teach me how to utilize my money or a rec and amp

AeR0

so ive been on here for a week and have learned quite a bit.. i must say thanks

i have a big SQ setup in my car and now sort of working on my home audio

here is the speakers ive chosen to go with:

towers: RTI A9
center: CSI A6
surrounds:FXI A6
rear bookshelfs: RTi A3 or RTI A7 (still undecided need some more suggestions)



so i went out and looked at amps and came across the yamaha htr-6190 looks pretty impressive as it does 130watts per channel. however i sorta related my home audio ideas back to my car ideas your car deck which is like a reciever for a home stereo does 50watts x 4 (18 watts rms per channel) however anyone who is smart knows that putting a amp on your speakers does wonders and gives you something more like 150watts x4 (approx 90rms x 4) so i dont know if my thinking is right but i could easily over spend on a reciever such as the htr-6190 and i could find a cheaper one that does all the same and utilize it for a bit till i can afford a good amp.

is my thinking good?

and if so what are some suggestions for amps.

also i live in canada so buying one from best buy or future shop would work well for me.
www.futureshop.ca
or
www.bestbuy.ca

thanks guys.

treitz3

First off, lose the thought that home audio can be compared to or related to car audio. That's probably the best thing you can do at this point.

I'll leave it to the HT guys to help you with the receiver. Sorry, I'm a 2-channel guy but that's my advice.

leroyjr1

First what kind of budget did you have in mind? (USA $$$). I'm running the exact same speakers as stated and I'm running a Onkyo 805(est $500) and Rotel amp ( est $700). Just runnning the receiver would get you by for a while. Adding a amp will make them sound alot better. Also don't keep to caught up on watt ratings.

Kex

You need to distinguish AVR, which is a receiver, and amplifier. An amplifier does nothing on its own. A receiver (or AVR), such as the Yamaha HTR-6190, on the other hand, includes the ability to amplify, but is not generally referred to as an amplifier in this type of forum. A receiver can have an external amplifier added to power some, or all channels. In this case the receiver acts as a processor only, and does not use any power to amplify the sound.

For those big speakers, I would recommend an AVR that can have an external amplifier added in the future, especially if you like to play loud, but I believe that the Yamaha you are looking at does have pre-outs for that. Pushing those big speakers without proper amplification would risk damage to the tweeters, and possibly the receiver.

AeR0

what i meant as for comparing the car audio to home audio as using a amp to power speakers instead or running them off a receiver.

i work in a electronics store and am entitled to a pretty good discount.


looking to spend around the 450-550 mark.

AeR0

Kex wrote: »

You need to distinguish AVR, which is a receiver, and amplifier. An amplifier does nothing on its own. A receiver (or AVR), such as the Yamaha HTR-6190, on the other hand, includes the ability to amplify, but is not generally referred to as an amplifier in this type of forum. A receiver can have an external amplifier added to power some, or all channels. In this case the receiver acts as a processor only, and does not use any power to amplify the sound.

For those big speakers, I would recommend an AVR that can have an external amplifier added in the future, especially if you like to play loud, but I believe that the Yamaha you are looking at does have pre-outs for that. Pushing those big speakers without proper amplification would risk damage to the tweeters, and possibly the receiver.

right i understand.

basically a cd player in a car can play music to the speakers but adding a amp plays them louder and better. so if a car cd player has pre outs for a amp to be hooked up thats good.

same as a home receiver has to have pre outs for me to hook a amp up.

is my thinking correct here or am i missing something?

Kex

AeR0 wrote: »

right i understand.

basically a cd player in a car can play music to the speakers but adding a amp plays them louder and better. so if a car cd player has pre outs for a amp to be hooked up thats good.

same as a home receiver has to have pre outs for me to hook a amp up.

is my thinking correct here or am i missing something?

Nope, I think you're about right on the mark!

It doesn't always make them "louder" IMO, but it should make them "better" in most cases.

AeR0

haha yeah true..

so instead of me spending my money on a yamaha htr-6190 or something at that price point would i be better to buy something cheaper and than save the difference and utilize that money for an amp down the road?

Kex

AeR0 wrote: »

haha yeah true..

so instead of me spending my money on a yamaha htr-6190 or something at that price point would i be better to buy something cheaper and than save the difference and utilize that money for an amp down the road?

Possibly. It depends if you're interested in HDMI or not, audio over HDMI with HD sound formats etc. The best bargain I ever got was a NAD T754, with no HDMI, soon to be replaced (I assume) by the already available T755. It has huge dynamic power IMO, better even that an external amplifier I have tried that was rated almost 80% more powerful, but it has no HDMI at all. It just depends on your priorities.

If you like bells and whistles, you can have those too, with some good deals from Yamaha and Onkyo (does shoponkyo.com ship to Canada?). Harman/kardon is a good compromise, with lots of bells and whistles, excellent sound, and pre-outs for upgrading. Check the AVR254 and AVR354, which are aggressively priced by amazon.com in the U.S.

ben62670

I like HK it is a warm to neutral sounding Pre/receiver that would play nice with RTi's.
Have I welcomed you to Club Polk yet?
Well anyway Welcome to Club Polk:)
Ben

AeR0

thanks for the welcome there ben!

AeR0

well... anyone?

bluecomet

I run Yamaha's for HT. I have three of them, the rx-v2200, rx-v2300 and rx-2500. I never bought one new, i just waited for guys to upgrade there gear and buy it off ebay when they are about a year or two old. These receivers are higher end Yamaha's that you cannot find in best buy or circuit city. Do yourself a favor and check out ebay for the higher end stuff. It is much better than what you are considering which is the low end of Yamaha. The higher end Yamaha's on the used market is around what you want to spend with much better quality.

vonnie123

Take a look over at Audiogon.com for some nice gently used equipment. If you buy a receiver, one with pre-outs would certainly permit you to add an amp later when you decide to upgrade. Emotiva, Adcom, and Outlaw power amps are affordable ways to increase your power down the road. Good luck.

AeR0

so ive narrowed down my search to these recievers.

http://www.futureshop.ca/catalog/compare/compare.asp?comPage=prodlist&cat=&comparecat=10551&page=1&sort=0&sku_id=0665000FS10099879&atab=3&catid=10551&logon=&langid=EN

here is a comparison chart (i can get any one of these recievers for at most 150 difference) tell me what you would use and why.

also one other one thats a good candidate is the denon avr-889

apphd

AeR0 wrote: »

so ive narrowed down my search to these recievers.

http://www.futureshop.ca/catalog/compare/compare.asp?comPage=prodlist&cat=&comparecat=10551&page=1&sort=0&sku_id=0665000FS10099879&atab=3&catid=10551&logon=&langid=EN

here is a comparison chart (i can get any one of these recievers for at most 150 difference) tell me what you would use and why.

also one other one thats a good candidate is the denon avr-889

I'm still having a hard time finding information on the Pioneer VSX9130THX. It looks like it is on par with the VSX918AH-K but not available right now in the US. The compare tool on the futurshop page looks to have some errors on these two AVRs. Pioneer Canada doesn't have a compare feature and after a quick glance back and forth it looks like the only big difference is the THX cert. on the 9130 which IMHO is not worth the $300 increase over the 918.
Am I missing something, anyone familiar with the Canadian unit? OP I've sent you thoughts on big $$ for AVRs with lots of bells and whistles if you don't need them today. There will be newer ones out by next fall.