Amplification for Vienna Acoustics Mozart Grand

[admin_exported]

Hi guys, i am considering getting a separate amp for my speakers, currently my systems is as follows.

Denon 3311ci receiver

Sony BDP s580 player

Vienna acoustics Mozart Grands (fronts)

Vienna acoustics Maestro Grand (center)

Vienna Acoustics Haydn Grands (surrounds)

2 Martin Logan Dynamo (subwoofers)

I feel like my mozarts are a bit undepowered with the denon and looking for a dedicated amp i came across to a Yamaha A-s500 integrated amp, it fits my budget but i do not know how much of an improovement i will get vs my current av reciver. Does any body has experience with either this speakers or the yamaha amp? is this a good pairing?

Any comments will be much apreciated.

Thanks.

 

[CnoEvil]

Hi there and welcome.

IMO You should hold off buying a stereo amp until you can get something that can do these lovely speakers justice. I think you would need to be looking at amps in the £2k to £3k range. You should also be looking at a substantially better source for 2 channel.

ATM you are not getting anywhere near the full potential of these speakers.

 

[floyd droid]

Vienna Accoustics /Primare Pre. A32 Power.

Job done , start saving .

 

[Thompsonuxb]

The reciever you have is more than capable of driving those speakers you own. first thing to do is use it as a stereo amp - Try turning off the unused channels and the subs on your reciever - centre, rears - also turn all effects off. Then connect the BR via coaxil if its connected via hdmi to your reciever - this will use the DAC in the reciever bypassing the one in the blue ray player - set it to output into two channel PCM (no down mix).

Then let us know if you hear any difference......

 

[Anonymous]

Thanks for all the responses, honestly and due to financial status an amp that cost over a $1000 is out of my budget at the moment, the only other option that i have been thinking about is the Emotive xpa-2 a 500w per ch. amp into 4ohm's.

Have any of you ever had a chance to test this brand? is it quality amplification or is just another cheap amp that will only drive my speakers louder.

Thanks.

 

[matthewpiano]

I'd agree that the Yamaha A-S500, though a fine budget amp, isn't good enough for the VA speakers. If funds are tight right now I'd suggest looking at an amp that will allow you to build on it gradually over time. My thoughts would be to investigate Cyrus or to possibly consider Audiolab, starting with an 8200A integrated and later using that as a pre-amp with the Audiolab monos.

 

[Thompsonuxb]

What? you don't believe me when I say your recievr is more capable than you think.

Go into the menus of your reciever and turn the rears ,centre and sub off, output bass to fronts and turn all effects off.

connect your blue ray via the digital co-ax out (use one of the cables powering your subs)

into the rx. If its driving 5 speakers plus 2 subs currently its working hard.

the above suggestion mentioning the Audiolab 8200a - its a 60w /£700 amp, its loud too but it won't drive those speakers you have the way they should be driven. if budget is tight follow my suggestion and save up for a serious amp like a krell or Leema its what those speakers deserve.

 

[matthewpiano]

What I actually suggest is using the 8200a as the first step in a modular approach to building the system. The 8200a is capable of providing QUALITY of power to start with and then the quantity and even greater quality of power can be added with the monos.

 

[Thompsonuxb]

The 8200a with those speakers will be exposed and not in a good way. As a pre amp into mono's it may sound good. I had one for a month or so and it sounded as though thats what it was designed for, definately not as a stand alone amp though.

I'd still recommend setting up the rx'er as a stereo amp and saving up for a serious 2 channel amp......

 

[Anonymous]

Just an update, since i cannot afford right now an expensive amp and following some coments from another blogs i decided to try a pro amp (iknow, i used to think the same about pro amps, just muscle and no quality plus a lot af fan noise) well i decided to contact crown desing department they sugested to go for one of their chepest oferings , the xls 1500 with 525 watts per chennel @ 4 , is a class d amplifier that weights only 11 pounds and it sounds terrific, i tought i was adding the weakest link to my system but it is not, after listening to my speakers being powered by this thing they are singing, lots and losts of power reserves, extremly clean sound zero fan noise after 2 hrs of constand music listening at pretty high levels, actually i am afraid of blowing my speakers since you can go to a extremly high levels without hearing any distortion at all, it is just that good and i do not know if after this i am going to be willing to pay $2000 for an amp..

Thanks for everyones help.

 

[Crossie]

Please listen to your speakers with a serious 2 ch HI Fi amp before going down the Pro audio route. You may find that your speakers are capable of much more. I like Cyrus.

 

[CnoEvil]

Please listen to your speakers with a serious 2 ch HI Fi amp before going down the Pro audio route. You may find that your speakers are capable of much more.

A very strong +1

 

[matthewpiano]

Another very strong +1 here too. It isn't all about quantity of power, rather it is QUALITY of power that is crucial. IMO Cyrus is the way to go with VA speakers, even if you look at 2nd hand options to start with. If budget really doesn't allow this something like a Cambridge Audio 651A will certainly get you far closer than a cheap pro amp.

 

[Gerrardasnails]

Maybe I've got a good view about this one. I would agree with the other, pro audio route will never give you the best results. Our speakers are wonderful but you do need a good amp. Scour eBay for a bargain second hand one. To really drive them well, brand new cost of a worthy amp is at least £1500 IMO.

 

[RobinKidderminster]

connect your blue ray via the digital co-ax out

Sooooooo are we saying an optical or digital coax output from a BD player is better than using HDMI ?? Are they both not raw digital signals?

 

[Gerrardasnails]

Even if he is saying that, it's wrong! No HD audio via coaxial for starters

 

[CnoEvil]

Our speakers are wonderful but you do need a good amp. Scour eBay for a bargain second hand one. To really drive them well, brand new cost of a worthy amp is at least £1500 IMO.

Possibly this would do the trick, but otherwise you are right:
http://www.thehomecinemacentre.co.uk/index.php/hi_fi/hi-fi_amplifier/harman_kardon_hk990/

I don't believe you can get more amp for your money (new).

 

[Gerrardasnails]

Certainly a step up from the Denon receiver for music. By the way OP, your surround sound must sound spectacular!

 

[richardw42]

I fear with te budget may be better off as was. 500 won't buy you anything to do those speakers justice. Can you bi-amp the Denon.

Or if you want lots more boxes could you add a pair of Musical Fidelity X200 (monos) old but good amd use the Denons pre outs ? Technically possible ?