Amplifier Question RTi Setup

pidass

Current setup:
Yamaha A3000 140wx7
CSi a6 center
RTi a7 fronts
Klipsch SW-450 sub
FXi a6 surrounds

Thinking about getting a amp to drive the fronts. Found someone selling a Adcom GFA555II 200wpc locally that I'm considering getting. Would it worth it to get this for the fronts?

B Run

That's a beast of a receiver you're running, it's really hard to say. I think you would see an improvement, it's just if it justifies the price you paid for the amp or not. If it's a good deal i'd pick it up and try it out, and you can always resell it if you don't like it. I've been back and forth with hooking my adcom back up, been pretty happy with my Onkyo 135x7, but the Rti a7 do need more power to sound good than the rti8's i'm using.

nwohlford

It would depend somewhat on the size of your room and if you are setting the fronts as small or large in your set-up.

I would think the AVR's power supply should be adequate for 5 speakers.Unless you have a really large space or are counting on the a7s to put a lot of bass, I don't think you will notice a huge difference. Then again I am always a sucker for cheap Adcoms. If you can get it for close to $250, I would give it a try (then as mentioned above you could always resell it).

pidass

thanks, sucks that the real reason I went with the A7's over the A9 was that I thought I wouldn't be able to afford a decent amp

I have the fronts setup as large in the receiver settings though the klipsch sub does a good job with the bass, even though it's broke at the moment

I guess I will see exactly how cheap I can get the amp for...

nwohlford

If you have them set as large speakers and you feel the low end is lacking, you probably would see benefit from adding the Adcom. I think up to around $300 is a fair price for GFA555II and you could likely resell for about that amount.

If you just don't like something about the sound, the Adcom may not be the best choice since it is a very neutral sounding amp. You may want to try something warmer.

Not sure how new your A7s are, but some people report a long break in time with them. Search the forum here to find others' experience with break in time.

SRTer

pidass wrote: »

Thinking about getting a amp to drive the fronts. Found someone selling a Adcom GFA555II 200wpc locally that I'm considering getting. Would it worth it to get this for the fronts?

My personal opinion is that you really don't need a 2-channel amp that is 200 watt. Your Yamaha A3000 is making at least 155 watts in 2 channel mode.

Sound and Vision bench test for the Yamaha A3000
http://www.soundandvisionmag.com/content/test-report-yamaha-rx-a3000-av-receiver-1

Therefore, You shouldn't hear a "knock me off my feet" difference with 45 extra watts. You may perceive some better sound, but not worth the cost of most amps unless the price is a near give away.

Now, if you are looking to upgrade. A 5 channel amp would be the way to go. If you looked the 5 channel bench tested power for you AVR, you will find that you're not making much. Your speakers could stand to use more than 60ish watts in 5 channel.

This is where I would put my money, a 200 watt 5-channel amp. A little improvement upfront and a hell of an improvement all around.

nwohlford

SRTer wrote: »

Sound and Vision bench test for the Yamaha A3000
http://www.soundandvisionmag.com/content/test-report-yamaha-rx-a3000-av-receiver-1

I am a little surprised it is at 66 watts five channels driven, but I think that adding a two (or possibly three) channel amp would be adequate. The Yamaha should do admirable on the channels not covered by the amp (the Yamaha could probably do 100 Watts three channels driven). Remember that in most modes the rear channels are very rarely driven continuously (5 channel music being the obvious exception).
I don't think that you will be blown away by adding the amp in two channel mode. I assume the 155 watts mentioned in the Sound and Vision is for clipping versus the Adcom which will be around 230 watts at clipping (old Stereophile review).
If you want to look at a three channel amp and the Adcom Mosfets are an option, sometimes the gfa-5503 goes for a decent price (one sold recently on Ebay for around $330+$75shipping).

SRTer

nwohlford wrote: »

I don't think that you will be blown away by adding the amp in two channel mode. I assume the 155 watts mentioned in the Sound and Vision is for clipping versus the Adcom which will be around 230 watts at clipping (old Stereophile review). g).

The 155 watts rated in this test and most every bench test I have read is a 0.1 harmonic distortion. Which is supposed to no be audioable.