Anthem or Rotel - PLEASE HELP :)

ParadigmDawg

ParadigmDawg

Audioholic Overlord
Hey Babel has waited 3 years for this set-up so let him get a big, bad amp to go along with it; his patience has earned him this right!...lol…

Babel,

It’s up to you man; it’s your money so get what you want. Any of those amps will be awesome and will easily drive the Digms. I go back and forth on the whole “do I need to add an amp” question. My very modest AVR is able to push my smaller Digms to unbearable levels but there is just a cool, sexy look to a bad amp and the power never hurts. Do I need an amp…probably not? Will I end up getting an amp…probably?
 
UFObuster

UFObuster

Audioholic
Again, for movies, I doubt too many people could hear much difference between the 3808 plus the Anthem, or the Rotel. On the other hand, your room is not small, assuming you have >=8 ft ceiling. So if your want to make sure you have enough power, go for the P2. I just don't think the Rotel will get you much more power (60% or so) than the Denon.

I know people argue that the fluctuation in impedance of a speaker is one of the reasons why a more powerful amp will improve SQ with more power. I would say in most cases that's not true. Speakers such as the Paradigm Studio series may have "holes", but that's usually still at 4 ohms or higher. Besides, such 'holes' typically don't exist in the current hungry low frequency range. If you spend enough time searching the web you will find some impedance versus frequency curves of many popular speakers. With all due respect, there are people who experienced those no brainer, day and night types of SQ improvement after adding an external amp to mid level recievers such as the Denon 38XX or Yamaha RX-V2X00, but there are also many people reported marginal or not noticeable differences. You really have to experience it yourself.

I suggested the Anthem mainly because it will give you much more power for the front channels, the increase in power is significant enough that you won't be able to blame your power amp if you still don't think your Digms are performing at their full potential. If you main interests are movies and/or multichannel music, then the Rotel may be marginally better, but then what a waste to let the 3808's decent amp section unused!
I should probably qualify everything I've said in that this applies to music specifically. I'm sure that high quality receivers will do fine for movies....highly dynamic...but not necessarily subtle demands on the amps output for linearity. Basically, some people can hear it....some don't. I think it has a lot to do with how much you've actually heard live and especially unamplified instruments....real sound, not digitally compressed, or god-forbid MP3. Or use, for example, the fact that some musicians can hear the sound difference in styles of two similar Martin guitar models with different woods used in the body. This is not imagined. Why do some piano players like the Bosendorfer sound vs the Steinway? Different resonance. Sound spectrum is extremely important...not just absolute frequency response and wattage. This is not an illusion or placebo effect by any means. It is a real, and percievable difference well developed in some people and absent in others. Sadly, most people will always chose "louder" as "better". But, make no mistake, there are real differences in how people hear....a crude example again: some people can't tell the difference in taste between a "jug" wine and a good estate vintage. But don't pretend that the difference isn't there if YOU can't taste it......or in the case of music....hear it.

PS: Anthem vs Rotel...no comment...I don't have a dog in this hunt...I bought Rotel because it is locally available and I could easily test it in home. And it is high quality. I also think Denon is a VERY fine product. The OP might do very well getting 2 channel help and leaving everything else to the receiver. Nothing wrong with quality receivers as pre/pros....some of them are better than dedicated pre/pros...have more features...etc. for a cheaper price.
 
ParadigmDawg

ParadigmDawg

Audioholic Overlord
Hold on there Babel; you may have all your speakers after today but they havent even built your AVR yet!
 
B

BabelFish

Full Audioholic
Hold on there Babel; you may have all your speakers after today but they havent even built your AVR yet!
lol.. I know.. they will be taunting me until I can actually play them.. uhg.. I would hook up my current amp into the 100s but the 100s would just laugh and make my Yamaha 35wpc just cry....


"Hey.. wanna see my new speakers???"

"Sure!!! How do they sound???"

"How should I know?? I just asked if you wanted to SEE them.. Geesh!"
 
N

Nick250

Audioholic Samurai
lol.. I know.. they will be taunting me until I can actually play them.. uhg.. I would hook up my current amp into the 100s but the 100s would just laugh and make my Yamaha 35wpc just cry....


"Hey.. wanna see my new speakers???"

"Sure!!! How do they sound???"

"How should I know?? I just asked if you wanted to SEE them.. Geesh!"
You might be surprised how well your 35wpc Yamaha drives your 100's speakers. At normal listening levels the speakers probably are drawing 3 or 4 watts. I say hook them up and have a listen.

Nick
 
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