Upgrade from Integrated Amp

[admin_exported]

1. Currently I'm using a Yamaha Integrated Amp. Will an up gradation from using a integrated amp to using a separate amp & a pre amp improve sound quality in terms of clarity, depth, etc.?

2. I'm also using a Yamaha Graphic Equalizer which give me enhanced clarity when I run it with my integrated amp. So if I upgrade my amp using a amp and a preamp instead of a integrated amp, will the Yamaha Equalizer still be useful?

Wasim.

 

[Sabby]

1. Which Yamaha integrated are you using? Generally a pre/power combination will outperform an integrated, but not always. However, in your case a pre/power will most likely improve sound quality.

2. Get rid of the graphic qualizer, they went out of fashion many years ago. It will only degrade the sound of a good amp anyway.

 

[the record spot]

Absolutes, never did like them. Generally speaking pre/powers are overrated IMO - the underlying design's important and a good integrated can more than hold its own against. Likewise the graphic equalizer - hifi faddishness and minimalism out of the UK in the 80s came up with this one. Have a look at McIntosh kit, or almost any high end Japanese amp from the 70s. Tell me they sound rubbish and they're loaded with tone controls. Likewise with an equalizer, it simply gives you the means to adapt your sound to your tastes in your room at the frequency levels you want to adjust. Not all GEs are good, but by no means are they all rubbish!

(No offence Sabby and all IMO anyway!)

 

[basshead]

if you find that the graphic equalizer helps the sound of your system in your room then keep it!

there is some awful snobbery against equalizers, which i don't understand. i have used one in the past when my hi-fi has been in bright sounding rooms, being able to slightly adjust one frequency band can be a god send and avoids the need to endlessly change (ie buy, spend/waste money) components or cables trying to fine tune a system.

even with a new amp, weather it be an integrated or pre/power combo you may still find that the eq is useful, as it really depends on the room you have the hi-fi in. yes an eq can degrade the sound of a good amp, but the benifits can far out weigh this negative.

anti - eq snobbery - rant over