Will an external amplifier improve sound quality an "Normal" Volumes?

I owned the MPS1 for some time, and I can say my Denon 2805 sounds just as good at low/med and close at high volumes.

"My question is, will an external amp like the MPS-1 sound "much" better at even low to mid-range volume with my Paradigms compared to the HTR-5960?"

As long as your present amplifier is not clipping it should sound exactly the same no matter how powerful an amp you add.

Oh no, more power gives the amp the ability to have more control over the driver. It can therefore better overcome the cones resistance to movement, air resistance etc. and it can also stop and reverse it's own motion better. It gives the amp more control of the speaker hence the cone can more closely reperesent the input signal with less of the excess motion that should not be there. Hence it will usually sound better at any volume. Whether you hear it in your system with your ears, only you can decide.

I just added a Crown 402 (300 wpc) to my Denon 3802 and can't hear a difference at low to moderate volume levels but certainly can at higher volume levels...much clearer.

if everything is working correctly the dynamics should have a little more impact
but if you played it loud you should notice other differences.

At low to medium levels, I don't this would be a worthwhile upgrade.

If you needed the power for a larger room and played it at high levels it would make sense, but unless the receiver is clipping at the level you're listening to, you shouldn't notice much of a difference.

You would probably be better off saving your money and buying a nicer receiver in the future.

I'd definitely go with a power amp. It probably won't sound "much" better but that all depends on your expectations. If you don't listen to music critically, you will probably be just fine with your receiver powering your speakers. I think the biggest thing a power amp did for me at low listening levels over my receiver is making the music/ or movie sound much less constrained. Maybe go with the lpa-1

You have absolutely no idea of what you are talking about.

...unless what he is trying to say is that the better amps have a high damping factor which in fact does provide better contol over the bass. This could potentially be heard at lower volumes in that the bass would appear "tighter".

I use a Van Alstine Ultimate 70 (rebuilt Dynaco Stereo 70) with my Sherwood Newcastle R-965 driving my Infinity Intermezzo 4.1. Sound quality with the tubes is amazing, imaging and reverb decay much improved. It is the single best improvement I have made to my system in years.

As long as an amplifier is not driven into clipping, it will sound pretty much the same as any other amp. Larger amps will not provide better control over bass or anything else when compared to a smaller amp. They will both sound identical and I reiterate "as long as neither amp is driven into clipping".

Please visit the following link:

http://www.mastersonaudio.com/audio/20020901.htm

You will be doubling your power and I personally think it will make a sonic difference even at normal listening. With HT it will have even more impact with those loud scenes. I have a Yammy rec. and there are some differences with an ext amp although they are small. Theres a lot of small differences in a big amp that can add up to better sound overall. I've used several different amps in the past 6 months and to me they each seem to have their own flavor, and its more of a long term listening than a/b comparisons.

No, you won't be.


Of course, it's always better ...what are the 'differences'? What defines a "big" amp?

A 500W amp, producing an average of 5W to the speaker, will sound just as loud as a 100W amp, producing an average power of 5W.

This debatable item can go on forever. You may only know if you try it for the 30 day period.

I think amping my system made a difference at low-mid volume. YMMV.

I added the LPA-1 to my system and am quite happy with the results. At low volume the improvement is subtle, at best. As the volume increases the sound improvement does also. One additional benefit is that I can swap out receivers to take advantage of new technologies, while not spending a fortune on top of the line models. Since the receiver is now just a pre-pro I can go middle of the line for new features, like HDMI 1.3, etc.

There are probably instances where an external amp is worse than a receivers. I had a Class D (or "H" I can't remember now) 5 channel amp several years ago and it was inferior to the receiver I had at the time. More distortion, noise, etc. and it was rated at 200 watts per channel vs. 140 for my receiver--So not everything is cut and dried. I'm with Poolboy, though; swap out receivers when needed for the new stuff and keep the good amps.

LOL OK.

You can find articles on the web all you want but he point is easily proveable. Try a low powered single ended amp. While they have certain strengths, they don't have enough power to handle much dynamics, and this is easily discernable long before clipping. There is less difference between say 100 and 150 watts, but the premise is still there. The fact that you can't hear it tells me more about your associated equipment and listening experience than it dissuades me from what I've experienced many times in my listening room.

There are measurable differences between amplifiers; whether we can hear those differences with our equipment is another matter. I swear I can hear a difference when switching from a Sunfire amp to a Krell amp; it subjectively appears the Krell has better control of the drivers.

And when you post a link to make your point, you should use an article that isn't so well known. That article is best known for being controversial.

Originally Posted by Harrypt
Oh no, more power gives the amp the ability to have more control over the driver. It can therefore better overcome the cones resistance to movement, air resistance etc. and it can also stop and reverse it's own motion better. It gives the amp more control of the speaker hence the cone can more closely reperesent the input signal with less of the excess motion that should not be there. Hence it will usually sound better at any volume. Whether you hear it in your system with your ears, only you can decide.


Is this something you have dreamed up or can you post a link to the science behind your statements?

This is where you reveal, once again, that you don't know what you're talking about.

Why can't we all get along? Inaccuracies aside, bigger is better! I want the headroom!

Many years ago, I believed as you did.

However, I have a pair of Klipsch RF5s that have been connected to: a Yamaha receiver, a Denon receiver, the Denon driving a Crown K1 pro amp and now Rotel separates (RC1070/RB1070).

The same pair of speakers, in the same room, using the same source material produces a different result in SQ depending upon the electronics used. It is not just a matter of damping factor, but differences in soundstage width and depth and of course, at higher volumes, headroom.

This isn't a matter of reading an article and taking its claims at face value, but rather experiental using actual equipment and producing results that are repeatable.

If you cannot hear a difference in electronics I suppose that makes your choices easier. However, your experience doesn't negate that some other people can hear a difference; one that goes beyond self delusion.

This is just the energy vs. work theorem. Get your hands on a low powered amp and try for yourself. I suspect you've never had one in your home for any extended length of time and compared it directly to higher powered amps. You should give your opinions on your own experiences, not what you read on the web of someone elses findings.

There are arguments all over these forums of people claiming that you cannot hear a difference between this or that while I think that I can. However, claiming that a 200 watt amp can control a woofer as authoritatively as say a 15 watt single ended is just ludicrous and not worth time arguing. If you truly believe that, I will not bother trying to dissuade you.

Problem is, the comparison presented is pointless. The OP doesn't have a 15W SE tube amp, he has a Yamaha receiver.

I doubt there would be much, if any, noticeable difference between the Yamaha receiver amps and the Emotiva at low listening levels.

Not pointless at all, merely a more extreme example and I said exactly this in the previous post.

Its funny. Many here can tell differences between 1080i, 720p and 480i output on their DVD player which in reality is a subtle difference but real nontheless. Why is it that people have a difficult time accepting that there are in fact audible differences in audio equipment as well?

Do people honestly believe a Sony entry level receiver sounds the same as a Rotel integrated amplifier and that the price difference between the two is unjustified and merely supports a giant conspiracy by electronic manufacturers designed to fool the entire planet?

I would refer those people not to blind tests but to a psychologist.
No, they dont sound the same and the comparison gets nasty at loud volumes much like comparing a plasma and an LCD in the dark.

Wow, lol. You're giving a lot of credit to that amp... it's almost intelligent

The problem is that the OP was asking about low to medium amp load comparisons and you're replying with circumstances where one amp is pushed beyond its load-limits. For low to medium power, a watt is a watt is a watt as they say. One watt does not have anymore magical "control" over the driver than a difference watt.

Certainly if you had one amp and a second with double the power, then pushed the amps with requirements beyond the first and within-range of the second, then what you say comes into play. But until then, your argument holds no water.