Question for those that have moved up to a separate amp. (1 Viewer)

[Shawn Shultzaberger]

I have a question for those that have moved up from a single receiver to a receiver and amp combo or a pre/pro combo; "Did your sound quality improve immensely?"

I currently have an Outlaw 1050. It does quite well with my more modest Klipsch speakers and SVS subs. But I was wondering if I might hear a difference if I moved up to a separate amp controlled by my Outlaw? Is the sound quality alone justification enough to purchase one?

I know in car audio when adding a powerul, well made amp to your head unit there is a night and day difference in the quality, presence and punch of the music. Is this the same for home theater?

 

[KyleGS]

I added a Yammie M-70 (200wpc) to my fronts. I noticed a huge difference with music but very little on movies. This may be due to the fact that I KNOW my music and what to look for per changes.
You have a nice receiver and efficient spks. It's hard for me to say that you will hear a huge difference.
It certainly won't be a jump like you hear in the car audio situation. Those little amps in the head-units are pretty poor IMO.

 

[Minesh Patel]

The standard reply to your question is for you to try it yourself. Outlaw has a very liberal return policy, you'd only be out shipping charges if you didn't like it. You may also be able to get an amp at a local dealer to try out, or perhaps an in-store demo comparing a receiver alone vs. receiver as prepro & amp.

 

[Philip Hamm]

It depends entirely on the quality of the amps in your receiver. When I "upgraded" from an Onkyo 919 receiver to a Sherwood Newcastle AM-9080/AV-P9080 combo the difference was barely perceptible. (the difference in usability and convenience was huge - that's what I was after)

 

[Ted Pugh]

I upgraded to a B&K Reference 200.5 amp and use my Denon 4802 as a pre/pro with Definitive Tech 2002TL's, CLR 2500 center and Bi-Pole surrounds. This upgrade made a huge increase in headroom as well as bass response. I am now looking to upgrade to a seperate pre/pro. I would do this upgrade again in a heart beat.

 

[David Judah]

For me, adding an amp opened things up when I wanted to play things louder than normal. Of course, my speakers have an 89 db sensitivity, so it's hard to say if you'll notice much difference with your very sensitive Klipsch speakers. I imagine they are probably rated in the 95 + range.

If you plan to move to seperates anyways then purchasing an amp as an intermmediate step isn't a bad idea.

DJ

 

[John Robert]

Remember also that you may still find uses for the receiver's amp section - bi-amping, zone 2, back surround, etc. You might want to try adding a 2 or 3 channel amp for the fronts, and let your receiver continue to power the surrounds. This can give you the most "bang for your buck". I bought a mint adcom 3X175 on ebay for $400, and it made a nice impact on my system...

 

[Shawn Shultzaberger]

Hmmm...I didn't think about going with a 3-channel amp for the mains and center.

I mean I've already got a 700 watt Samson amp for my dual 25-31 CS's. Plenty there. And most of my hardcore listening is done in stereo mode with music (very loud levels). And I have plenty of ooomph from the surrounds for movies. (I can't listen to movies to loud when the family is around.) So a 3-channel might be what the doctor ordered. I'll have to do some shopping around.

Thanks for the replies everyone!

 

[Dan Marchewka]

I added an Acurus a200x5 to my Denon 3802 and it really opened up the sound and added a new dimension to both music and movies--even my wife noticed the difference. I no have a JBL Synthesis 5 channel amp with a Citation 7.1 bridged for my mains running off an Outlaw 950. It was worth the upgrade for the amp to the Denon and definately worth the upgrade to what I have now.

Dan

 

[Chu Gai]

That's a question with an answer that's specific to the equipment that you have, the room it's in (size, assorted sonic attributes, etc.) the sound levels you desire, and whether what you have is limiting in some way. In your particular case, not knowing the room, I'd say it's doubtful that your sound quality would improve immensely. This is based upon having stated you own some sort of Klipsch speakers which represent both a fairly friendly load to an amp and are also fairly efficient.

An in-store demo is virtually useless. After all, it's not your room that your present system is in. All it indicates is that you're thinking quite seriously about an amplifier purchace to the salesperson and most will gear a scenario that's to their best financial interest.

Prior to doing anything, you should calibrate your system with the old RS SPL meter and a disk as well as work on better positioning of your speakers. Some room treatments, which don't have to be expensive also come to mind. After all that, if you still feel something is lacking then you need to properly identify it. Perhaps a good place to start might be different speakers.

You see, I think one needs somewhat of a longer range plan or idea of where they're going in the next few years. It's quite easy to buy an amp and then find when you finally select your next set of speakers that the amp is having issues simply because the speakers are less efficient, 4 ohms for example, and you're in a larger room and now you find yourself with an amp that doesn't cut it. To my mind, that's a poor way to stimulate the economy by repeatedly making poor financial expenditures.

Give the matter a bit more thought before you rush out and create jobs. Of course if you keep cranking those Klipsh's to higher and higher levels you may well need a louder system to compensate for your hearing loss.

 

[ChrisHeflen]

Shawn, I don't know if you receive Outlaw's newsletter, but they just announced a trade-in policy for your 1050. $300.00 toward a 950 and amp (of your choice) combo. They state you can get into their seperates for less than $1300.00. If you can swing that, I would.
That is a killer deal.

I would also take Chu's advice if you haven't already done the things he suggests.

 

[Dan Marchewka]

The outlaw trade-in program sounds like a killer deal. Something to definately look into for you.

Dan

 

[Dan Driscoll]

I added a Sherbourn 5/1500A amp to my system and while I wouldn't say it improved the sound "immensely", it definitely was a very noticable improvement. (I did recalibrate before doing any critical listening.)

The receiver is a Yamaha RX-V596 and the speakers at that time were Paradigm Monitors. Since then the 90P mains have been replaced with Vandersteen 2Cs.

 

[Robert_Barlow]

Hiya! I went form a Denon 3802 to the Rotel 1066/1075 combo and I could tell a pretty significant difference.