Adding a power/stereo amp to an AV receiver...

[Pistol Pete1]

Anyone done this with the Rotel RB1510 power amp, or something similar, to help with 2 channel performance (and av performance, no doubt).....

It seem a sensible upgrade choice, without buying a more expensive receiver and selling the old one......

The other option is adding a integrated amp, but the pre-amp section on that amp would not be used as that would be done by the receiver....therefore the power amp thought seems money better spent on the area your trying to improve...

The Rotel RB1510 seems like a perfect solution, as it has a 'signal sense' optiontoo. This makes the power amp click on when it detects a signal from the av receiver....

Any thoughts???

 

[rendu]

Pistol Pete1:

Anyone done this with the Rotel RB1510 power amp, or something similar, to help with 2 channel performance (and av performance, no doubt).....

It seem a sensible upgrade choice, without buying a more expensive receiver and selling the old one......

The other option is adding a integrated amp, but the pre-amp section on that amp would not be used as that would be done by the receiver....therefore the power amp thought seems money better spent on the area your trying to improve...

The Rotel RB1510 seems like a perfect solution, as it has a 'signal sense' optiontoo. This makes the power amp click on when it detects a signal from the av receiver....

Any thoughts???

Without having tested or heard myself, my feeling would be that if you want to achive good music performance you would actually need the "pre" section of an integrated amp. The power amp is only amplifying the sign that it gets so my feeling is that the real upgrade in terms of musicallity would come from the previous section and sound processing of the "pre" area. Of course I could be totally wrong but getting an integrated amp will also allow you to adjust volumes and to plug sources diretly to it. I would personally take an integrated amp.

 

[daveh75]

Pistol Pete1:
The other option is adding a integrated amp, but the pre-amp section on that amp would not be used as that would be done by the receiver....therefore the power amp thought seems money better spent on the area your trying to improve...
The point of using an Integrated stereo amp instead of just a power amp, is that you connect your stereo sources to it, and completely by-pass the A/V receiver for stereo playback....

 

[Clare Newsome]

Indeed. I have both stereo amp and AV receiver in my set-up; each does its thing independently, but both use the main front pair of speakers in my surround set-up. Best of both worlds in that scenario.

 

[Anonymous]

Clare could you elaborate on that as there was conflicting posts about how this would work - specifically that doing it wrong could damage components severly :-O

I have Denon kit with my denon 4010 BDP running into my avr-4810 via HDMI and denon link.

Would I for example add analogs from the 4010 direct to a stereo amp and then run a separate set of speaker cables from the stereo amp to the front speakers - such that the fronts have speaker wires from both the 4810 and also the stereo amp - so each speaker has 4 wires attached (8 actually as I am biwired).

How then would I direct the 4010 to pass its signal to the stereo amp when using that vs the 4810 when using the AVR and is this even what you were making reference to?

 

[hunnyy]

When I upgraded my speakers from Monitor Audio GR10s to Monitor Audio GS20s my AV amp, a Yamaha RX-V3800, excellent though it is, wasn't up to the task of driving the 'GS20s well. After exploring various options I opted for adding a Naim (175) 3-channel power amp to my Yamaha, with superb results. Both AV and stereo performance are much improved.

 

[Anonymous]

Clare Newsome:Indeed. I have both stereo amp and AV receiver in my set-up; each does its thing independently, but both use the main front pair of speakers in my surround set-up. Best of both worlds in that scenario.

So basically You have exactly what I need but I dont really know how to achieve this. My current setup is Yamaha RX-V2067 with MA RX6, RX1, RXLCR set. Im looking for an easy way to upgrade my system by adding Arcam Solo Neo or Naim UnitiQute. I'd like to use RX6s in both AV and stereo without swaping them and without losing sound quality. Could You ( or anyone ) tell me best way ( what connection to use etc ) to get it all to work..

 

[The_Lhc]

KBaudio:
Clare could you elaborate on that as there was conflicting posts about how this would work - specifically that doing it wrong could damage components severly :-O

It will if you have both amps connected at the same time. Not wishing to speak for Clare (although I'm going to, clearly!) but I recall Clare saying that she unplugs one set and plugs the other in when she needs to switch between AV and stereo listening.

 

[bluebrazil]

errmm, you use everything for surround and only the stereo amp for 2 channels

 

[Pistol Pete1]

Thanks for all your reply/comments today......

It looks like one of you has done what I'm suggesting and had excellent results (hunnyy's post), and everyone else is suggesting an integrated amp would be better.......

But my question is:

How much better? And is it worth sacrificing the convenience of a power amp that switches itself on /off, making the extra part of the system completely hassle free....or wife friendly!!!

Remember that this power amp retails at £350, and other stereo amps at that price do not have the convenience and/or ease of use when using a harmony remote and the pre outs of an av receiver (av mode, etc)....

 

[Anonymous]

Hunnyy - thats interesting - I also have the GS20's

I never thought my 4810 was underpowered especially in 2 channel mode and the naim you suggested in "only" 50 watts per channel compared to my 140 plus (bench tests suggest a lot higher even in 2ch only mode into 8 ohms).

So why do you think it improved so much - is it much higher current? Just higher quality? Bypassing the AVR?

How have you got it all hooked up - is your source direct to the NAIM or does it go via the yammy preouts?

I have often wondered about adding the denon POA-2010 but as it was rated at 80watts per channel into 8 ohms i found it hard to think of it driving my 20's better then my avr even though i know it is a dedicated stereo amp and probably higher current.

 

[Paul.]

I tried adding in a stereo power amp to my 805, turns out the weak link in my amp is the pre stage, not the power stage, so the slight sibilance I was getting (compared to my old marantz stereo amp) was transferred over anyway.

I would be tempted to go the route Clare has in the future.

 

[Anonymous]

Im still trying to grasp how it is that Clare has it settup

Clare can you elaborate?

 

[Clare Newsome]

Separate sets of speaker cables from the stereo amp and the AV receiver to my main front speakers.

To switch from music listening to movies (or vice versa), it's a quick walk over to the front speakers to swap over the cables. Takes seconds - we colour-coded the cables/connectors to speed up/simplify the process still further.

 

[Anonymous]

Thks!

 

[chris hollands]

I had a Unison Research Unico hooked up to my Arcam AVR200 many years ago, but i cannot remember for the life of me how i wired it up ???

Interesting thread though as i have just got some RX6 s for my fronts !!!

 

[rendu]

chris hollands:

I had a Unison Research Unico hooked up to my Arcam AVR200 many years ago, but i cannot remember for the life of me how i wired it up ???

Interesting thread though as i have just got some RX6 s for my fronts !!!

Did the AVR 200 have preouts... I own a AVR 280 and it does not have pre-outs so, I would also be curious to see how you linked both.

 

[007L2Thrill]

Paul Hobbs:

I tried adding in a stereo power amp to my 805, turns out the weak link in my amp is the pre stage, not the power stage, so the slight sibilance I was getting (compared to my old marantz stereo amp) was transferred over anyway.

Well I have the onkyo 875 which is very similar to your 805, you say you get a slight sibilance which is strange as mine as none, if anything I find the onkyo too warm sounding.

 

[Paul.]

Its not bad by any means, I decided to stick with the 805 alone (instead of adding an external power amp) as Im very happy with it. The Marantz stereo amp I was used to (a pm7200 for the last 7 years) was buttery smooth, all be it less detailed. I personally wouldn't call the 805 warm, but the aforementioned Marantz was very warm. Running an Apple TV and Philips CD direct in to the Onkyo's Burr-browns has given me detail overload, so I will forgive its (perceived) harshness in some areas for the gains in others

 

[007L2Thrill]

Well I have got 2 Silencers and earth spikes all hooked up to the onkyo and I have upgraded all the crossover components in my Tannoy's so that might be the reason for the warm smooth sound I have as sometimes I want to get a rocket up the back end of my Tannoy's to get some get up and go feeling as I was thinking of adding a power Amp? But I think a speaker upgrade is the way to go.

 

[Anonymous]

Without changing the speaker cables when you want music, is there any other way if I can to add an integrated amp (Rotel 04) to my amp (Sony 2400es) but playing through the ame front speakers?

 

[stonehound]

Yes, you would connect your Rotel amp's pre-outs to the Sony's pre-outs

 

[Anonymous]

Wouldn't that be the Rotel pre-outs to the Sony multi-in.I'm not sure how that would work. Conflicting volume controls?

 

[Sorreltiger]

There seems to be a lot of potential confusion in this thread, so here are my five penn'orth.

IMO, it is possible to achieve a significant improvement in 'music/2 channel' reproduction by using a good quality integrated amp. It obviously needs to be of a certain standard, or there will be little gain in using it rather than the AV amp! The pre-outs on the AV amp should be connected to a pair of free inputs on the integrated amp, which thus drives the front two channels when watching movies. The front two speakers are also connected to the integrated amp.

On some amps there is a special setting (sometimes called 'Unity Gain') whilst, on others, it is necessary to choose an easily repeatable/memorable gain level (12 o'clock?) prior to running the auto set-up. The system should then be ready for movie/TV watching.

Stereo sources such as CD players and digital devices via a DAC should be connected direct to the integrated amp. The AV amp is, therefore, not employed at all for those activities and there should be a big improvement in sound. My otherwise excellent Yamaha receiver is, for example, very ordinary compared with my Leema amp! I was thrilled with the change.

In my opinion, it is also wise to consider other users (who may have to accommodate more spending on Hi-Fi!!) in making this move. I would not have done it without also having my trusty Harmony One remote to hand. After a little bit of programming, the system is no more difficult to use than before and everyone is still happy!

 

[Anonymous]

Great post!

What though if you have just one source - in my case bluray (which is also my dvd, cd and sacd player) which has to be connected to the AVR via HDMI so for cinema purposes?

Would I then try connect direct to the stereo amp via analogue outs on my bluray?

So when running movies - id set the bluray to flow into the avr via HDMI - avr to power all speakers except fronts which get powered via preouts from avr into stereo amp. When listening to audio i'd turn off the avr - set the stereo amp to cd or whatever running off analogues direct from cd player?