Need imput on an amp

[waxey]

Any sugestions if an amp would improve main system listed below.It is used 75% for music 25% movies.Also would a truer suround speakers sound better then the studio 40s;I know the ADP 590 matches with the system but not ready to pull triger on them just yet. room is 17x14x8 with a stair case & 1 door way.Question is I'm pretty happy with the home theater but not the music.So to go 2 chanell for music or 5 chanell for everything.Thanks sugestions appreciated.


Main System:
Reciever Yamaha RX-V1800
TV Panasonic 50" V-10 Plasma
Fronts Paradigm Studio 100s V5
Center Paradigm Studio cc590 V5
Surounds Paradigm Studio 40s V4
2 Subs Yamaha YST-315
Rears Polk Audio M3ll
B.D. Player DMP - BD60
C.D. Yamaha CDC697
DVR Scintific Atlanta 8300

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

I don't think an external amp will improve the sound at all.

If you don't like the way your speakers sound for music, then I think you need to audition other speakers and other types of speaker technologies (dipole speakers, bipole speakers).

 

[waxey]

I like the sound of the speakers just thinking it mite be to much for rx-v1800 to drive the paradgms

 

[ZeGhostbear]

Amp: I feel that my Studio 60s v4 benefited from adding the Emotiva XPA-5. I have always felt that my Onkyo TX-NR905 did not do my CC-590 v4 justice though it certainly is no slouch at 54 lbs. and 140W driven into two channels. I am running a 2.0 system until the home theater moves back to the basement, so I can only comment on the improvement on my towers for now. I have been running my system without a subwoofer for a while and after adding the external amp, the bottom end was finally getting filled in. They are rated by Paradigm to reach quite low, but never really seemed to quite make it, guess it was the lack of amplification, Paradigm makes great speakers. Keep in mind that is with the 60s, so your 100s could benefit even more. There is a guy over on the Emotiva forums that has 100s who posted a lot of stories about his upgrade and how happy it has made him.

Surrounds: My ADP-590s v5 are mothballed right now. The difference between 3.0 and 5.0 was certainly amazing, but I am not sure it would make that much of a difference for you. There are a lot of different opinions out there on the forums and most people listening to 5.1 music seem to not like di-poles. I was running JBL direct radiating speakers for years and years and frankly could not really complain about how they sounded with movies either.

 

[Pyrrho]

I like the sound of the speakers just thinking it mite be to much for rx-v1800 to drive the paradgms

In your first post, you said you didn't like the sound of your system for music. And that means you probably don't like your speakers for music.

As for driving your speakers, that receiver should be fine for any sane volume.

 

[indcrimdefense]

potentially, an amp at least for the fronts will improve sound quality. is it a "power" issue, quality of components issue, separate components issue, or all of the above? that could be debated for... you get the point. Could you also improve the quality of your system by purchasing better speakers, absolutely. if your truly looking for better sound for music, the amp won't do it, at least not alone. you'll get the amp, and then start wondering what a better pre/pro would do for sound quality, and so on. find a dealer who has your speakers set up with different equipment, go and listen, and also find a dealer who will allow for in home demos. figure out what sounds better FIRST, and then build it a step at a time. you will spend, and eventually waste, more money doing it piecemeal than finding out what exactly you want and buying it a piece at a time. i would know.

 

[mtrycrafts]

I like the sound of the speakers just thinking it mite be to much for rx-v1800 to drive the paradgms

What levels are you playing the speakers at? How far do you sit?
Perhaps and most likely, it is a room acoustics issue as the speakers and room acoustics is what you really hear the vast majority of the time. Also, just in case, how good are the recordings? Perhaps they are compressed too much, a common practice today.
Amp power in most cases is not the issue unless you have a very difficult speaker load to drive.

 

[pelennor]

I tend to agree that adding extra amplification might help. In my case, my receiver wasn't able to drive the speaker load I had very well at all, so it was pretty much a necessity to add power amps. However, it is now a lot more "dynamic", as in, when there is a sudden transitition from soft to loud I now notice it. I don't think that the receiver amplifiers handle those transients quite as well in general.

Having said that, if you can listen to something similar to what you're after prior to shelling out the cash, then that would obviously be wise.

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

Double-blinded studies (like the $300 Pioneer receiver vs the $10,000 Boulder amp) have proven that with many subjects involved, people cannot tell the difference when the volume was level matched.

But everyone is entitled to think differently.

Since I have a more "scientific" background (practically see double-blinded drug studies everyday), I tend to believe in double-blinded tests.

 

[waxey]

Amplifire info. help

Hey guys thanks for the info. I think part of my problem I have a lot a crappy cds.I just got The Traveling wiburys double cd with the dvd along with some other remastered cds. and they really sound great.I mean a big differance.So maybe I'll go that route for now. I know I'm older than most of you and maybe my ears aren't what they use to be. Maybe I'll just get a hearing aid Thanks Waxey

 

[ParadigmDawg]

Paradigms (at least Studio 100's) dip into the upper 3 ohm range and they love power.

Get an amp...

 

[Pyrrho]

Paradigms (at least Studio 100's) dip into the upper 3 ohm range and they love power.

Get an amp...

If they have a 3 ohm dip that requires an amplifier designed for less than 8 ohm speakers, then Paradigm is a fairly unscrupulous company, as they call them 8 ohms. If that is the case, I would go as far as calling them evil lying bastards, though others might have different sentiments about a company grossly misleading customers about their products.

Frankly, I think there should be some stiffening of the laws regarding the impedance ratings that companies can put on their products, as right now it would appear that the rating that manufacturers put on their gear doesn't need to bear any resemblance to what it actually is.

 

[ParadigmDawg]

If they have a 3 ohm dip that requires an amplifier designed for less than 8 ohm speakers, then Paradigm is a fairly unscrupulous company, as they call them 8 ohms. If that is the case, I would go as far as calling them evil lying bastards, though others might have different sentiments about a company grossly misleading customers about their products.

Frankly, I think there should be some stiffening of the laws regarding the impedance ratings that companies can put on their products, as right now it would appear that the rating that manufacturers put on their gear doesn't need to bear any resemblance to what it actually is.

evil lying bastards...I like it!!!....

 

[waxey]

your probably right about the power because when I used the studio 40s as fronts & 6490 yamahas as surounds a def tec CLR- 2002 center it seemed like it took less power to run those.

 

[waxey]

If they have a 3 ohm dip that requires an amplifier designed for less than 8 ohm speakers, then Paradigm is a fairly unscrupulous company, as they call them 8 ohms. If that is the case, I would go as far as calling them evil lying bastards, though others might have different sentiments about a company grossly misleading customers about their products.

Frankly, I think there should be some stiffening of the laws regarding the impedance ratings that companies can put on their products, as right now it would appear that the rating that manufacturers put on their gear doesn't need to bear any resemblance to what it actually is.

If this is true maybe Paradigm should buy me nice Emotiva XPA-5 or XPA-3 ? waxey

 

[mtrycrafts]

Double-blinded studies (like the $300 Pioneer receiver vs the $10,000 Boulder amp) have proven that with many subjects involved, people cannot tell the difference when the volume was level matched.

I like to collect papers. Do you have the citation for that DBT?

But everyone is entitled to think differently.

I am so glad we can think individually

I tend to believe in double-blinded tests.

Believe? Much better to know

... However, it is now a lot more "dynamic", as in, when there is a sudden transitition from soft to loud I now notice it. I don't think that the receiver amplifiers handle those transients quite as well in general.

How did you test this? Perhaps, the testing wasn't good enough to come to an objective conclusion?

 

[PENG]

Hey guys thanks for the info. I think part of my problem I have a lot a crappy cds.I just got The Traveling wiburys double cd with the dvd along with some other remastered cds. and they really sound great.I mean a big differance.So maybe I'll go that route for now. I know I'm older than most of you and maybe my ears aren't what they use to be. Maybe I'll just get a hearing aid Thanks Waxey

Time and time again I find that quality of the CD, DVD, SACD etc. has most impact on sound quality. Now if you have one of those enty level Yamaha receiver you are going to have hard time getting the Studio 100 to sound good, but the RX-V1800 should do fine when the whole power supply is there to feed just 2 channels. That being said you can't go wrong with more power if your room and the SPL you listen to requires it.

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

It doesn't hurt to get an amp. Heck almost everyone here has at least ONE amp. Some of us have more than one amp.

But as far as impedance is concerned, according to HTM, my BP7000SC goes down to 2.9 ohms, and my CLR3000 goes down to 2.2 ohms, but I've used a 50WPC HK receiver with them without any problems whatsover.

But it doesn't hurt to get an amp if it will EASE your soul and give you a peace of mind.

 

[waxey]

Why can't They or can they?

It's to bad they don't make receivers so you could switch the power from the amps rear or suround speakers to the fronts so you could double the watts per chanell then100 watts per chanell would be come 200. I don't know if that is crazy or not you tell me? I"m not high tech although I've learned a lot on this forum; I think it would be pretty neat especially for two chanell music listening and power hungry speakers and no need for a seperate 2 chanell amp.

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

It's to bad they don't make receivers so you could switch the power from the amps rear or suround speakers to the fronts so you could double the watts per chanell then100 watts per chanell would be come 200. I don't know if that is crazy or not you tell me? I"m not high tech although I've learned a lot on this forum; I think it would be pretty neat especially for two chanell music listening and power hungry speakers and no need for a seperate 2 chanell amp.

All the channels in the AVR share the same power supply.

So if you only use 2 channels (any 2 channels), you will INCREASE power output potential.

For example, with all channels driven (7) an AVR may produce 100WPC x 7. But with only 2 channels driven, the same AVR may produce 200WPC x 2.

For example, the Denon 5308: 169WPC x 7 ch driven --> 339WPC x 2 ch driven, which is basically DOUBLED.