Worth getting separate amp, and how to bridge it? (1 Viewer)

[Mike Shellito]

I've never had separates, but have heard people talk of the advantages. Someone is giving away an amp (NAD 214, 2 channel, 80 w/channel). I currently have a Yamaha HTR 5860 which I'm happy with. I believe I can use a separate amp with this receiver, but have yet to look too deeply in to it.

Can someone tell me how one goes about using a separate amp with a receiver, and the benefits? The receiver is 95 or 100 w/channel, the separate amp is 80, however I've heard Yamaha's ratings are on the low side, so thinking the "clean" power of an amp for the mains at 80 w/channel and using the receiver for the other speakers is fine.

I have the Yamaha HTR 5860 receiver, SVS SBS-01 for fronts (used to have Def Tech DR-7s, but the wife wanted smaller speakers, so the DR-7s are spares sitting unused in the basement for now. They're old but still sound good. Maybe I'll use one of the DR-7s for a center until I can get another SBS-01), and some cheapo center and rears. Eventually will upgrade the center to match the fronts, but monetary contraints right now. Also have the SVS PB10 sub.

Is it worth it? Will I get anything, and can anyone give an explanation as to how the bridging of the amps/reciever works?

Basically, I've heard of bridging, bi-amping, etc. and am not sure on the difference. I've heard people say "you can't have too much power", and figured, since it's free, why not grab it and see if I can improve what I've got somehow. I'm slowly learning what I can with this hobby. Hope this makes sense.

Thanks.

One other thing: I listen to my music in 2 channel stereo, except for the very few DTS music discs I have (with the sub, obviously), and the rest in 5 channel (movies and TV).

 

[Mike Shellito]

Have done some reading: another option, since I've heard you shouldn't "short change" your center, as it does most of the work in home theater application. Any way to make use of this NAD amplifier and use it as the amp for the center channel, and leave the power in the receiver for the other channels? (I run 5.1). Or am I wasting my time on this?

The more I think on this, either way I'll probably try out my def tech as a center instead of the cheapo-yamaha surround and center package my wife got me a few years ago for Christmas. Since I'm not timbre-matched now, might as well be non-timbre-matched with a better quality speaker...

Thanks again.

 

[Alon Goldberg]

Hi Mike, to answer some of your questions..

1. Yes your setup will benefit from a separate poweramp to drive your front speakers. The centre channel is primarily for vocals, so I would focus on the front left/right instead, especially as you listen to music in two-channel

2. The NAD poweramp is conservatively rated at 80 watts per channel, but in reality this amp delivers peak powers of 110/180/250 Watts in 8/4/2 Ohms, indicating a rather healthy power supply. There are clear benefits of a separate poweramp vs a receiver, such as a huge toroidal transformer, larger power supply, more output transistors, etc

3. As for bridging, this won't be required in your setup. Basically what this means is that the poweramp has the ability to bridge mono, so you could potentially have one 200 watt channel

4. As for bi-amping, your speakers would need to support this application in order to use this. Bi-amping is connecting two poweramp's to a single speaker in order to drive your tweeter and mid-woofer separately. I wouldn't worry about this in your setup

Cheers,
Alon

 

[Mike Shellito]

Thanks Alon, appreciate the response.