[Mr Polo]

I used to own a Yamaha RXV490 (or something like that) and Cerwin Vegas D-3 speakers. It had enough bass to shake the house and was great, but I found that I was lacking some clarity or definition. I sold those and now I have the Denon AVR 3805 receiver with Paradigm Studios 100 speakers along with a B&W 10 inch sub.


My goal when I made the change was to get more clarity in my music. While I have achieved this, I feel that I'm now lacking on bass. Now, you have to understand that I LOVE bass, and I guess I love it even more than I realized. I listen to a lot of heavy metal music, and a lot of bass is just great!


I used to own a 2 channel Kenwood power amp (not sure if I'm using the right term) years ago that I loved and which provided plenty of house shaking bass. It eventually died, and I then bought my Yamaha.


So, I'm thinking of adding a 3-channel amp to hook up my 3 front speakers, and then keeping my receiver to power my rears and sub. I don't even know if I can do that with my 3805.


My questions therefore are: can I connect a power amp (whatever the proper term is) to my receiver? And what would be a good power amp that would supply plenty of bass, and I mean A LOT of bass. My budget is probably around $2,000.

 

[tdamocles]

Since it looks like this receiver has pre-outs, you can connect any number of amps....

 

[MichaelJHuman]

First off, consider upgrading your powered sub, not your amp. Much of your bass comes from there.


If you do go with an outboard amp, look into that Behringer A500 everyone is talking about. Lots of bass for a great price, and all the owners of it seem happy.

 

[Mr Polo]

I'm glad to know that I can hook up additional amps!


About getting another sub, well I'm going to hold off on that for now. The reason being is that I remember when I had my Kenwood power amp (no receiver, just stereo), it provided much better bass than my Yamaha receiver. So, I kind of want to revisit those days of strong punchy bass that a power amp can provide.


MJH, thank you for the suggestion on the Behringer A500. However, I'm wondering on whether I should get a 3-channel amp to also power my centre channel. The Behringer A500 is only a 2-channel amp. My main concern is for music, so maybe a 2-channel amp would suffice.


Anyone else have any recommendations for a power amp? Thank you in advance.

 

[UNC Nick]

Check out the 7-channel LPA-1 from Emotiva. I just posted on it yesterday. Great performance and value.

 

[JOHNnDENVER]

The problem with your bass right now is that your sub is not sufficient for your room. Best of luck with your audio goals.

 

[Mr Polo]

UNC Nick: Thanks. I'll be taking a look at that.

JohnD: I noticed a distinct difference in bass output when going from a power amp to a receiver. Also, I prefer to listen to music in 2-channel stereo and mainly use the sub when watching movies. I know that some power amps provide more bass than others, which is why I'm trying to get some advice on which amp to look into. Aside from bass, I still want excellent audio quality and clarity.


More power amp recommendations are appreciated. Thanks everyone.

 

[FJ Merlin]

I'm in the market for an amp as well. My budget is a little lower then yours Polo. I'm looking to spend less then a grand. Im looking for a 2 channel amp in the 200 watts a channel range.


I was read somewhere here on the forums about the Crown XLS line of Amps. But I never knew you could use pro audio amps to power a home theater system. Is that frowned upon or is power power?

 

[davidpa]

not one mention of Bryston?

 

[PA Buck]

Hi POLO, Remember if you want full bass capabilites out your Studio 100's regardless if your using just a receiver or a receiver with a 2 channel amp you have set your front speaker to the large setting in your bass management otherwise your just sending 80 hertz and above to your Studio 100's and everything below 80 hertz to your subwoofer. Also if you do get a 2 channel amp you will get much cleaner and stable bass output than the receiver alone could provide. BUCK

 

[Mr Polo]

PA, my speakers are set to large. Thanks for the tip anyways.


Looking at these amp suggestions is making me drool.

I'm probably only going to be doing a purchase in a few months, but I sure am anxious to get one!

 

[Mr Polo]

So, in terms of power amp options, maybe some top brands would be Crown, Rotel, and Bryston??? Which other ones should I be looking at? And what would be the differences between these brands?

 

[DolfanJay]

I've got a B&K amp driving my mains that I am very happy with.

 

[MauneyM]



Quote:
Originally Posted by FJ Merlin /forum/post/0


I was read somewhere here on the forums about the Crown XLS line of Amps. But I never knew you could use pro audio amps to power a home theater system. Is that frowned upon or is power power?

Power is power. However, some rack-mount amps designed for PA use will have fans that make more noise than you want. When you have a rack of 6 1000W amps running a live sound system at 110 dB, you don't worry very much about a 45dB fan noise; you don't want this in your living room, though.


If you want to look at rackmount amps, you need to try them out in a reasonable facsimile of a home environment. Most touring-level products are designed for power output, clean sound, and serious mechanical reliability. They generally don't care quite as much about S/N or mechanical noise (fans), as you would for a home audio setup. Remember that a touring PA rig is generally set up to run at one basic volume level, with different amounts of gear brought in to suit the room. While this doesn't mean that they have no dynamic range, it does mean that they're not taking a system capable of running at 115 db reference level and operating it for high-quality background music at 60 db (like for a dinner party).

 

[Mr Polo]

Which amps would tend to push more bass but maintain clarity??? Do any brands do this more than others? Thanks.

 

[Wrager]

Have you tried to re-position your sub? Location can make a big difference.

 

[cjbaldw]



Quote:
Originally Posted by Mr Polo /forum/post/0


I'm glad to know that I can hook up additional amps!


About getting another sub, well I'm going to hold off on that for now. The reason being is that I remember when I had my Kenwood power amp (no receiver, just stereo), it provided much better bass than my Yamaha receiver. So, I kind of want to revisit those days of strong punchy bass that a power amp can provide.


MJH, thank you for the suggestion on the Behringer A500. However, I'm wondering on whether I should get a 3-channel amp to also power my centre channel. The Behringer A500 is only a 2-channel amp. My main concern is for music, so maybe a 2-channel amp would suffice.


Anyone else have any recommendations for a power amp? Thank you in advance.

I run an Adcom 5503 three channel amp for my main and center channels. Info here:

http://www.adcom.com/prod/shopdispla...=3&prodid=1184


200wpc into 8 ohms, 350wpc into 4 ohms, can run very low impedance loads, plenty of headroom.


New I believe it's around 1500, though I bought mine used off of eBay for 800 myself. Adcom makes great amps, MOSFET circuitry (sounds like tube amps), high quality internals. If you want to have equal power all around, I'd also look at the multi-channel Adcom amps (5 or 7 channel).

 

[Mr Polo]

Wrager: The thing is that I used to own a power amp maybe 15 years ago, and I know it sounds better than a receiver. So, right now I am focusing on finding a good amp. Presently single, so no WAF to contend with. Afterwards, and down the line, maybe a few years from now, I will look at upgrading my sub. But for now, I prefer to listen to 2-channel stereo anyways (maybe because my sub sucks).


Cjbald: thanks for the recommendations on the Adcom. I will look into it.


Another question I have relates to bi-wiring. I can bi-wire my speakers, but right now only have speaker wire on one of the posts, leaving one free (or 2 and 4, however I should be explaining it). Should I be bi-wiring my speakers? I figure I should, after all, there is that extra post! And how should I go about doing that?


Thanks again for all your input, everybody.

 

[dakar80124]

Set your receiver sub x-over to something low like 40hz, and set it to output bass to sub only. This should give you more bass from the fronts. Default on a lot of receivers is 80.

If you go ext. amp get a Rotel RB-1090 (or RB-1092). Best big amp for the money. You can pick up a used one for $900-1300. New one maybe for $2000.

I have a used B&K and nice sound and good bass, I had an Adcom. Bryston is to overpriced, Classe is my fav ($$$$). You can't do better than Rotel amps though w/o doubling the price I think.

 

[Mr Polo]

Dakar: your saying that if I set my crossover to 40 instead of 80, then my fronts will push more bass?? OK, I'll have to try that.


Does anybody have some suggestions on how I should wire my speakers? As I stated above, the Studio-100's have dual posts to accommodate bi-wiring. Right now I'm only using 1 (or 4 and 2).