Anyone thinking about adding a Amp?

Good4it

Good4it

Audioholic Chief
Just got my Emotiva A-300 hooked up to my Yamaha RX A1050 which says it puts out 125 amps and it improves the sound and separation a bunch! Wow I never thought it would be that notable. Do it. YMMV but I would recommend doing it.

I have BMRs and they sound great. Thanks to j_garica for all he did!
 
j_garcia

j_garcia

Audioholic Jedi
My amp adventure started when I bought 4 Ohm speakers and found that it could stress even a flagship receiver so I added monoblocks. My receiver at the time was 120w and the monos I replaced it with were "only" 150w, but the improvement was very noticeable. When a speaker can take the power, an amp can definitely help. I wouldn't say it is needed in every case, but there are definitely situations where it benefits.

Even without the sub, those BMR sounded great :)
 
P

PENG

Audioholic Slumlord
My amp adventure started when I bought 4 Ohm speakers and found that it could stress even a flagship receiver so I added monoblocks. My receiver at the time was 120w and the monos I replaced it with were "only" 150w, but the improvement was very noticeable. When a speaker can take the power, an amp can definitely help. I wouldn't say it is needed in every case, but there are definitely situations where it benefits.

Even without the sub, those BMR sounded great :)
Absolutely, if the added power is used it will make a difference, otherwise probably not. I will try the BMR on my 5 watt amp first and I suspect it will be marginally fine based on my spl requirement from 9 ft.
 
Swerd

Swerd

Audioholic Warlord
Absolutely, if the added power is used it will make a difference, otherwise probably not. I will try the BMR on my 5 watt amp first and I suspect it will be marginally fine based on my spl requirement from 9 ft.
You're getting BMRs too :D?! I've got to pay more attention. Congrats. Are they coming anytime soon?
 
TLS Guy

TLS Guy

Seriously, I have no life.
Just got my Emotiva A-300 hooked up to my Yamaha RX A1050 which says it puts out 125 amps and it improves the sound and separation a bunch! Wow I never thought it would be that notable. Do it. YMMV but I would recommend doing it.

I have BMRs and they sound great. Thanks to j_garica for all he did!
Welcome to the club of believers. Yes, a good external amp with good speakers will improve the situation.

So yes, I add external amps, 12 of them in three systems. So 23 channels as one channel is not used in one of the amps. All current dumpers. Would not use anything else.
 
lovinthehd

lovinthehd

Audioholic Jedi
Been there done that, with my current avrs/speakers and listening levels the amps in the avrs are fine. YMMV.
 
j_garcia

j_garcia

Audioholic Jedi
Been there done that, with my current avrs/speakers and listening levels the amps in the avrs are fine. YMMV.
I don't really have the ability to crank it as often as before and I don't find myself doing it much either. That said, when I DO want to bury the gas pedal, I want that reserve there :)

There's those days you just want to drown everything else out and hear the music like you were at the show. There's always that movie where you rewind that scene for the WOW moments.
 
lovinthehd

lovinthehd

Audioholic Jedi
I don't really have the ability to crank it as often as before and I don't find myself doing it much either. That said, when I DO want to bury the gas pedal, I want that reserve there :)

There's those days you just want to drown everything else out and hear the music like you were at the show. There's always that movie where you rewind that scene for the WOW moments.
I understand the turning it up thing, just don't really do that any more, not with the regularity I did before (and I have no restrictions per se in that regard) Plus I have moved up a few dB in sensitivity in my main room, with a generally more powerful amp in the main room, relegating the slightly less sensitive speakers and lower powered avr to my bedroom and my speakers don't drop below 5ohm for vast majority of range either. Really trying to be nicer to my ears more than anything, and there's still enough to get very loud for a demo or urge or something. :) It's a YMMV thing....
 
AcuDefTechGuy

AcuDefTechGuy

Audioholic Jedi
Just got my Emotiva A-300 hooked up to my Yamaha RX A1050 which says it puts out 125 amps and it improves the sound and separation a bunch! Wow I never thought it would be that notable. Do it. YMMV but I would recommend doing it.

I have BMRs and they sound great. Thanks to j_garica for all he did!
Well, don't mean to burst any bubbles, but what you experienced is quite common when people change from one amp with lower voltage GAIN (like 26dB - 28dB) to an amp with higher gain (29dB). Just 1dB makes a world of difference in perceived "sound quality".

Unless the comparison was completely volume level-matched, the comparison is not very "accurate".
 
3db

3db

Audioholic Slumlord
Adding an external amp only helps if the room is big enough to warrant the extra power or if the loads are exceedingly difficult to drive. In my situation with the rooms that I have, it wont make any difference. I like power too but if you dont tap it into it, then its a waste of money.
 
j_garcia

j_garcia

Audioholic Jedi
No center.

The space where the system is, is fairly small, but it is open to a very large, open area. So the power is a benefit.
 
Good4it

Good4it

Audioholic Chief
I would like a center but it needs to FIT and sound good. Any suggestions?
 
j_garcia

j_garcia

Audioholic Jedi
I would like a center but it needs to FIT and sound good. Any suggestions?
I emailed Dennis and he says the Phil MTM center is a good match for the BMR and Philharmonitor even though the ribbon is different. As for fitting? It's pretty big.

23" W x 8" H x 10.5" D Front Ported, 19" W x 8" H x 12" D Rear Ported
 
Good4it

Good4it

Audioholic Chief
It would have to fit where the other one was but under the amp and still not raise everything too high so not to block the tv. His seems too big ; (. His SPEAKER I mean.
 
Last edited:
Out-Of-Phase

Out-Of-Phase

Audioholic General
Well, don't mean to burst any bubbles, but what you experienced is quite common when people change from one amp with lower voltage GAIN (like 26dB - 28dB) to an amp with higher gain (29dB). Just 1dB makes a world of difference in perceived "sound quality".

Unless the comparison was completely volume level-matched, the comparison is not very "accurate".
Hallelujah, brother. Good sermon. Science wins.
 

TechHDS

Audioholic General
Well, don't mean to burst any bubbles, but what you experienced is quite common when people change from one amp with lower voltage GAIN (like 26dB - 28dB) to an amp with higher gain (29dB). Just 1dB makes a world of difference in perceived "sound quality".

Unless the comparison was completely volume level-matched, the comparison is not very "accurate".
Nicely said ADTG, my XPA-5 1st gen, has a 32db gain. So you can just about imagine the first impressions with a gain that high. If I remember right EMO was called out on that. The reply back was so their amps would be a better match for lower end AVR pre-outs (different voltage, pre-outs). You are absolutely right.

Mike
 
KEW

KEW

Audioholic Overlord
My ears were my measuring device.
I put a fair amount of faith in my ears, but my mind and memory kind of suck for audio!
As an example, more than once I have listened to a new speaker with low expectations, but, when I listened, I was thoroughly impressed by the speakers. I spent the day running errands and thinking about some good songs to listen to when I got home. That evening I queued up the music and was a bit disappointed. They weren't bad speakers, but they weren't the great speakers I remembered.
I think a lot of the reason my opinion can vary like this has to do with expectations. Initially I am expecting mediocre sound and anything better than that is impressive, but after this first session my expectations are for impressive sound, and simply being better than mediocre leaves me disappointed.
This is why I always listen to speakers for a few days before passing judgement and set up an A-B switching to level match and compare to speakers which I know to be of a certain level of performance.
I trust my ears to do a very good job for relative evaluations (level matched with instant switching A-B situations),but feel very outside my capabilities if I try to compare a speaker at home with one at a friends with a 10 minute drive between (unless one actually does something which stands out as bad).
I don't know if everyone is the same on this abilitiy. Probably not. As an analogy, I have an excellent ear for pitch as long as I can hear the correct pitch (a relative evaluation),but I am NFG at evaluating a pitch on an absolute basis; yet there are people with perfect pitch who do this without without even thinking about it (perfect pitch)!
However, I think for most of us, listening without something to compare to (as a reference) is not a very fine gauge for judging sound quality. It is useful, but I would not give it the power of "final word"!
 
Last edited:
M

MrBoat

Audioholic Ninja
I added external amps with a lot less power than my AVR. I liked the difference initially but after a month, I cannot recall what or why. It wasn't broken so, I didn't need to fix it and, that's where I am at again. A friend of mine, OTOH, is smitten with the mono blocks and the sound, but he comes here fresh from listening to another system so he gets a closer A/B comparison than I get now.

I haven't listened to a bad amp or one that was lacking for over 30 years by now. Even the most basic, mid-fi integrated were able to do well with good speakers.
 

Latest posts

newsletter

  • RBHsound.com
  • BlueJeansCable.com
  • SVS Sound Subwoofers
  • Experience the Martin Logan Montis
Top