Low Volume Fidelity VS Power Ratings

[LuisEcho]

I did a search and did not find any thread that would answer my question.
Every time i ask a retailer about low volume fidelity they are always trying to sell me more power, separates, or stereo amps. I have a Marantz sr6011 that has decent power but i am looking for fidelity.

I dont have a big room so i dont need too much power but what i think will provide the fidelity is the absence of distortion. Please correct me if I'm wrong. What i have seen in amps is that you can get decent power output at both 4 and 8 ohms but the distortion varies from brand to brand.

So far what i have seen is that Macintosh has same power at both 4 and 8 ohms and real low distortion throughout the entire frequency band. What other brand at a lower price point can offer similar performance in reference to distortion through the operating range?

 

[Hetfield]

Well just about everything is less expensive than McIntosh. I'm sure great but while bleep expensive. I'm a big fan of Parasound amps. I have a 5 channel amp from them that is a beast, and puts out gobs of power without complaining even a little. It's a very clean, and dynamic power. How many channels you looking for? Just stereo 2 or more than that?

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[Pogre]

If you're looking for better sound and fidelity you'll get that with speakers. An amplifier won't make much of a difference, if at all. I have the SR6011 and it's a fantastic receiver. I just recently purchased a Monolith 7 amplifier and can safely say there was no difference in sound quality between it and my receiver. Just more power.

 

[LuisEcho]

Well just about everything is less expensive than McIntosh. I'm sure great but while bleep expensive. I'm a big fan of Parasound amps. I have a 5 channel amp from them that is a beast, and puts out gobs of power without complaining even a little. It's a very clean, and dynamic power. How many channels you looking for? Just stereo 2 or more than that?

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I just have soeaker towers center and a sub for now Bowers and Wilkins CM 10 s2 they say up to 300rms on there website. Thanks for the feedback

 

[Hetfield]

If you're looking for better sound and fidelity you'll get that with speakers. An amplifier won't make much of a difference, if at all. I have the SR6011 and it's a fantastic receiver. I just recently purchased a Monolith 7 amplifier and can safely say there was no difference in sound quality between it and my receiver. Just more power.

That's so strange that we had completely different experiences when adding an amp. But the Marantz is a better more expensive higher up on the food chain receiver than my Yamaha 500 dollar receiver. Maybe that's the difference? I feel it made an enormous difference.

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[LuisEcho]

If you're looking for better sound and fidelity you'll get that with speakers. An amplifier won't make much of a difference, if at all. I have the SR6011 and it's a fantastic receiver. I just recently purchased a Monolith 7 amplifier and can safely say there was no difference in sound quality between it and my receiver. Just more power.

Good to know i was considering the monolith what concerned me was that the distortion numbers on the macintosh were so much better than rotel, monolith, ect...

 

[Hetfield]

I just have soeaker towers center and a sub for now Bowers and Wilkins CM 10 s2 they say up to 300rms on there website. Thanks for the feedback

Well there are a lot of options. The one I mentioned. The cheaper brand like Outlaw audio and Emotiva come up mind. Lots of options.

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[Pogre]

That's so strange that we had completely different experiences when adding an amp. But the Marantz is a better more expensive higher up on the food chain receiver than my Yamaha 500 dollar receiver. Maybe that's the difference? I feel it made an enormous difference.

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It made zero difference for me, and as you know, I have a legit amp. I do think you'd agree with me that speakers will absolutely have more impact than amplification?

HEY... I just remembered... didn't you say something about eating a hat..?

OP, you didn't mention what speakers you have. What all is your system comprised of right now?

 

[Andrein]

If you're looking for better sound and fidelity you'll get that with speakers. An amplifier won't make much of a difference, if at all. I have the SR6011 and it's a fantastic receiver. I just recently purchased a Monolith 7 amplifier and can safely say there was no difference in sound quality between it and my receiver. Just more power.

I would say with my Monolith 5 i got richer sound and more details and clarity than with my avr

 

[lovinthehd]

I don't even know what low volume fidelity is referring to....have a source for this theory? Adding an amp for low volume fidelity you'll find some proponents for, like Hetfield, but not the experience of most of us I think. I'm sure your avr is fine at lower volume fidelity, up until the point you run out of juice for the onboard amps. Your speakers will have more distortion to worry about than your avr....

 

[Hetfield]

It made zero difference for me, and as you know, I have a legit amp. I do think you'd agree with me that speakers will absolutely have more impact than amplification?

HEY... I just remembered... didn't you say something about eating a hat..?

OP, you didn't mention what speakers you have. What all is your system comprised of right now?

We'll definitely speakers make the biggest impact but I better and will on my opinion make for better sound also. Not as a huge a thing as a better speaker. Just differences in opinion I guess.

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[Pogre]

Good to know i was considering the monolith what concerned me was that the distortion numbers on the macintosh were so much better than rotel, monolith, ect...

Don't get me wrong. The Monolith is an awesome amplifier. Amplification isn't the route for better sq. That is absolutely in the speakers. I bought one because... well, because I could! lol. Plus I just bought some power hungry towers.

 

[Hetfield]

I would say with my Monolith 5 i got richer sound and more details and clarity than with my avr

That is exactly what I found. I'm quite surprised he didn't get the same thing. I'm actually floored by it. I have no idea why.

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[Andrein]

I did a search and did not find any thread that would answer my question.
Every time i ask a retailer about low volume fidelity they are always trying to sell me more power, separates, or stereo amps. I have a Marantz sr6011 that has decent power but i am looking for fidelity.

I dont have a big room so i dont need too much power but what i think will provide the fidelity is the absence of distortion. Please correct me if I'm wrong. What i have seen in amps is that you can get decent power output at both 4 and 8 ohms but the distortion varies from brand to brand.

So far what i have seen is that Macintosh has same power at both 4 and 8 ohms and real low distortion throughout the entire frequency band. What other brand at a lower price point can offer similar performance in reference to distortion through the operating range?

More or less the same idea forced me to look for another amp. Monolith 5 and Anthem mca 525 gave me what i was looking for. More fidelity, better dynamic range, more details, better signal to noise ratio, more separation of instruments.

 

[KEW]

I am thinking speakers are a bigger point of interest than amps. The SR6011 has good specs and I would expect it to be clean at low levels.

However, I have definitely heard speakers that sounded very poor at low levels then came into their own once you opened them up. I expect selecting the right speaker will be the most relevant choice in getting this right!

I don't know what characteristics would affect this in a speaker, but someone else probably does. I do know that having the speakers close for low level listening seems to give a fuller sound.
How low is your low level? Do you have a SPL meter?

 

[Pogre]

We'll definitely speakers make the biggest impact but I better and will on my opinion make for better sound also. Not as a huge a thing as a better speaker. Just differences in opinion I guess.

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Well, it's not my opinion. It's my experience.

 

[LuisEcho]

It made zero difference for me, and as you know, I have a legit amp. I do think you'd agree with me that speakers will absolutely have more impact than amplification?

HEY... I just remembered... didn't you say something about eating a hat..?

OP, you didn't mention what speakers you have. What all is your system comprised of right now?

2 speaker towers b&w cm10 s2 a b&w center chanel cm 2 and a martin logan 10" sub 700w

 

[Hetfield]

Well, it's not my opinion. It's my experience.

Ok different experiences I guess. Either way it is what it is. No difference for you, big difference for me. It's all good in the end.

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[Pogre]

I would say with my Monolith 5 i got richer sound and more details and clarity than with my avr

If there was a difference with my system it's very subtle, even inaudible. I know when I switched my bookshelf speakers out for the towers I have now it made a much bigger impact.

 

[Andrein]

I would say with my Monolith 5 i got richer sound and more details and clarity than with my avr

All i said above i felt by moving to the separate amp and keeping speakers the same.