cheap 2-channel amp expirement-onkyo 282 vs adcom 545

[arrt vandelay]

ok, so i've pretty much decided i'd like to see what difference a dedicated 2 channel amplifier would make in my set-up. currently, i'm using a yamaha rx v765 to power a pair of energy c-500s and a c-c100 center. i feel like i'm getting enough juice to the towers and center, but i am also very curious to see what adding an amp to my set-up would do. i'm also only interested in improving the front stage. i think my towers really would benefit from some more clean power.

my center sounds great being run off the receiver's amps and so do the surrounds. ideally, i'd love a three channel amp, like the emotiva xpa-3, but i don't have anywhere near enough room for that behemoth in my current set-up. i've noticed some used three channel amps on audiogon and ebay, but my mind keeps telling me to try a two channel for my little experiment. if i really like the two channel, i'm sure i'd pick up a three channel down the road. also, it looks like i could score either the onkyo or adcom for b/t $100 and $150, so my wife won't be giving me that much grief.

so now it comes down to the two contenders-the onkyo m-282 100x2 and the adcom 545 100x2. i'd love to get an emotiva upa-2, but reality has me really only spending $150 max for the time being. the onkyo has some pretty attractive features to me(12v trigger/auto-on), but the 545 seems to have a better reputation. the auto-on/12v trigger would be great for my wife when she's wants to watch tv when i'm not there. not that she's lazy, but i'm sure she wouldn't want to get up to turn on the adcom everytime she wanted to watch bridezillas or something. i suppose i could use the pass through in my receiver for tv watching, but i just don't think i can go back to tv speakers.

so, my long and drawn out post boils down to these questions:

-do you guys think there would be any noticeable sound differences in the two?

-would leaving the adcom on all of the time be an option?

thanks in advance for any replies and sorry for such a drawn out post...

[Drew664]

Originally Posted by arrt vandelay

the auto-on/12v trigger would be great for my wife when she's wants to watch tv when i'm not there. not that she's lazy, but i'm sure she wouldn't want to get up to turn on the adcom everytime she wanted to watch bridezillas or something.

I lol'd pretty hard at that!

so, my long and drawn out post boils down to these questions:

-do you guys think there would be any noticeable sound differences in the two?

-would leaving the adcom on all of the time be an option?

thanks in advance for any replies and sorry for such a drawn out post...

I'm going to venture a completely blind guess at the Adcom being the better sounding amp. No reasoning, just guess work.

I'd say leaving anything on all the time is only going to raise your electric bill. Pay attention to that Adcom if it's a class A amp, it's going to suck down lots power whether you are using it or not. (while on)