I seek advice (1 Viewer)

Today I received my Mirage OM9's, OM2 and OM200. While first impressions are good, very nice sounding speakers that is my feeling at this point. My old ears like the sound of the above combination.

I have quickly learned my Pioneer 811 needs help amplifier wise. I think the MIrages could sound better with more power. I was pretty sure it would come to this when I first bought the Mirage speakers, but now know for sure. Here is my question,

Should I use the 811 as a pre/pro with either an Outlaw, Parasound or some other five channel amp. Should I go complete seprates or high end receiver replacing the 811 all together.

Sorry to see my old B&W's go but happy to have my new Mirages on board.

Peace, Pat

What i would do is buy an amp and use your receiver as a pre/pro for now.. That way, you don't have to come up with a bunch of money all at once and you might be perfectly satisfied with just outboard amplification.. if your aren't happy, sell your receiver on the used market and add some cash to get the pre/pro that you want..

Craig

I tested an Pioneer 811 with a parasound 75*2 amp and noticed improvement so if you can find an 855a or 1205 gor for it. My plan is to get a parasound/outlaw/sherbourn....

I'm using an Outlaw 7100 with my receiver and am very pleased with the sound. Use the search feature for outlaw amps for more info from others that have purchased from Outlaw.

Hi Pat,
Like I mentioned earlier, I was afraid you'd be disappointed with the 811's abilities to do justice to the OM's. You're right though that it is specifically that amps that are the real shortcomings. I think for the time being, adding a 5 channel amp would improve your sound tremendously. It would also put you in a position to move to seperates very easily down the road when you're ready. And it doesn't need to be a real beefy amp. Something around 80 watts per channel would do wonders. The issue here is that the 811 doesn't really seem to have a transformer to back up it's power claims. MANY receivers have this problem, not just Pioneers.

My old Sony STR-DB930 had the same problem. When I upgraded to a Yamaha RX-V3300 (model just under their flagship) and when I brought it home and hooked it up to my OM-10's, it was like I had bought all brand new speakers too. The difference was just phenominal.

That's not to say they sounded bad with the Sony. It impressed quite a few people that heard that system as I'll bet you 811 would do to many of your friends who aren't familiar with mid-fi equipment. But for me, it was the difference between making those people comment that my system sounds really good and just watching their jaws drop and their faces go blank trying to get a handle on how spectacular the moment was.

I unfortunately haven't moved into the world of seperates yet either for various reasons, so I'm going to stay away from trying to recommend any particular amp. But I will mention that Mirage speakers are offered preffered when couple with a brighter or crisper less mellow amp as the speakers themselves tend to sound a hair dark.