Will changing my amp make that much difference to sound quality

[admin_exported]

I am thinking of changing my home cinema amp. I currently own a Yamaha RXV-1400RDS, SONY BDP-S360, AE aegis EVO speaker package. I was looking at the possibility of replacing my amp with the 5star rated SONY STR-DH800 so that i could connect my blu-ray up via HDMI. Would the SONY make that much difference to the sound quality, or would it be a case of change for the sake of change.

 

[Sorreltiger]

I am pretty sure that you WOULD find there was a difference, but not one you would like very much! The Yamaha had excellent reviews 5 years ago when it was released and is a high quality product. Its only downfall is that it has been a little left behind feature-wise, but there isn't anything fundamentally wrong when it comes to the nitty-gritty. The Sony - good though it may be - is a budget amp. You really need to be saving up for something costing 3 or 4 times as much.

 

[Anonymous]

3 or 4 times as much

Richer sounds has got the Sony STR1000 For 299.00 and I have the pioneer VSX 819 for 250.00 delivered, All great Amps.

 

[Sorreltiger]

The Sony STR-DH800 is about £240. I think that the Yamaha RX-V1400 cost at least twice this much in 2005. It was their upper-mid range receiver - its successor is the RX-V1900. I bet it still sounds great and wouldn't be easy to replace without spending serious money.

 

[Anonymous]

c.james11:I am thinking of changing my home cinema amp. I currently own a Yamaha RXV-1400RDS, SONY BDP-S360, AE aegis EVO speaker package. I was looking at the possibility of replacing my amp with the 5star rated SONY STR-DH800 so that i could connect my blu-ray up via HDMI. Would the SONY make that much difference to the sound quality, or would it be a case of change for the sake of change.

I don't feel the Sony STR-DH800 will be an upgrade to your current amp. The sound will be very different as well.

If you like the sound of your Yamaha, then sell your blu-ray player and get one with multi-channel ability - Sony BDP-S760 or Panasonic DMP-BD80 and hook them up for HD sound. Both players can decode this internally and transmit through your analogue outputs.

 

[Frank Harvey]

I once upgrade from an RXV2400 (the bigger brother of the 1400) to the RXV3800 (it's more modern equivalent at the time) and there was quite a difference, and that's not even including the fact the 3800 decoded HD audio. Just the difference in DD and DTS decoding was enough to justify it, and room EQ circuitry does improve over time too. As Garland has stated, the amps mentioned so far aren't really going to give you any gains other than HD audio decoding. You'll need to look at the RXV2065 at least - the good thing is, they're going silly cheap at the moment.