yes i'm familiar with wank & o'brien, but rarely listen to radio. i have zero experience w/ yamaha, aside from a recent 20 min listening session of a 2600 at a dealer. what i can tell you from adding a seperate amp to my denon 2805receiver is that it made a difference, but the difference it made depended on which amp i used. i was unable to achieve the sound quality i was looking for using the 2805 as a pre/pro, but i will say that adding a 2 channel amp and running the surrounds from the receiver was a very cost efficient compromise, and am improvement over the receiver alone. i have klipsch rf7 fronts & rf5 rears, which are reported to be very efficient speakers. however, the more quality power i provide them, particulary the fronts, the better they sound. it's not simply a matter of sheer volume, as i have noticed since purchasing the krell that i actually listen at reduced levels than i did before. the quality of the music is better (cleaner, crisper, more detailed, lacks the mushed together or compressed soud), and has substantially more body at a much lower volume level than using the 2805 alone. as for improved bass response, there is really no comparison. i would recommend demoing some amps & using them w/ your receiver first. if you dont hear a difference or dont like the difference, dont buy the amp. audioholics recommends sing your receiver as a pre/pro, so the place to start would be demoing some amps, and seeing how they sound to you. have fun
