another amp question.. for my rti8s

[sdschwendener]

Soon I will have RTi8s in my system and I'm going to upgrade my receiver to a Denon AVR-3806. The denon has 7 channels at 120 watts a channel. I'll be running it in 5.1.

My question is should I get external amplification? I can bi-amp the backs to left and right but is this better than using say.. a Marantz MA-500 on the left and right each?

Should I bi-amp with the receiver and then use an external amp with my CSI5?

Also, the MA-500 is rated at 125 watts. If I did the above to my center would there be any real advantage? I'm guessing the advantage would be that my receiver could free up power from the center to better drive the surrounds?

Can someone confirm this?



1 last question, would bi wiring from an amp be better for my left and right than bi amping from my receiver? (does this all depend on the amp having higher wattage than my receiver) I really don't know anything about amping. Any help with these questions would be greatly appreciated.

[xcapri79]

I would say that your VSX-817 should power your RTi8's fine without needing to upgrade to the Denon AVR-3806 unless you want to upgrade to a better receiver.
You can try biamping to see if you can hear a difference.
I would say that if you were going to add some RTi10 or RTi12's, then you may need to upgrade the amp.

[Jeff1]

My speakers are similar to yours, rti8, csi5, and rti4's (5.1). I purchased the Marantz sr7002 several months back. I was under the impression that an avr wouldn't cut it, so I saved the extra dough by not buying the 8002 thinking about adding an amp later. At 110 x7, my recvr is stout in my setup and I have a poor room (10' ceilings, large room, tile floors, etc...). I'm sure I could benefit from ext. amplification, but by how much. 2 channel sounds really good, and 5.1 is no slouch. I have it wired normally, no biwiring or biamping etc... Buy a receiver for the features, and if the power is not there add an amp later. In my case it wasn't needed. YMMV.

[sdschwendener]

I'm going to try an Audiosource Amp-300 I think. They can be found for pretty cheap..