Will Marantz MM-7025 paired with Marantz SR7011 improve sound quality?

[Pogre]

I'd ask the same question even if speakers, furniture, sound mats etc. were already in ideal places. I only wanted to know if separate power amps do improve sound quality when connected to an a/v receiver or intergraded amp.

Fair enough. I believe we gave some appropriate responses. You have nice gear and speakers. Would you consider experimenting a little with positioning? The general consensus is that you can make some improvements.

 

[StratCountry]

Speakers, any speakers pack in corners like that will be bass, heavy, boomy, even mid bass will be off. I would believe at reference levels or above reference, sound stage has to be all over the room. You getting some really great advice from the member's on AH. I would definitely pull them speakers out of the coners, even put them on isolation pads up some or even tilted back a little bit and toe them in 15% minimum.

Speakers were already tried in various spots on that end of the wall. To me, their were no significant changes is sq, except where the speakers are currently now, gave me the best bass evenly throughout the room especially in my listening chair, including the mids & highs. So, I'm quite content with the full range of frequencies of music fidelity.

My consensus here is that adding an external amp to a/v receivers & integrated amps does no good where sound quality is concerned. Thanks for your replies.

 

[StratCountry]

They can yes, but a sizeable step up in power compared to the AVR is usually best. Around 200-250w and up with generous powersupplies.

Pretty much what I wanted to know. Appreciate your answer.

 

[StratCountry]

Fair enough. I believe we gave some appropriate responses. You have nice gear and speakers. Would you consider experimenting a little with positioning? The general consensus is that you can make some improvements.

Thanks. Maybe some day I'll move stuff around, for now I'm good to go.

 

[PENG]

Pretty much what I wanted to know. Appreciate your answer.

Even with a 300 W amp, it will not make a difference if you only need 100 W maximum, because your receiver can output much more than that already without clipping.

Your Chorus II is supposed to have sensitivity of 101 dB/1W/1M, where did you get the 96 dB figure from?

https://f072605def1c9a5ef179-a0bc3fbf1884fc0965506ae2b946e1cd.ssl.cf2.rackcdn.com/product-specsheets/Chorus-II-brochure.pdf

Specifications: BANDWIDTH: 39 Hz-20 kHz +/- 3 dB SENSITIVITY: 101 dB SPL, one watt one meter NOMINAL IMPEDANCE: 8,0 POWER HANDLING: 100 watts continuous (1,000 watt peaks)

So no, even a 300 W won't do anything for you in your medium size room, even if you sit 4 to 5 meters from them.

I am not saying separates that offers superior audio specs compared to the Marantz won't make any difference regardless of the power output, but let's not go there.... For now, suffice to repeat what others have said already, if power output is not the issue, then the weak link in your audio signal chain is not the amps, but the quality of the source you play, the media player, the speakers, and the room/placement that interacts with the speakers. I know the Chorus II are excellent speakers, but relative to good amps such as your Marantz, the speakers are likely still the bottleneck.

 

[lovinthehd]

Even with a 300 W amp, it will not make a difference if you only need 100 W maximum, because your receiver can output much more than that already without clipping.

Your Chorus II is supposed to have sensitivity of 101 dB/1W/1M, where did you get the 96 dB figure from?

https://f072605def1c9a5ef179-a0bc3fbf1884fc0965506ae2b946e1cd.ssl.cf2.rackcdn.com/product-specsheets/Chorus-II-brochure.pdf

Specifications: BANDWIDTH: 39 Hz-20 kHz +/- 3 dB SENSITIVITY: 101 dB SPL, one watt one meter NOMINAL IMPEDANCE: 8,0 POWER HANDLING: 100 watts continuous (1,000 watt peaks)

So no, even a 300 W won't do anything for you in your medium size room, even if you sit 4 to 5 meters from them.

I am not saying separates that offers superior audio specs compared to the Marantz won't make any difference regardless of the power output, but let's not go there.... For now, suffice to repeat what others have said already, if power output is not the issue, then the weak link in your audio signal chain is not the amps, but the quality of the source you play, the media player, the speakers, and the room/placement that interacts with the speakers. I know the Chorus II are excellent speakers, but relative to good amps such as your Marantz, the speakers are likely still the bottleneck.

Maybe he's already adjusted for the Klipsch sensitivity being a bit higher than reality? 5 dB sounds about right...

 

[StratCountry]

After listening to this Audioholics YouTube video, there seemed to be some contradictions from the replies here on adding a separate amplifier to your system. As I mentioned earlier, I listen to my music in a 7.1 configuration, sometime, only 2 channel and very rarely I use the subwoofer since bass is adequate without it.

 

[Pogre]

After listening to this Audioholics YouTube video, there seemed to be some contradictions from the replies here on adding a separate amplifier to your system. As I mentioned earlier, I listen to my music in a 7.1 configuration, sometime, only 2 channel and very rarely I use the subwoofer since bass is adequate without it.

What contradictions?

 

[Gmoney]

PENG, and Porge are correct you'll gain about 3dbs with a 200 watt into 8 Ohm amp and that would be at reference or above levels of volume. You will take a load off of your AVR or with a AV processor you'll get more flexibility, but with all the bells and whistles that flagship AVRs have just how much noticeable still comes down to your LCR speakers.

 

[PENG]

After listening to this Audioholics YouTube video, there seemed to be some contradictions from the replies here on adding a separate amplifier to your system. As I mentioned earlier, I listen to my music in a 7.1 configuration, sometime, only 2 channel and very rarely I use the subwoofer since bass is adequate without it.

I watched that video before and just watched it again, and I have the same question that Pogre has, that is, what contradictions?

Gene, right from the start, made it clear that there are several things you need to consider to determine whether you need external amps, and he even suggested a scoring system. You did a good job providing the necessary information, so we know for sure you don't need an external amp because your SR7011 has much more power than your speakers need in that seemingly a medium sized room. The only normally required info we don't have yet is how far you sit from the speakers, but the attached photo would indicate that it won't be farther than 4 meters, roughly 13 ft right?

Did you try the scoring system Gene talked about in that video? If not, it would be great if you go do it and report back to tell us if the results agree with our recommendations so far, or in fact, shows some "contradictions".

 

[PENG]

I am going to save the OP time so let's take a look of the scoring system Gene referenced in his video:

https://www.audioholics.com/home-theater-connection/connecting-an-external-amp-to-a-receiver

Unless I missed something, it looks like the OP would score a maximum of "2", if he run the speakers full range, or "1" if he uses a subwoofer and bass management.

In the conclusions, Gene stated that:

"Power is cheap these days so it certainly won’t hurt to add an external amplifier for the main front left/right channels of your A/V system if your conditions call for it. Some great and affordable options include those from Emotiva (UPA-200 costs only $349 and pumps out 200 watts into 4 ohms x 2 channels) or the Outlaw Audio (M2200 Monoblock for $379/ea delivers 300 watt into 4 ohms). Of course if the budget allows, it's always a good idea to buy more power. Please share your experiences in what adding external amplification has done to elevate the sound quality or listening experience in your A/V system."

If the OP scores closer to "4" and his AVR "was"(subjunctive..), an entry level to lower mid range type, then we should consider after factors such as impedance dips, phase angles his speakers might exhibit over a relatively wide frequency range, and the AVR's amp classification, power supply robustness (or lack of), 4 ohm capability etc.

The fact that his score is just right in the middle of the 0-4 that Gene considers "can get away without adding an amp", and his SR7011 was Marantz flag ship AVR at the time, we are correct to say "No" without contradicting anything said in that video and the article in the above link. The OP has a very nice system in a very nice room, enjoy the music! Or, next question?

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

I'd ask the same question even if speakers, furniture, sound mats etc. were already in ideal places.

Speakers were already tried in various spots

Maybe some day I'll move stuff around

It's absolutely understandable if nothing can be MOVED.

But I have found that simply ADDING a thick area RUG to wood floors help tremendously if there is any amount of ECHO.

But if the sound is already great and there is no hint of echo or other adverse sound effects due to the wood floor, then I think you're good - no need to lose any sleep over having to move things around.

Simply adding an external amp usually won't improve the sound in the real world.

 

[KEW]

Just for fun, when you get bored, listen carefully to a favorite song, then throw a heavy blanket or quilt on the floor between the sofas then play that song again to see if you notice an improvement!

 

[fabiocz]

I may be wrong, but when I added a marantz 7055 to my denon 3500 even while listening to movies on average -15 I felt a difference in clarity, maybe it's the 66,000uf capacitors... so I'm not technical but I liked the result I had separating things.

 

[Hetfield]

I may be wrong, but when I added a marantz 7055 to my denon 3500 even while listening to movies on average -15 I felt a difference in clarity, maybe it's the 66,000uf capacitors... so I'm not technical but I liked the result I had separating things.

Don't tell most of these guys that they'll want graphs and charts explaining how. I agree with my home theater but like I said some guys will want definitive proof.

 

[Leemix]

Don't tell most of these guys that they'll want graphs and charts explaining how. I agree with my home theater but like I said some guys will want definitive proof.

Those graphs seem so inadequate to me, they are important and show a lot in many ways, but they just dont seem to tell the whole story unfortunatly.

 

[Hetfield]

Those graphs seem so inadequate to me, they are important and show a lot in many ways, but they just dont seem to tell the whole story unfortunatly.

Nope, my ears do. That's not a good enough answer around here sometimes though.

 

[PENG]

Those graphs seem so inadequate to me, they are important and show a lot in many ways, but they just dont seem to tell the whole story unfortunatly.

What part of the story?
At vol -15, if the level is set to 0, then it would be 15 dB below reference. If you know the sensitivity of the speaker and the distance, you can figure out the power draw quite accurately.

My educated guess is that the 7055's 1 to 2 dB more power/spl but good to have regardless.

 

[Leemix]

What part of the story?
At vol -15, if the level is set to 0, then it would be 15 dB below reference. If you know the sensitivity of the speaker and the distance, you can figure out the power draw quite accurately.

My educated guess is that the 7055's 1 to 2 dB more power/spl but good to have regardless.

How it sounds, not how loud it can get.

 

[lovinthehd]

They are still related, tho. Hard to know but when someone says they've heard things improve at relatively low volume levels by adding an external amp it may just be expectation bias.

I've done it both ways and at high volume levels there may be an advantage depending on speakers, room, distance, etc. These days I am happy with avr alone with my various avr setups (4)...but if you do go power amp route I think you should get significantly more power if you're going to scratch that itch...like 200-300 wpc with significant low impedance capability....YMMV.