How much would I benefit from an amplifier?

[TheJesus]

My system already sounds great, I was wondering how much I would actually gain by adding a seperate amplifier. My receiver has pre-outs for an amp. Here are my system specs:

Pioneer VSX-1018
130 Watts per channel

L/R
Definitive Technology BP7006
Recommended Amp Power 20 - 250 Watts

Center
Definitive Technology ProCenter 1000
Recommended Amp Power 10 - 200 watts

Rear L/R
Definitive Technology ProMonitor 1000
Recommended Amp Power 10 - 200 watts

Sub
Elemental Designs A2-300

[Beta Man]

It would certainly be a worthwhile upgrade in my opinion..... I plan on adding a separate amp when funds allow..... It's not necessarily about the power, but the cleanliness of the power you feed them.

[TheJesus]

The cheapest 5 channel amp I can find is an emotiva for $800. I just don't know if the benefits outweigh the cost...

[blujacket]

Originally Posted by TheJesus

The cheapest 5 channel amp I can find is an emotiva for $800. I just don't know if the benefits outweigh the cost...

Those speakers are begging for some power. I say go for it.

[D1-2005]

Originally Posted by TheJesus

The cheapest 5 channel amp I can find is an emotiva for $800. I just don't know if the benefits outweigh the cost...

Why not look used, or try a 3 channel amp and let your reciever power your surrounds? Maybe something thats more in your price range.

[lokir1]

Originally Posted by Beta Man

It would certainly be a worthwhile upgrade in my opinion..... I plan on adding a separate amp when funds allow..... It's not necessarily about the power, but the cleanliness of the power you feed them.

yees im definetly on the same boat when funds allow optima her i come! lol

[JasonR]

Originally Posted by D1-2005

Why not look used, or try a 3 channel amp and let your reciever power your surrounds? Maybe something thats more in your price range.

Good advice, look on Audiogon. You can readily find Rotel 5 channel amps for around $500.

If you are looking new, there is nothing wrong with a 3 channel amp running your mains and center with your receiver handling the surrounds. Emotiva XPA-3 is a good option.

In my opinion, the cost is worth it.

[DerrellB]

+1 to used. I bought my sherwood newcastle amp used. retail was 1500 and I didnt pay anything near that. FYI there is a guy on polk audio who has the emotiva xpa5 for 550. I think going to seperates was the best move I could have made. I have never heard my KEFS without an amp and really dont have a desire to as they sound awesome with the amp. The soundstage and imaging is incredible. The sound is so crisp and clean.

[TheJesus]

Thanks for your opinions, I think the 3 channel amp may be the way to go. Emotiva seems to have a good reputation on these forums.

I haven't turned my system up past 0db out of fear that I will blow up the speakers, so I can't imagine needing it much louder. A better quality of sound would definitely make it worth it for me though

[Blu-Dog]

Originally Posted by TheJesus

Thanks for your opinions, I think the 3 channel amp may be the way to go. Emotiva seems to have a good reputation on these forums.

I haven't turned my system up past 0db out of fear that I will blow up the speakers, so I can't imagine needing it much louder. A better quality of sound would definitely make it worth it for me though

I'm a huge fan of amps, but the big question is...how loud do you play your stuff?

At moderate volume, you won't see much improvement. It's when you have long, sustained levels of loud stuff that an amp starts paying for itself.

Your DefTechs are pretty efficient, you might not gain all that much with the Emotiva...unless you like it really loud, in which case, the Emotiva is a very good idea.

[prerich]

Originally Posted by TheJesus

The cheapest 5 channel amp I can find is an emotiva for $800. I just don't know if the benefits outweigh the cost...

You want to do this - trust me.

[prerich]

Originally Posted by Blu-Dog

I'm a huge fan of amps, but the big question is...how loud do you play your stuff?

At moderate volume, you won't see much improvement. It's when you have long, sustained levels of loud stuff that an amp starts paying for itself.

Your DefTechs are pretty efficient, you might not gain all that much with the Emotiva...unless you like it really loud, in which case, the Emotiva is a very good idea.

Not really, seperate amps are not only for loud passages, but with power amps you generally get increased dynamic range and lower THD. You don't have to play an amp loud to notice it's benifits

[crazyBLUE]

Originally Posted by prerich

Not really, seperate amps are not only for loud passages, but with power amps you generally get increased dynamic range and lower THD. You don't have to play an amp loud to notice it's benifits

I second this ~ I agree with this ~ & prerich knows what he is talking about !
I listen to music or sometimes A Blu at lower volumes do to my condo & the people around me . It sounds way better than it would threw A receiver !

[Erman_94]

i am also in a similar siıtuation and inquiring about the benefits of separate amplification...i am also using the 1018 receiver but with polk rtiA7s fronts and csiA6 center

i am also looking at emotiva and am debating between the xpa-3 and xpa-5...im just not sure which way to go.

im pretty sure i just want to power my fronts and center with the amp but am wondering if bi-amping the fronts wiill make a huge difference. that would be feeding my rtia7s with 400W each when, i believe, they are only capable of outputting 300W...so is the xpa-5 worth it?

thanks guys and sorry to the OP for barging in on his thread

[crazyBLUE]

Originally Posted by Erman_94

i am also in a similar siıtuation and inquiring about the benefits of separate amplification...i am also using the 1018 receiver but with polk rtiA7s fronts and csiA6 center

i am also looking at emotiva and am debating between the xpa-3 and xpa-5...im just not sure which way to go.

im pretty sure i just want to power my fronts and center with the amp but am wondering if bi-amping the fronts wiill make a huge difference. that would be feeding my rtia7s with 400W each when, i believe, they are only capable of outputting 300W...so is the xpa-5 worth it?

thanks guys and sorry to the OP for barging in on his thread

As far as Bi-amping the fronts , yes there is A difference but not huge !
You will not be feeding you're speakers 400 watts as you said . You will be feeding the tweeters 200 watts & the woofers 200 watts & this will not hurt anything !

[naturephoto1]

Originally Posted by crazyBLUE

As far as Bi-amping the fronts , yes there is A difference but not huge !
You will not be feeding you're speakers 400 watts as you said . You will be feeding the tweeters 200 watts & the woofers 200 watts & this will not hurt anything !

Brent,

That is not quite correct. The amps are capable of "feeding" 200 watts RMS at a specific ohm measurement. They are only "feeding" what is required at the time. You most certainly can hurt the speaker drivers if you are not careful and have huge spikes of output from the amps to the drivers. The watts that you are speaking of are RMS which is a continuous measurement. But, it is possible that you could have an instantaneous transient burst of 500 or possibly even more watts that could easily damage or fry/blow a driver.

Rich

[crazyBLUE]

Originally Posted by naturephoto1

Brent,

That is not quite correct. The amps are capable of "feeding" 200 watts RMS at a specific ohm measurement. They are only "feeding" what is required at the time. You most certainly can hurt the speaker drivers if you are not careful and have huge spikes of output from the amps to the drivers. The watts that you are speaking of are RMS which is a continuous measurement. But, it is possible that you could have an instantaneous transient burst of 500 or possibly even more watts that could easily damage or fry/blow a driver.

Rich

So what you are saying is someone would have it turned up so loud that it might spike in the sound track & it could damage the speaker driver & this person does not care about there hearing ! Or there is A chance in A trillion that there is A spike in power to cause this when again the volume is to loud !

[SlmShdy1]

You know, I've been wondering the same thing as the OP. I want to add an amp to my 705, but my speakers are only 100 watts. My 705 already outputs 100 watts per channel. Would it be pointless for me to add on an amp? I mean, my speakers can't really handle much more power, right?

[naturephoto1]

Originally Posted by crazyBLUE

So what you are saying is someone would have it turned up so loud that it might spike in the sound track & it could damage the speaker driver & this person does not care about there hearing ! Or there is A chance in A trillion that there is A spike in power to cause this when again the volume is to loud !

Brent,

No I am not saying that and it is not a chance in a trillion, more like a chance in several thousand or tens of thousands perhaps. There can be instantaneous changes in volume that can occur in certain music performances (that can be very soft to tremendous crescendos or for an example canons or drums) or films that could put out enough volume that a speaker driver could be blown. Additionally, if someone did not realize the volume and started in the middle or increased the volume because it was too soft or changed from muting the performance, etc. that this could happen. Additionally as another example if you were to drop a tonearm of a turntable onto a record there could be enough volume to damage a driver. This is why my Soundsmith 410 Phono Preamp has a built in automatic muting that occurs when the tonearm is lifted from the record and there is a delay as it is put onto the vinyl to avoid this possibility.

Additionally though you can damage speaker drivers by having too little power, you can also damage speaker drivers when the amp goes into clipping. So, if you are playing an amp and a set of speakers loud enough and the amp goes into clipping (enough distortion) you can damage speakers drivers. This is not as uncommon as you think. It may not be as loud as you think to push the amp into clipping and you may not realize or hear the distortion long enough before the damage is done.

Rich

[crazyBLUE]

Originally Posted by naturephoto1

Brent,

No I am not saying that and it is not a chance in a trillion, more like a chance in several thousand or tens of thousands perhaps. There can be instantaneous changes in volume that can occur in certain music performances (that can be very soft to tremendous crescendos or for an example canons or drums) or films that could put out enough volume that a speaker driver could be blown. Additionally, if someone did not realize the volume and started in the middle or increased the volume because it was too soft or changed from muting the performance, etc. that this could happen. Additionally as another example if you were to drop a tonearm of a turntable onto a record there could be enough volume to damage a driver. This is why my Soundsmith 410 Phono Preamp has a built in automatic muting that occurs when the tonearm is lifted from the record and there is a delay as it is put onto the vinyl to avoid this possibility.

Additionally though you can damage speaker drivers by having too little power, you can also damage speaker drivers when the amp goes into clipping. So, if you are playing an amp and a set of speakers loud enough and the amp goes into clipping (enough distortion) you can damage speakers drivers. This is not as uncommon as you think. It may not be as loud as you think to push the amp into clipping and you may not realize or hear the distortion long enough before the damage is done.

Rich

That all makes sense Rich ! & I am not disagreeing with you at all ! But to turn it up that load , I guess is beyond me .