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#1
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best add-on amplifier?
I have the Onkyo Integra DTR6.3 HT receiver with 100 wpc. I am living
just fine with its performance, but am curious about the possibility of enhancing my sound quality with the addition of a power amp, using the preamp out of the Onkyo. My questions a How much of an amp will I need to buy to achieve an improvement that will make me grin? Can I do this for under $2,000.? Under $1,000.? Are there certain makes and models that anyone might recommend? Thanks. Gary |
#2
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Gary:
The answer is "Hell yeah", but the price will depend upon whether you want 2ch or 5-6 ch for surround, and whether you will consider only "audio" amps or "pro" gear as well. You could easily triple your 2ch power with a Pro amp, but some of these will have forced air cooling, however not all. Crown makes studio amps that are convection cooled, meaning no fans, as do many others such as Bryston, QSC and Crest. Even some of the fan cooled amps are quiet enough to use at home or in a studio. Ignore anybody that says Pro gear has more noise and lower sound quality that "audio" gear, it's just not true of the better pro gear. Noise in the signal chain is simply not tolerated at the big touring level, that's why you see differentially balanced connections on everything, exteme signal to noise ratio and dynamic range specs, and now efficient light weight amps with big power, 2ohm load handling, and extensive protection circuitry to protect both the amp and speakers. I say do some research for the brands above, and then go see what they cost. I think you'll be pleasantly surprised. Paul "gary h" wrote in message om... I have the Onkyo Integra DTR6.3 HT receiver with 100 wpc. I am living just fine with its performance, but am curious about the possibility of enhancing my sound quality with the addition of a power amp, using the preamp out of the Onkyo. My questions a How much of an amp will I need to buy to achieve an improvement that will make me grin? Can I do this for under $2,000.? Under $1,000.? Are there certain makes and models that anyone might recommend? Thanks. Gary |
#3
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Yes, it CAN make a significant difference (depending on the
components such as speakers, the you are using of course). HT receivers may be rated at high wattages but they can have limited reserves. Another thing to consider is that although parts of it is also fed to other channels, the music scores for movies tend to be carried primarily in the left and right mains. For these reasons, myself and others I know have personally discovered that in our systems, adding a decent amp for the mains alone has made a significant improvement, especially for the musical scores in movies which add so much to the impact of what you are watching. Also, if you don't have a sub, and (depending on the type of speakers you are using), you will discover that the support of the LFE channel can also be improved when it is fed to the mains. Note that the preamp sections of many HT receivers can sometimes be a bit wanting, so going to very expensive amps will more quickly reach a point of diminishing returns since the preamp sections can be a bottleneck for quality. E.g., For a given amount of money put into a receiver's preamp section, which would likely sound better, a single preamp input, or a gazillion inputs like on many HT receivers being sold today? Give me 4 good inputs instead of 15 cheap ones anytime. The good news is that if all your music sources are coming through the internal receiver DACs (i.e. on a digital input), the DACs usually bypass the cheaper preamp sections and so even on a relatively inexpensive receiver the sound quality from the front end can be pretty good. As far as which amp to pick, you'll need to experiment to see which works best for you with the speakers that you have but Adcom, Rotel, NAD, Bryston, etc. are some names you could look for but any 80-100 watt stand alone amp (depending on your speakers) that you could get your hands on to try out would be worthwhile to check out. Also, watch for used equipment as it can be good value-many 2-3 year old amps can be had at 40%-60% of their original price with a little shopping. For a reference, you can check out audiogon.com for current asking prices. Hope this helps some - Jeff gary h wrote: I have the Onkyo Integra DTR6.3 HT receiver with 100 wpc. I am living just fine with its performance, but am curious about the possibility of enhancing my sound quality with the addition of a power amp, using the preamp out of the Onkyo. My questions a How much of an amp will I need to buy to achieve an improvement that will make me grin? Can I do this for under $2,000.? Under $1,000.? Are there certain makes and models that anyone might recommend? Thanks. Gary |
#4
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