. There's lots of nice used equipment for sale here. What made the biggest difference for me was getting a preamp. I found an older NAD C162 here for something around $300. Not hi fi, but sounds good nonetheless.
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