Best amp/receiver to pair with Wharfedale Evolution (series 1)

Hello, I have Wharfedale Opus & Evo2 speakers myself and to answer your question, I would say a resounding Yes. In my system adding an external amp made a big difference in both 2 channel and multi channel/movies. I've heard a few Mcintosh amps but not with any Wharfedales. They certainly make great amps and I had looked at getting one once. I have listened to the Wharfedales with several different amps however. A couple Rotels, B&K, Adcom, Anthem MCA, NAD, Parasound and Outlaw.

Of those the ones I would recommend the most would be the NAD & Parasound Halo amps. Both sounded wonderful with the Wharfedales. For NAD, I would recommend either the NAD t975 or M25 (my personal choice), those are both 7 ch amps. Unfortunately their 5 channel amp is not nearly as powerful per channel, but you can get a 7 ch. and biamp your mains. The other one I would recommend for you is the Parasound Halo A52. It is 125watt 5/ch (closer to 175 w/6ohm) but that is all those Evo's will probably ever require. One other amp I think would mate well with the Wharfedales is the Cary 5.
Any of those amps I think would make a big difference with your system.
Let us know what you do.