What home cinema amp for my speaker set up??

[andyh990]

Hi all this is my first post hoping that someone could lend some advice for the questions I have.

I own Kef q500 as fronts, q100 as rears and a kef iq6c as my centre speaker, running from an onkyo tx-sr608 with good cable can't remember the make.

I can't help but be disappointed with the output of the speakers unless I have them powered really hi and I then still feel they should be better. I feel the amp is to blame for this and I am just wondering what amps people could recommend me which would give better power.

My budget would be max £600

any help appreciated thanks Andrew.

 

[Frank Harvey]

First things first is to make sure everything is set up properly. Have all the speakers placed carefully in relation to the listening position? Did you set it up manually, or perform an auto set up? If you did perform an auto set up, did you change anything afterwards or just trust what it did? ANd have you compared the sound of your system with and without room EQ? Do you have a lot of heavy furnishings in the room? Do you use a subwoofer?

The budget you have for a replacement receiver isn't all that much more than the 608 was back in the day. Whilst for that budget you will now get more features, you won't get any more for your money as far as amplification is concerned. The KEFs aren't particularly demanding, but it sounds like the Onkyo just isn't getting the job done. I'd recommend looking for outgoing model deals so you can get the most for your money - receivers around the £1,000 generally have better amplification than those at half their price, so you should find the speakers will sound better.