Will an amplifier help if I never push my receiver?

[Bluesmoke]

Ok, I bought a 2ch amp (Parasound HCA 1000' 120wx2) and it's being shipped to me. It was an impulse buy. But now I'm wondering it it's even worth the upgrade since I think my receiver (Yamaha 6160 aka V663) is never going past -15 and this is with a 5.1 Energy setup. So I'm wondering if using preouts for the main front towers will have an audible benefit? ie, the quality of the Parasound's amp section is better but is it really worth it? If not, I'll probably stick it on ebay.

 

[rnatalli]

It depends on your speakers and their efficiency, but I doubt you'll notice a big difference or any. Hook it up and give it a try. How much did you pay for the Parasound?

 

[Bluesmoke]

200 bones.

 

[mtrycrafts]

200 bones.

Well, if you didn't have issues before, I doubt that amp will help with your listening habit. But, at that price, it may be worth keeping for the future upgrades?

 

[Hwypirt]

200 bones.

What kind of bones...............?

 

[zhimbo]

Will it help?

It will help give you Man Points, so that's good.

 

[croseiv]

Will it help?

It will help give you Man Points, so that's good.

LOL!!! That's what it's all about.

 

[Adam]

Hard to tell from the description if it will help. Like rnatalli said, hook it up and check it out. It'll depend on your speakers. With my Pioneer receiver and NHT speakers (which are not very efficient), I rarely went over -20dB. When I did, though, I thought that something was missing. When I got a 200W/channel 2-channel amp, I noticed a significant improvement at levels above -20dB. At normal levels (around -40dB), I couldn't tell any difference at all.

 

[mazersteven]

You might want to bi-amp your center channel. Or amp your mains, and let the receiver amp the center channel. You purchased it, so you might as well experiment.

 

[Bluesmoke]

Just got it today. Hooked it up. It sounds good. But honestly, since I have no triggering device (my Yamaha doesn't support it), it's a hassle to go and manually turn it on everytime.

Also, I can definately hear a smoother, more mellower tone for stereo CD listening at -15 and up. It definately sounds good. Below -15, it doesn't sound much better than what the receiver was doing. And this is where I live - between -15 to -20. I can spend that $200 towards getting the sub I always wanted (SVS 20-39PC+). I'll use it for a few more days and then ebay it or something.

 

[mike c]

bluesmoke, if your yamaha doesn't support 12v triggers and your amp has one ... buy/use an AC to 12v DC adapter and connect to the switched outlet at the back of the yamaha.

plug this into the switched outlet:

this into the 12v trigger of the parasound:

if there are no adapters like this over there, you can splice a 1/8" jack on an old AC to 12v DC adapter (wireless phones use this)

 

[Adam]

If your Yamaha has an auxiliary power outlet, then you can use that to set up your trigger. There are some posts/threads on the topic on this forum, such as this one here. It's pretty easy and inexpensive, and it's how I run mine.

I hear ya, though. If you never turn up the volume to the point where it's valuable to have the amp...get something else with your money.

EDIT: Ahhhh. Took me so long to finish my post from when I started (getting the pooch a treat, another cup of coffee, etc.), that Mike beat me to it. He's got you all covered, as I was just linking to his thread! Thanks, Mike!

 

[mike c]

EDIT: Ahhhh. Took me so long to finish my post from when I started (getting the pooch a treat, another cup of coffee, etc.), that Mike beat me to it. He's got you all covered, as I was just linking to his thread! Thanks, Mike!

actually, i was searching for that thread ... couldn't find it, so i linked directly to pics

 

[WmAx]

Ok, I bought a 2ch amp (Parasound HCA 1000' 120wx2) and it's being shipped to me. It was an impulse buy. But now I'm wondering it it's even worth the upgrade since I think my receiver (Yamaha 6160 aka V663) is never going past -15 and this is with a 5.1 Energy setup. So I'm wondering if using preouts for the main front towers will have an audible benefit? ie, the quality of the Parasound's amp section is better but is it really worth it? If not, I'll probably stick it on ebay.

Send it back. 100 x 2 is not even an upgrade.

Go for 250 x 2 at least - so you have lots of power to prevent clipping on very dynamic music recordings(though most recordings are not very dynamic, and this power will probably never be needed).

BTW, if you look past over-priced home amplifiers, you can get a pro audio amplifier that is better in construction and performance(power and load handling) for a lower price for comparable power ratings in most cases.

-Chris

 

[JeffVyain]

Send it back. 100 x 2 is not even an upgrade.

Go for 250 x 2 at least - so you have lots of power to prevent clipping on very dynamic music recordings(though most recordings are not very dynamic, and this power will probably never be needed).

BTW, if you look past over-priced home amplifiers, you can get a pro audio amplifier that is better in construction and performance(power and load handling) for a lower price for comparable power ratings in most cases.

-Chris

Is a parasound 2x100W not a perfect example of this? I was under the impression that Parasound made some pretty good quality stuff. For $200...or even $500...do you have any specific suggestions of better equipment?
I currently have an HCA-1200 and have been pretty pleased but am looking to take a further step; hence, the question.