Would New Amplifiers Make A Difference??

jrlaw · 12-27-2006, 05:59 AM

Silly question from a 20th century home theater guy.........
I am upgrading my home theater set up from its 20th century equipment to a more modern setup. I have purchased a Samsung DLP TV and have added a Rotel RSP-1068 sound processor to replace my old Sony pre-amp.

My question is as follows: is it worth the money to replace the power amplifiers? Will a more modern manufactured unit deliver better quality sound? Right now I am using two (2) Adcom amps (GFA-535) from the late 90's for the rear surround and center channel. They each deliver 60 watts per channel. I am using a Yamaha MX-630 for the front speakers. This amp is also from the late 90's and delivers 135 watts per channel.

As I really love my new Rotel processor, I was thinking of replacing the above amplifiers with the corresponding Rotel amplifiers (RB-1050 = 70 watts per channel) and (RB-1070 = 130 watts per channel).

My system is working fine, but I wonder if upgrading to these amplifiers will give me a difference in sound quality (that is better sound)? I guess the question really is are all amps created equally? Any help would be appreciated. Thanks.

Tom Donaghue · 12-27-2006, 09:04 AM

Hi Jim;
Power amplifiers haven't changed much over the past 15 years or so, so unlikely you'll notice any difference between comparable amplifiers. Now if the amps differ in specifications, it is possible, but if you're comparing apples to apples, not likely you'll notice much of a difference.

Your three largest changes are going to come from a speaker change, room change and processor change, respectively in this order. Amplification, while audiophiles may disagree, will have very little impact if again the specifications (WPC, THD, S/N, etc.) are similar in comparison... -TD

Arthur S · 12-27-2006, 01:27 PM

Hi Jim

Tom Donaghue has this exactly right. Speakers make far more of a difference than amps or anything else really.

Happy New Year



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