Expensive AV Amp or budget Stereo Amp For Music??

[archie527]

I have a Marantz CD6002 Cd player connected to my Yamaha RX-V1900 Receiver. Do you think there would be any benefit to music listening in buying the matching Marantz PM6002 stereo receiver, considering that the Yamaha is a £900 product and the Marantz £300? The speakers I currently have are Kef's 5001 5.1 package, and I know these are specifically for home cinema use so music lacks bass unless the sub is used.

I would like a dedicated stereo setup, so should I just add an extra set of dedicated bookshelf stereo speakers to the Yamaha for stereo use or would the Marantz stereo amp,CD player and bookshelfs (possibly Dali Lektor 2 speakers) used as a seperates system still be superior?

 

[Gerrardasnails]

archie527:
I have a Marantz CD6002 Cd player connected to my Yamaha RX-V1900 Receiver. Do you think there would be any benefit to music listening in buying the matching Marantz PM6002 stereo receiver, considering that the Yamaha is a £900 product and the Marantz £300? The speakers I currently have are Kef's 5001 5.1 package, and I know these are specifically for home cinema use so music lacks bass unless the sub is used.

I would like a dedicated stereo setup, so should I just add an extra set of dedicated bookshelf stereo speakers to the Yamaha for stereo use or would the Marantz stereo amp,CD player and bookshelfs (possibly Dali Lektor 2 speakers) used as a seperates system still be superior?

I would suggest that this would be a close call with the PM6002 maybe pipping it - however, £300 for a smidge better detail and an extra box?

 

[matthewpiano]

I think buying a better pair of speakers will make a bigger difference.

 

[Anonymous]

Yes a pair of B&W 685's would fit in nice, or maybe MA RS6's.

 

[Gerrardasnails]

trevor79:Yes a pair of B&W 685's whould fit in nice, or maybe MA RS6's.

Sorry, I didn't read the last bit of the OP. Yes, I agree wholeheartedly, you CANNOT get good stereo sound out of those little Kefs. Half decent speakers will make you smile for sure, regardless of getting a stereo amp or using the Yam 1900.

 

[Messiah]

Just be aware though that if you replace your current fronts with a new brand you will more than likely loose the tonal integration across the front 3 speakers for surround sound.

 

[Anonymous]

i think it was getting stereo speakers in addition?

Am guessing the amp has a/b speaker outs?

 

[archie527]

Yeah I was thinking more on buying an extra pair of Stereo fronts for music, (even though the reason I bought the Kef's was because they are nice and compact and to save on clutter) and running them from the a/b speaker outs. Although after checking the Yamaha's manual and not being an expert i'm not sure that I can. It shows extra terminals on the rear which are labeled 'Presence speakers or Zone2/Zone3 Speakers'.

I thought i could connect the bookshelfs to these terminals and if I then select zone 2 they would send the sound to these. Would that be correct.

Thanks

 

[Messiah]

You should just be able to hook them up to the Zone 2 terminals.

I assume you could turn off Zone 1/Main when listening to Zone 2??

 

[TitusG]

I think the best way would be to connect hifi speakers to either the a or b speaker terminals. I think the zone outs have to go into another amp.

 

[Messiah]

If the Zones are pre-outs (I have not had a look at the manual yet) then you would need a separate amp. I'll have a look................

 

[Messiah]

Right, I have had a look.

There are speaker terminals for - Presence/Zone 2/Zone 3 and - Zone 2/Zone 3.

So you should be able to connect the speakers up directly to one of these outputs. The second set of terminals on the bottom right are only springclip though so you just connect the bare wire. If you are going to use banana plugs (and bare wire) then you can use the terminals above the Surround Back ones.

 

[archie527]

Thanks for checking this.Would the terminals above the surround back ones would be a better connection than the springclip ones or is there no difference?

 

[Messiah]

Well the 'proper' terminals would allow for banana plugs which are much more convenient to use. You could also use better quality wire as the springclips are quite limiting for wire thickness.

 

[archie527]

Starting to have a different line of thought now about replacing the fronts with some floorstanders maybe. I know I said I liked compact but now realise I will have to comprise to get good movie AND music sound. As Messiah has said I don't want to loose the tonal integration of the fronts, so would keeping to the same brand avoid this?

Bearing this in mind and after doing a quick search I see that the Kef IQ5SE Floorstanders seem to get good reports. How do you think this would work if I kept my Kef 5001's as rears, maybe even the centre or would I then need to buy the Kef IQ60 centre to get the 'Tonal Integration'

P.s. I am just having an extension finished to my house and these speakers along with the equipment below would be placed in my new living room which is 4.5mt x 4.2mt, 3mt high ceiling, so quite a decent size room.

Toshiba Wlt68 TV (soon to be 46"sony, if the money dosn't run out) , Yamaha RX-V1900 AV Receiver, Kef HTS 5001 Speakers & HTB2 Sub, Marantz CD6002 Cd Player, SkyHD, Sony VGX-XL301 Media Center PC, Xbox360

 

[Messiah]

I expect you will be better served by getting the matching centre. Your current rears would do for now and you could use the spare speakers for a 7.1 set up.

Maybe you could demo them somewhere??