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Adding A Power Amp To A Receiver ? (1 Viewer)

keithTa

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Jun 6, 2006
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Keith
I bought a new-old stock Yamaha RX-V1000 receiver, and wanted to find out if I need to add a power amp to power my "main" large floor speakers. I have not connect the receiver in my home yet, because I am in the middle of moving, but it is connected in my work shop to a pair of small Advent bookself speakers. The Advents are very easy to drive, but it seems the Yamaha is enough to power these, but I think the large Cerwin Vegas would be a little to much for it. I plan to go with Magnepan MMG later on, and I am sure the Yamaha would have a problem driving those. I have a chance to pick up a Adcom GFA-545 power amp, it would be enough for the floor speakers, but it does not have a gain control. Should I add this amp to power my main speakers, and use the receiver to power the rear surround and center channel? Could you get this amp to blend with the output of the surround sound speakers? I am new to surround sound, any advice is appreciated. :)
Thanks
 

FeisalK

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you'd be surprised - in general, most "larger" speakers are easier to drive (higher sensitivity) than bookshelves. But yeah if the Yamaha turns out to be not powerful enough then you can add the stereo amp to the front channels using the pre-outs of the V1000 and leave it to power the surrounds. You might want to think about an amp for the center channel as well
 

DonnyD

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Yes, adding an amp to power the mains and use the on-board Yammy amps to drive the surrounds is a great idea. Takes the load off the Yammy especially if you plan to use some Maggies later on. The MMG are not quite as efficient, beibg rated at 4 ohm, and will demand a lot out of a Yammy 1000, especially when driving other speakers in a surround config.
I've heard a set of MMG on a Yammy 1000 and was surprised how well the package performed although the Yammy heated up a bit in a long haul. Adding some Marantz mono amps helped take the load off and actually made the other speakers in the surround setup sound better since the Yammy only had to drive them.
I've had several outboard amps, such as Aragon, Acurus, Marantz, etc that had no gain control and it isn't an issue. You signal output of the receiver is variable so a gain on an outboard amp is not needed.
Welcome to the world of home theater and we are more than willing to help you spend all that cash that is looking for somewhere to go.
 

keithTa

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Jun 6, 2006
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Keith
This was a great idea, the Adcom matched up great with the receiver and improved the sound of the main a channel a little. I have used Pre/Power Amp combinations in the past thinking this was the only way to get truly great sound, but this sounds really good and cost much less than the Preamps I have used in the pass.
htf_images_smilies_rock.gif
 

davidLL

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Jun 24, 2006
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david llewellyn
A few years ago we bought a Marantz SR-19 receiver and Martin Logan Aerius speakers . I never heard such clarity in music. I just mounted some Niles outdoor speakers over my deck and need a way to power them. I really dont know much about adding components on this level. What would be the best thing to do? I was thinking of buying a Power Amp but dont want to spend a ton of money$250 tops. Any suggestions welcomed.
 

Bobby T

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Mar 13, 2001
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I have an outboard amp, B&K Ref 200.5, mated to my Yamaha RX-V4600. More CLEAN power is always a good thing. And I have Klipsch RF7s which have a high sensitivity. But sensitivity isn't the only factor. RF7s have an impedence dip down to 2.7 ohms in the lower frequencies. Also the overall sound quality is better with the amp. Smoother highs, tighter bass, etc.
 

DanaA

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I'll never forget the difference adding an outboard power amp gave me years back when I bought a Parasound to go along with my old Onkyo receiver. This was to drive very efficient Klipsch speakers I was using, so logically it shouldn't have made such a huge difference, but it did. Power amps rock!!!
 

bobcel

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Bob Celardo
Hey Keith
I too added an Adcom amp to my setup, a Yamaha HTR 5860. I first used an Adcom 555 but then sold that and got an Adcom 5503..3 channel setup, using some Energy Towers for the mains and an Energy AC-300 for the center. The addition of that Center channel with the Adcom made all the difference in the world, for HT and surround music. All the extra overhead really makes those speakers sing, might want to keep an eye out for a 3 channel amp if you get the upgrade bug (which I have constantly)
 

MichaelTa

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Sep 24, 2002
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I added a NAD C 272 to my Yamaha RX-V1300 back in June and to me it was a night and day difference. My main speakers are Paradigm Monitor 9's. The center and surrounds sound better as the amps in the Yamaha are no longer having to drive the power hungry mains. Yes they will go louder then before but that was not what I was after, I wanted more punch and cleaner sound which the C 272 did out of the box. Now I do not have to turn it up as loud to get to that place I like to be when listening to music.
 

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