Are external amps important?

mr300

everyone keeps talking about external amps. Do they make a hughe difference to sound quality?

kawizx9r

Damn right they do!

messiah

Yeah, the AVR is the jack of all trades. It processes the sound and video, and provides amplification. Few receivers have amplification that do it well enough to not notice an improvement if seperate amps are added. The watts per channel rated on receivers are also inaccurate and overstated.

cfrizz

Very few receivers are capable of driving speakers to their full potential, and until you hear the difference you have no idea how many details you are missing with just a receiver driving your speakers.

I always recommend get a multichannel amp of at least 200wpc @ 8ohms. This is enough power to drive almost all speakers to their full potential now & in the future. You can keep it through all other upgrades to your system.

Do it once & do it right then sit back & enjoy.

tonyb

mr300 wrote: »

everyone keeps talking about external amps. Do they make a hughe difference to sound quality?

Yes and no, if you want to get the most out of your speakers,yeah,but if your running easy to drive small bookies in a small room,a decent receiver will do fine. Depends on your situation.

mr300

I'm running the Rti a5, csi a6, fxi a6 with the dsw pro 600 sub. In an apartment living room. Do I really need it. If so I'll get it.

EndersShadow

If you are unsure if you need it you probably dont.

Toolfan66

mr300 wrote: »

I'm running the Rti a5, csi a6, fxi a6 with the dsw pro 600 sub. In an apartment living room. Do I really need it. If so I'll get it.

What receiver are you using???

cfrizz

mr300 wrote: »

I'm running the Rti a5, csi a6, fxi a6 with the dsw pro 600 sub. In an apartment living room. Do I really need it. If so I'll get it.

Nice setup!

EndersShadow wrote: »

If you are unsure if you need it you probably dont.

Not necessarily. Almost all speakers benefit from more power even in an apartment.

I have always lived in apts, & an amp helped my setup greatly. I was able to turn DOWN the volume, and still hear the finer details of the music I was playing.

It's not about volume, it's about clarity. This is the biggest pleasant surprise that I got from adding an amp.

tonyb

I would say if your using a low to mid priced receiver,chances are your not pushing the rated wattage when you run it in surround, 7.1 would be the worst,so yeah,you would benefit.

mr300

As of right now i have the pioneer vsx-520.

cfrizz

mr300 wrote: »

As of right now i have the pioneer vsx-520.

Next upgrade, better reciever with preouts!:D

Polkie2009

Sometimes I wonder, if you're already__ thinking about the possibility of preouts on a AVR, just go for the whole enchilada and blow off the AVR and get a pre/pro, external amps,etc...

BlueFox

Polkie2009 wrote: »

Sometimes I wonder, if you're already__ thinking about the possibility of preouts on a AVR, just go for the whole enchilada and blow off the AVR and get a pre/pro, external amps,etc...

Good point, but a good dedicated pre/pro is generally pretty expensive. Also, they tend to lag technology (latest decoding, HDMI 1.4, etc.). However, if you want the best audio possible then that is the route. On the other hand, you can get a good AVR, use its pre-outs, and you are probably at 90% of the level you can get with a pre/pro. Plus, if an external amp breaks, the AVR can be used as a spare amp until the standalone amp is fixed.

bigaudiofanatic

cfrizz wrote: »

Very few receivers are capable of driving speakers to their full potential, and until you hear the difference you have no idea how many details you are missing with just a receiver driving your speakers.

I always recommend get a multichannel amp of at least 200wpc @ 8ohms. This is enough power to drive almost all speakers to their full potential now & in the future. You can keep it through all other upgrades to your system.

Do it once & do it right then sit back & enjoy.

Looking forward to hearing the difference when I get my new amp soon.

Schurkey

There is NO electrical reason a PROPERLY DESIGNED receiver couldn't sound as good as audio separates. The resulting product will be big, heavy, and with considerable shielding inside and out. It will be expensive.

The issue is cost; and receivers (tuner, amp, preamp/processor) are packaged that way to REDUCE costs and "increase value".

The problem is not the format (three+ products in one chassis) it's the cost-cutting to make it "saleable" to the Great Unwashed who think that more buttons and lights and "200 watts per channel" (10% distortion, one channel driven from 40 to 20K) means greater value.

Start building "value" product in China; and see how that cost-cutting works for ya. Pure junk.

TrashyTrucker

mr300 wrote: »

everyone keeps talking about external amps. Do they make a hughe difference to sound quality?

In the simple form, Yes. However if you do go external amps, You will next have to buy good interconnects (cables) and your avr (which I think has already been discussed here)also has to have preouts. I speak for most of us out here, and that is this: We have built (pieced together) our system's over time. It sometimes IS NOT cheap. There is always something better which can sonically improve your listening experience.
Moreover it is YOUR ears that make the final decision for YOU! If your system
sounds good to you now, then awesome! But unless you have endless pockets, you will be forced to do like what we call here on this forum as "upgrades". IMHO

regards,
Matt

Polkie2009

I hear that BlueFox,lol. This hobby is like a work in progress, but eventually, things level off and you are happy with what you've put together. It all depends on how much extra money you can put into it,and that's the number one reason I haven't bought a pre/pro myself,lack of funds. I almost always go the cheap route and buy used equipment.

dpowell

The fact that you're wondering if you need a power amp doesn't necessarily mean you don't really need it. It has more to do with the fact that you just haven't heard what a good power amp will do for your system and not sure if it is worth the cost. While you don't need extra power in terms of volume for your apartment, what you will gain by adding a good power amp is better detail even at lower listening levels. The first time I added a good power amp to an AVR, the difference was night and day. Short of ICE amps (which I haven't heard) I wouldn't go back to just an AVR powering the HT.

Be patient and keep your eyes open for a good deal on a used 3 or 5 channel amp. If you don't like what you hear, you can usually recoup your investment be re-selling it.

brgman

I hope this is not considered a thread jack but i too am looking at an external amp for my Onkyo TX-NR808(rated 135 wpc).I am just restarting a passion here and i am driving (trying to drive) some 3.1TL's, RTA 15TL's and SDA2's sometimes.Is it just that simple to run from th epre outs to a 5 channel amp and get that boost? Is there any way to flip from 5.1 to 2 channel witha setup like this?
I apologize to mr300 if i am out of line here.
Mike

PrazVT

@brgman

Yes, you just connect from the pre-outs to the amp inputs.

What do you mean "flip from 5.1 to 2 channel"? Do you have a separate receiver / pre for 2 ch? It shouldn't impact the way you use your receiver at all.

brgman

I guess i'm asking about getting pure 2 channel sound out of only the 3.1's.I guess the settings on the Onkyo are sufficient when i put it in "pure stereo".In a perfect world i'd have a seperate 2 channel and HT setup.Thanks for the help.

PrazVT

Yeah - 'Pure' mode should work the same as it always does - since the receiver is only outputting the L/R channels to the amp, that's all you'll hear. sure np.