marantz 8801 pre amp to suit my setup

[htuser]

while thanking you all experys in audio in advance , my qiestion is whrthef the marantz AV8801 will makea knight anf fay difference quality in my system.

my system consists of kef R 500 floors as fronts R 200cas center, R100 for surrounds and two pairs ofsame kefs q100 as frontheights and surround backs thus my system is 9 channel one.thesub woofefis kef r400.

my receiver is yamaha avantage 3010 with 11.2 channel capability. i later purchased a NAD 977 power amp of7 channels andconnected to 7 pre outs of yamaha 3010. two of yamahas receiver channels are being used two power two front height speakers of q100.

my hall comprises dimentions 18 feet x 15 feet.but d dining cum upstair openingand hall has a roof openingbeing duplex house.

while overall soundquality is good off late im thinking to get a preamp mostly marantz av 8801.

could you please tel me will there be any night and day difference in soundquality?

my main concern is that the kef speakers and yamaha receiver bkth are warm and laid back. i hear overall sound good but i feel each speaker is murmuring to itself being laid back.

will marantz preamp render the sound a forward qualiy and in general whatis the sound quality ofmarantz and suitabllity to my kef R series speakers.

 

[Frank Harvey]

The Yamaha CXA5000 isn't just a stripped out version of the RXA3030, there has been extensive work done to it to improve two channel performance, and performance in general, so this should be on your shortlist. I can assure you there is nothing 'laid back' about the Yamaha processor (or the pre sections in their AV receivers) - it is Yamaha's amplification that is on the smoother side.

Both the Yamaha and the Marantz 8801 are dedicated pre/processors, and have advantages over AV receivers in that they don't use hefty transformers that would be required by power amplification - pre-amplifiers usually use a smaller, bespoke power supply designed to not impact anything around it, or the signal in any way. Both of these pre-amps should give you a step up.

I suspect the laid back issue you're experiencing is down to a combination of your power amplification and the slightly laid back sound of the R Series and producing something a little too warm. I know where you're coming from as I hate warm sounding AV systems (like one of the rooms at the Bristol Show this year - it sounded terrible, despite others liking the sound of the room!). There's plenty of settings to play about with though. Are you using the bungs provided with the KEFs? If so, inner and outer bung (they come in two parts)? Have you used YPAO? If so, did you change anything afterwards? Do you prefer with or without EQ?

I can help you produce an EQ curve that will make you system sound more exciting, which I used when I used to have R300s all round - just drop me an email and I'll let you know.

 

[htuser]

hi David

thats very kind of you. Thanks for your quick response. to answer some of your questions i must admit i dont use bungs eiyher knner or outer. I didnt think of using could be due to my ignorance. I did setup YPAO SEVERAL TIMES. Initially it has given slme error in sjbwoofer settings. It was only when i switched off my refrigirator whichis tgere in the same hall i got good resulgs and i did not change the settings later. The sound with ypao is very good but this has not changed the laid back type oh sound.

Further iwould like to ask you whethrr my NAD 977 power amp of 140 watts is any thing to dowith the laid back sound.

 

[Frank Harvey]

I've always felt NAD to be a little on the warm taste for my liking.

If you have run the YPAO without any bungs and you're happy that YPAO has done a good job, take out the inner section of the bungs so you're just left with the outer part, and use them for all speakers. This should remove a bit of warmth, and I've found R Series to sound more to my liking using the outer bungs. I wouldn't recommend fully bunging the ports though, as doing this tends to rob the speaker of any life that it has.

 

[htuser]

david, could you please specify whether to setup ypao after incertion of foam bungs or first setup ypao then insert foam bungs. also let me know whichissue will this foambungigng will address that is whether it is warm/bright or laidback/ forward sounding that is taken care by bunging and in what way
thanks in advance.
for this purpose of discussion I presume that warm(or smooth) sounding means a cutting down of high frequencies and forward sounding means the sound from speakers hitting on our face. In this context actually my preferred sounding system is some where between laid back to forward sound and which is smooth.