Do I really need an AMP???

Even without focusing on louder volume levels, adding an amp should very well increase dynamics and add greater detail. I bet you would be happy.

^^^

assertions by others to the contrary, yes, that's all you are really gaining...

if you aren't clipping/running out of juice now now, an amp won't "add dynamics, detail, etc."...

Concidering your situation, you give good reason to power your system with the 3808....

Odds are the first 10watts you are using from the 3808 will sound like the Emotiva..

If you were talking about much more demanding SPL's or really low impedence loads, i would say go for it, wts, save your cash and enjoy the 3808.....

LOL, i keep adding to my post.... Speaking of subwoofers, reading up on their benefit in multiples and now you having and xtra $600.00 why not pick up an OmniMic system and read up on subwoofer placement and calibration.. THAT would be exellent plan !!!!!!!!

Here's the article i mentioned http://www.aes.org/tmpFiles/elib/20120326/13680.pdf

Whilst the Emotiva is rated at 300w versus 130 for the Denon, in actual fact that only translates to an extra 3dB.

Not much.

In a room your size you would have to be listening at insanely loud levels to clip the Denon, especially if you mainly listen to music.

IMHO you should take the $600 you would be wasting on the Emotiva and spend it on the weakest link in your current system, which in your case is obviously the 'subwoofer'. It wouldn't surprise me if your mains play comfortably deeper than the PDR8.

Alternatively, given your room, spend it on room treatment. Although that isn't as much fun.

Oooh. Good call on the Sub. That would really be an upgrade.

Most people that hear gains with an external amp or doing one of two things different running their speakers at full range (LARGE) in which case they probably are sucking all but a flagship dry of watts or they are playing a lot louder than they did with just the AVR.

.... and those would be ?

Caveat: This isn't a blind test.

My McIntosh amp just went on the fritz, so I had the repair shop pick it up on Friday. I plugged my speakers into the back of the Denon 2807 I'm using as a preamp, and while it's not a night and day difference on most material, the sound is definitely 'flatter' (less dynamic) and it seems more veiled on complex passages - harder to focuson certain instruments or harmonies that were easier to make out with the McIntosh. It's not wattage - the Mc's watt-meters rarely go above 3 watts and I've never seen them hit 30, but I'm guessing the Mc's extra current (amps) are providing an audible difference here.

I guess that's my 2 cents.

third option, and the most likely one... they've been told they will...

That's a good 2 cents (I too am a Mac lover though). I spent lots of time on many different amps and was suprised what I heard (not double black curtain blind though). I admit, I was smitten with the Mac blue needles prior to my final decision. Let's face it, music is an emotional pursuit for many, and the gear that comes with it tends to follow suite. Now my wife, while in the kitchen (very open floor plan) not paying attention would occasionlly speak up and comment too, but again not fully blind. Plus very subtle volume/gain differences will cause perceived improvements in sound quality too. My next frontier is optimizing the tile floor temperature for optimal speaker cable resistance synergy in my system for various volume levels.

I enjoy my external amps and wouldn't turn back now that I've had them. I also occasionally play at insanely high volumes on some tunes that really speak to me, be it classical, rock, electronica, etc.

Also keep in mind while going from 130 to 300 wpc really won't in theory gain much volume increase, however, most receivers rarely can put out their rated power, particularly when more than ONE channel is driven! If your receiver isn't sounding bad, then keep it solo, but if it starts to struggle, get a quality Emo amp and demo it. You may fall in love (emotion again) with the increased volume capabilities in your system, or even the mezmorizing blue LED's Emotiva uses.

I have never understood this concept that current from more powerful amps makes the difference when the amps being compared are nowhere close to their limits.

Say the speaker presents a 2 ohm impedance at some frequency as the worst case scenario. And say the signal hitting the output devices is like 5 volts peak. That's 2.5 amps of current draw - 12.5 watts.

Nothing should be limiting current flow at that point, I hope. Not the power supply. Not the amp's current limiter...I think. As such, as I said, I don't see how that's creating any differences between amps. If one amp can't hack it, and the other can, under some set of conditions, of course that would explain differences.

There are of course, differences in amps. Which is why Self and Slone spend a whole book describing different approaches.

The precise reasons why amps can, if they do, sound different don't appear to ever have been correlated to differences in the amp circuitry. But we know amps do differ in terms of signal to noise ratio, distortion characteristics, and stability (and how they recover if somehow they were to enter a condition of non stability.)

I must have the worst ears in the world. I noticed an immediate difference as soon as I hooked up my XPA.

Not really your receiver may have less than adequate amps making your XPA the champ a lot of mfg.'s have skimped on the amp section take a look at the bench tests done at Home Theater Magazine .Some will not even do half of their advertised wattage. I seriously doubt most people in a ABT could tell which is being used in a mid level and up AVR we tend to hear what we want to hear a lot of times I was guilty after all no one wants to hear I spent all that money for a lateral move.

youre probably right. I have a Yamaha rx-V765.

Of course you need it, big amps look super cool!

^^^

now that, i cannot disagree with...

Some even act as good space heaters in the winter (class a ).

I would never own a class A amp, unless I lived in Alaska

So true. First thing my wife said when I turned on my XPA was "I love the blue lights"

I won't even get into the symbolic language of power they convey! The ladies cannot resist audio guys, it's a proven fact. I've seen dweebs put two 15's with a big cheesy green amp in a '89 Cavalier and get the ladies. Just think of the breeding opportunities a thoughtful quality amp choice can provide!



(ok now I'm joking around, I always have thought big amps were cool though)

Hi Caupina-I look at external amps, from an objective point of view;extending the useful life of my equipment.
1-If one has large, low efficiency, low impedance, speakers (my front mains) than a midpower external amp (say 200wpc with 1.5db head room) will help keep my AVR from "slow roasting" itself into an early grave. I also supply 200 watts to my center; I am operating a 6.1 configuration.
2-I also want to insure that I do not drive my amplifiers into an "overdriven" state-Clipping-signal clipping, for extended periods, has led many a tweeter to an early grave.

Robust, clean, power reserves, are a safety factor-unless one is foolish-if you have clean reserve power capabilities, your ears will tell you when to stop, before you destroy your sound transducers, due to signal "clipping".

and owned my own personal nuclear reactor to generate electricity...

Not to mention, they help fill up more space in that nice 42U rack

My power company sent me a little thing in the mail the other day. It compares your power usage to others in your neighborhood. Out of 100, I scored a 97 for power hog use! Awesome! The avg neighbor is below 50... Boring asses

You can thank my plasma, avr, amps and computers for that