[mpkelley20]

I am looking for information on anyone using an amp (or guess it would be pre-amp?) with the older Yamaha V663. I did search I got 100+ results which did not seem to be exactly related.


I am looking for more power for my home theater room as the size has recently been changed and I am finding I need to crank my volume to near full volume in some cases. My speakers have a sensitivity rating of around 86DB for my surrounds (Cambridge Soundworks) and my center is 90DB (Definitive technology).


Will an (pre) amp be worth doing or should I just look to upgrade to a more powerful receiver or different speakers?


If an amp would work, what would be a good amp to look at that supports a 7.1 setup?


Sorry for the questions. Its been a long time since I needed to make changes to my system and I've never used an amp before. If there are threads that deal with this, I appreciate the links.

 

[MichaelJHuman]

I don't you want a preamp

A preamp is a device to switch between inputs, and produce an output to drive an amp. Receivers have a built in pre amp section.


As for whether an amp would help, many people come here, and report that buying an amp helped their system. I suggest 125 or more watts per channel so that you are doubling your receiver's power. The UPA-7 from Emo would have been a nice solution, but they stopped making it.


You could look at the XPA-3 or XPA-5, using your receiver to power the remaining channels.

 

[mpkelley20]

LOL!! Thanks! I knew I would be wrong with whatever I used first so I decided to just take my lump in the beginning. LOL!!


Thanks for the suggestion. Will start researching more and will take a look at the 2 you mentioned.

 

[rdgrimes]

V663 + 5-ch amp is a popular and solid combination. The 663 is the pre-amp and can still power 2 more surround channels easily.


My advice: Never buy an AVR to get power, buy an amp for power. As long as the AVR has pre-outs, you don't need anything else. You'd need to spend close to $1500-2000 to get an AVR with substantially more power and you still wind up with less than a decent amp will give you. Plus you can always use an amp even if you get another AVR later.