should I give up my stereo amp to justify getting an a/v receiver?

[admin_exported]

Hi, I have a Rotel RA-1520 amp, with Rega RS3s, and I love it. But, I want a surround system. Would I be sacrificing too much by replacing the Rotel with something like the Yamaha A1010? I can't justify both, either in terms of cost or aesthetics. Speakers to provide the surround will have to be my old Diamonds for now, but more aprropriate suggestions would be welcome. The Rega centre seems too deep to me.

 

[simonlewis]

It depends which you consider to be more important, i'm in a similer situation & decided that a/v was more important, i still listen to music which i consider perfectly acceptable but is compromised, BTW i have 5.1 speakers in my living room which i'm perfectly happy with.

 

[CnoEvil]

It's a tricky one trying to predict the compromises someone else will be prepared to make. You are likely to lose out on 2 channel quality in order to achieve the multi-channel experience.

FWIW I would try and find a heavily discounted (discontinued) AV amp with pre-outs, and enjoy both.

 

[fr0g]

Only my second system, but I find the sound through my Yamaha AV and Dali Ikon 6, every bit as good as when it was through an Arcam stereo amp at twice the RRP.

IMO, the differences in supposed quality in Stereo are VASTLY overplayed. In fact I'd say they don't exist and that expectation bias and years of people saying it should be so have stuck firmly in the mind.

Go for it I say. Stereo only amps are in their death-throes IMO.

 

[Ben K.]

+1 to cno's comment

Get an av amp with pre outs and have your cake and eat it! That's what I did!

 

[Chokobolt]

As Cno said, get the best of both worlds

 

[Naxos]

Same for me - OK it's another box, but you really don't need to compromise.

 

[jacobmorrison]

IMO, the differences in supposed quality in Stereo are VASTLY overplayed. In fact I'd say they don't exist and that expectation bias and years of people saying it should be so have stuck firmly in the mind.

I knew my mind, and my ears, were playing tricks on me. Right, off to ebay to sell the gear I wouldn't have bought if it wasn't for this incessant propoganda. I'm a weak minded fool.

I agree with the later posters. AV Amps with Pre-outs are still available. Better still, track down a Yamaha DSP-E800, a cracking 3 channel decoder long discontinued but perfectly capable taking of the latest HD audio formats as long as your blu-ray has a multi-channel analogue output, and it will produce DTS from coax and optical feeds. Should cost you around £40-£50 on auction sites, it's compact, and will plug straight in to a spare channel on your soon-to-be-obsolete two channel amp. It served me well for many years and it's highly regarded by Mr A Everard of this parish (it was an award winner in its day).

 

[Naxos]

Yeah, the DSPE-800 was an awesome bit of kit - fuss-free, and no bells and whistles you didn't need. I had one for 10 years.

One postcript to this thread: I'm looking to update my Yamaha 640 from 2004 to an amp with HDMIs instead of having a big 2-metre snake of blue analogue cables from my Blu ray to the AV amp, and I've discovered that few AV amps seem to have pre-outs for connecting to an integrated - I must admit, I never even considered this. For example, it completely rules out the latest Yamaha RXA473/573/673 series, and the best I could find was the 1010, which at least is heavily discounted at the moment but is really more than I wanted to pay just to power by surrounds and sub. It's the same for Onkyos and Denons until you go up the range. Why the heck aren't they being included anymore?