Hi

I'm thinking of adding some dedicated power amps to my Home Theater setup. I have a harman/kardon AVR 4000 which handles movies superbly (I think), but it's performance with music is not that impressive.

I was thinking of adding a 2 channel power amp for the front speakers and maybe another channel for the center. This should give me better music performance and also better movie performance, although I don't need that at the moment.

I have looked (only looked, not listened) at e.g. Linn AV5105, but there are so many other realistic (and unrealistic) possibilities out there:
- Several Marantz 6100s
- Rotel 1080 or 1075/1095
- Linn AV5105 (as mentioned) or other Linn products
- Acoustic Reality SA (www.acoustic-reality.com) (has anyone any experience with this product?)
- harman/kardon AVR8500 (but might not really solve the basic problems from the AVR4000)
- harman/kardon signature products
- harman/kardon new power amp series (PA2000 & 4000)
- Marantz SM-17
- Odyssey Stratos (www.odysseyaudio.com), anyone using them?

Any ideas to help my decision - please keep WAF in mind as well...?

/Allan


This message was edited by greve on 11/20/01 17:15.32.

If you can possibly find a used Carver AV-705x amp, it is really awesome for a low price. Check out Audioreview.com for reviews of any gear your looking for. They are not pro reviews, but it's nice to see what 'average' people think of the product.

The Carver is a 5 channel amp, sounds very nice for all source material.

Let us not forget Bob Carver's newest company's offerings, the Sunfire Cinema Grand and Cinema Grand Signature amps. (I only mention them because I own a Cinema Grand and a Sunfire Stereo.)

Also, the Adcom line is a good source of quality bang-for-the-buck amplification.

Don't forget that you need to AT LEAST double amp power to get an audible increase in loudness.

Larry

Yeah and 10 TIMES the amplifier power to double the loudness. Isn't audio fun...LOL

Just to clarify: I am not looking for higher loudness (SPL), but better sound at decent sound levels. So Quality before Quantity, if you know what I mean...

/Allan

Hi Allan
I would def go take a listen to Rotel. I think they offer a great amp. I own the RB985 MKII which is a 5 channel 110watt amp.

When I got the amp and pre I compared to HK among
several others and thought the Rotel was much more neutral and clean than HK. I have it paired with Paradigm speakers, which make a great match.

You didn't mention which speakers you have. This can make a difference as amps sometimes have tendencies to sound better/worse with certain speakers. So I would audtion all amps with the same speakers you have in your house -or- get them to let you do a home test....Tony

I have a Rotel 1095 and it's great. I paid $1600 for it and am very satisfied. BTW - it's 5 x 200w = 1000 watts. There are 746 watts in 1 horse power so the Rotel is about a 1 1/2 HP amp. Strange way of looking at it...

Allan,

Just something to think about - but if you are satisfied with your AVR 4000 for movie playback, and not music - what makes you sure that the source of your problem is your amp? If you are already achieving an acceptable amount of performance through your current amp (which I am assuming is a receiver/processor/amp combo) from DVDs, maybe the problem is the source that the music (CDs?) is coming from.

If I were you I would at least audition a new CD player. Plus keep in mind (in my experience) the quality level from one CD to another varies more greatly than from one DVD to another (maybe I've just been lucky with my choices in DVD).

Food for thought,
Don

Don,

I have reached the same conclusion/questions that you are asking, so my revised strategy looks like this:

1) Upgrade cables to decent quality (mains, interconnect and speaker)
I have planned to use Kimber Mains cables (called YellO by the UK distributor), Kimber PBJ analogue interconnect between CD and AMP and finally QED Silver Anniversary Bi-Wire (or Kimber 4PR) for the main speakers

2) Upgrade CD player
The reviews of my current harman/kardon CDR 20 CD-Recorder are not that great in terms of music playback (copy is very good, though), so I should look at this. I have considered Arcam CD72/CD92, but there are many contestants in this price range...

3) Run CD-Player directly through Hi-fi AMP instead of A/V AMP
Purchasing e.g. Arcom AR75/AR85 with the special AV-switch, should make it possible to seamlessly integrate A/V and Hi-fi by letting the Hi-fi AMP drive the front speakers

4) Ditch the harman/kardon A/V AMP (AVR 4000) and buy something high end A/V stuff

Obviously I will have to "rest" inbetween these steps to check the state of the nation (bank account and WAF).

Any views will be appreciated and I will try to report back as my system develops - you can also follow it on [Link: allan.greve.com]

/Allan

P.S. I have Infinity Alpha speakers (40s in front, 10s in back and Center in Center). Sub is ELAC 373.