Adding an Amp to my HT...

[Slyder01]

Hi all,,, would adding another amp to my system improve sound quality much, and if so, does anyone have any suggestions on an amp and how i would hook it up to my system,, like, should i power certain speakers for better sound quality or do some kind of pre-amp to add more power to the whole system. Im also going to need to power the front presence somehow.. I was looking at a couple of these adcoms but i have no idea if they are what i need..
http://www.amazon.com/GFA7605-Black-...3500252&sr=8-4
http://www.amazon.com/Adcom-GFA-6002...3500252&sr=8-6

Thanks

[disneyjoe7]

First question does the AVR you're using have a pre amp outputs?

[Slyder01]

yes. http://usa.yamaha.com/products/audio..._u/?mode=model

http://usa.yamaha.com/products/audio..._u/?mode=model

[tonyb]

However many channels you want to add power to, is the amount of channels to look for in an amp, or combination of amps.

[angelsfann02]

If its Adcom you desire, then eBay has some good gfa-7500 for sale. Very dependable from what I have heard. I considered one before going with my Emotiva xpa-5. The Adcom will easily run your set-up.

[TORI3]

Both our receivers are more than adequate to power our speakers. Some will debate that the "golden rule" is to invest in a 2 to 1 ratio (speakers to amplifier). Others will state that amplifiers don't add performance to already efficient speakers.

I ignored this advice and purchased an amp to drive my fronts and center, instead of purchasing a whole new speaker package. Since the addition of an amp, [I believe] my speakers have opened up with clearer dialogue and better dynamics between scenes. To me, the difference was significant and immediate.

For some it may not be worth the investment, but for me it was.

In terms of connection, just connect the preouts of the receiver to the inputs channels on the amplifier, and then connect the adjacent speaker terminals on the amplifier to your speakers.

[Slyder01]

Thanx for the input so far fellas,,
I figured since i need another amp to either power the surround backs or the front presence i would get a little bit better of an amp to power the center and fronts since they take the grunt of the sound

[xcapri79]

The front and center speakers do require more power. If you are on a tight budget, I would recommend the 200W/channel Emotiva XPA-3 which is still on sale for the front three channels. It is a great amp for 2 channel or HT. My favorite choice would be to use a pair of UPA-1 monoblocks for the left and right fronts, and the XPA-3 for the center and side surrounds.

Your receiver can typically handle the rest, unless you are using the 4 ohm LSi speakers.

I listen to a lot of two channel, so that is why I prefer the monoblock pair for those speakers.
I really liked the sound from my RTi12's and LSi25's powered by the monoblocks, hence my recommendation.

[jinjuku]

What are your room dimensions? What is your seating distance? What volumes do you like to listen too?

[Slyder01]

room is 15x30. i sit about 12' away. On this reciever i listen to movies at about -18 to -20db and music not as loud. my old reciever played the same listening level at -40db...

also, do the volume levels link together on the avr and the other amp

thanx for the suggestion xcapri, i'm goin to stick with just one amp,, at least for now.

[Slyder01]

that is a nice price for that emotiva, thats right in my range, i was lookin to spend about 800

[jinjuku]

room is 15x30. i sit about 12' away. On this reciever i listen to movies at about -18 to -20db and music not as loud. my old reciever played the same listening level at -40db...

also, do the volume levels link together on the avr and the other amp

thanx for the suggestion xcapri, i'm goin to stick with just one amp,, at least for now.

So it sounds like (pun intended) that you are not pushing your receiver too hard. Be forewarned that you may or may not hear a big difference. I have experience on the older ZX Yamaha models and they were no slouch SQ wise nor power wise.

I can't tell you that you are going to notice a substantial difference. With my 3 channel Adcom I noticed that the mids and low mids punched up a bit and a little wider presentation, dialog pretty much stayed the same, but I am driving 4 ohm speakers and I tend to listen to movies at 0 or maybe a few ticks above in a 17X23X10 room. TV with the family is more in the -25 to -30 range. I like what my Adcom 5503 does for me. YMMV. I think you would be fine with a 3 channel amp for the LCR and let the Yammy handle every thing else. It wouldn't even break a sweat.

If you get an amp make sure it has a 12volt on/off trigger. My Adcom doesn't and I miss that feature. I also wish it ran cooler.

Have you played with speaker placement from the walls or toe in/out to see what that does for you?

[jinjuku]

also, do the volume levels link together on the avr and the other amp

A lot of home / hi fi amps will be a fixed gain design. Just plug it in and run the YPAO. No worries about tying the volume levels together.

[Slyder01]

So it sounds like (pun intended) that you are not pushing your receiver too hard. Be forewarned that you may or may not hear a big difference. I have experience on the older ZX Yamaha models and they were no slouch SQ wise nor power wise.

I can't tell you that you are going to notice a substantial difference. With my 3 channel Adcom I noticed that the mids and low mids punched up a bit and a little wider presentation, dialog pretty much stayed the same, but I am driving 4 ohm speakers and I tend to listen to movies at 0 or maybe a few ticks above in a 17X23X10 room. TV with the family is more in the -25 to -30 range. I like what my Adcom 5503 does for me. YMMV. I think you would be fine with a 3 channel amp for the LCR and let the Yammy handle every thing else. It wouldn't even break a sweat.

If you get an amp make sure it has a 12volt on/off trigger. My Adcom doesn't and I miss that feature. I also wish it ran cooler.

Have you played with speaker placement from the walls or toe in/out to see what that does for you?

wow,,, listening at 0db. i never even tried that as i thought it would cause distortion and harm something. I really wasnt expecting a huge difference in sound especially with my older rt16's, but i am thinking i'll get an even more pure and clean sound which i was so impressed with when ihooked up this rxa2000 from my old v630.

havent played with the speaker placement. I think where i have them placed they sound pretty good.

As i said before i only really need another amp just to power either the fronts or rear surrounds but i believe it would be better to go the next step beyond as i may someday upgrade my rt16's.

i'm liking the emotiva xpa-3.. read some reviews on it,, but then again i dont know amps that's why i'm here and thanking all for their suggestions

[mdaudioguy]

The Adcom 7500 mentioned earlier has a 12v trigger and runs as cool as an Emo. I used to use my RTi speakers with a Yamaha/XPA-3 combo and was less than thrilled, especially when it came to music. YMMV.

[xcapri79]

With an external amp powering full range speakers, you should notice the midrange and bass will be enhanced and better defined as a result you should hear a more balanced full sound from your speakers. AVR amps simply can't provide what current across the frequency spectrum that a good external amp can provide.

The Adcom 7500 mentioned earlier has a 12v trigger and runs as cool as an Emo. I used to use my RTi speakers with a Yamaha/XPA-3 combo and was less than thrilled, especially when it came to music. YMMV.

The XPA-3 will work for music, but my preference in that line would be to go with two UPA-1 monoblocks.
You get maximum channel separation with monoblocks and to me the sound is superb. I've converted my front LSi25's and RTi12's speakers to the UPA-1 monoblocks.

[Slyder01]

I'll be using it much more for movie wathching. I dont know what the trigger is, i know my rx2000 has 2 ports.. Is it something worth considering.. So the emo doesnt have the trigger then?
the emo is amost 3 bills cheaper also,, which is nice

[jinjuku]

I'll be using it much more for movie wathching. I dont know what the trigger is, i know my rx2000 has 2 ports.. Is it something worth considering.. So the emo doesnt have the trigger then?
the emo is amost 3 bills cheaper also,, which is nice

I believe the XPA-3 has a 12v on/off trigger. You can always look at used amplification. I had the XPA-3, NAD C272, my ancient Crown DC300A all out for a weekend with some PSB Synchrony 1's the XPA-3 did fine for me vs a little warmer mid range amp like the NAD. Everyone's mileage may vary.

[xcapri79]

I believe the XPA-3 has a 12v on/off trigger.

All the Emotiva amps have 12V in and out triggers so you can daisy chain them.
I just wish all preamps and receivers with preamp outouts had 12V output triggers.

[Slyder01]

dont know what daisy chain is,, like i say,, new to this but liking it,,lol.. gettin excited about gettin a new amp now.. i've been looking now for about a month on and off but just couldnt decide and more importantly dont have the knowledge.. I can certainly build a house though,,lol

[jinjuku]

dont know what daisy chain is,, like i say,, new to this but liking it,,lol.. gettin excited about gettin a new amp now.. i've been looking now for about a month on and off but just couldnt decide and more importantly dont have the knowledge.. I can certainly build a house though,,lol

A trigger is a simple wire that goes from your Yammy to an amp. When the receiver powers on the amp powers on, when you power off, then the amp goes off.

Daisy chain means that the amp will have another 12v trigger so you can connect another, then another etc...

[xcapri79]

dont know what daisy chain is,, like i say,, new to this but liking it,,lol.. gettin excited about gettin a new amp now.. i've been looking now for about a month on and off but just couldnt decide and more importantly dont have the knowledge.. I can certainly build a house though,,lol

Google and Wikipedia are your friends.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daisy_c...al_engineering)

In electrical and electronic engineering a daisy chain is a wiring scheme in which, for example, device A is wired to device B, device B is wired to device C, device C is wired to device D, etc.[1] Connections do not form webs (in the preceding example, device C cannot be directly connected to device A), nor do they loop back from the last device to the first. For example, A-B-C-D-E, A-B-C-D-E & C-M-N-O (branched at C) are daisy chain, whereas A-B-C-D-E-A (loop) is not a daisy chain. Daisy chains may be used for power, analog signals, digital data, or a combination thereof.

Of course, Jinjuku has the answers too.

A trigger is a simple wire that goes from your Yammy to an amp. When the receiver powers on the amp powers on, when you power off, then the amp goes off.

Daisy chain means that the amp will have another 12v trigger so you can connect another, then another etc...

[Slyder01]

nice,, thanks jin.. definately like the idea of the amp powering on with my avr even though i have a logitech harmony one..

another q i have is,, i also use this system to watch regulat tv.. (not all the time but if a decent movie is on and definately during football) is that ok for an external amp. I have a 7yr warranty on my rx2000 so not worried about that. by that time i'll be ready for an upgrade

[xcapri79]

The 12V triggers are especially useful to switch in a two channel amp for two channel sources such as regular TV, FM radio, CD's, VCR's, or phonographs, or switching in a multichannel amp with multichannel sources such as HiDef TV, SACD or DVD or Bluray HT.

TV especially TV sports sound so much better in stereo or multichannel or even simulated multichannel.

[txcoastal1]

Your yammy 2000 has 2- 12v trigger where you can turn 2 amps or other compatible devices with out looping....trigger 1 is probably active at default but you probably have to set up #2...my SC-35 was like that

[mdaudioguy]

Buy whatever amp you want. Anything mentioned above, and plenty of others, will "work." Good luck, and do be sure to report back on your next step.

[Slyder01]

since i was thinking i had to spend around 800 on an amp, what if i decide to go with the xpa-5. Would that make any difference in the sound of the surrounds or should i save that money and maybe get some good cables

when i decide to pull the trigger, i'll definately let you guys know

[jinjuku]

since i was thinking i had to spend around 800 on an amp, what if i decide to go with the xpa-5. Would that make any difference in the sound of the surrounds or should i save that money and maybe get some good cables

when i decide to pull the trigger, i'll definately let you guys know

I went with a higher quality 3 channel vs a quality 5 or 7 channel setup. The surrounds do so little vs your fronts, especially center channel, that I personally never found a compelling reason.

I could have gotten an Adcom 7500 5 channel amp for $400, or an Adcom 5503 3 channel amp for $400. I picked up the 5503.

[Slyder01]

I was looking at my manual and it says i am to plug an external amplifier into my sub out/pre out port. If i occupy that port with an external amp, how do i run my sub

[jinjuku]

I was looking at my manual and it says i am to plug an external amplifier into my sub out/pre out port. If i occupy that port with an external amp, how do i run my sub

Your sub most likely has a 'plate' amplifier. Just run a RCA cable from the Sub out on your Yammy to the LFE input on the sub.

The receiver will have other outputs for FL/FR/Center/SRL/SRR etc...