This the way to get best Stereo Hifi + Home Cinema ?

AV amps have one power supply for all of the amps, DSP etc. They tend to struggle (and therefore the frequency response starts to wobble) when pushed hard. By running separate amps for each channel you spread the load so to speak, and it'll keep its composure longer. It makes a real difference, especially on mid range AV amps.
 
Well, I am hoping to get a musical fidelty x-a2 for under £300. I demoed that years ago with my speakers and loved it but couldn't afford it then. That would be awesome to go with the pioneer I think.
 
Just to echo the comment that if you are going to go down this route then look for an amp with 'AV bypass mode', it makes things much less of a faff.

Originally I ran a Yamaha ESP 800, it handled the decoding and only has 3 channels of amplification. I used it to drive the centre, rears and sub. It was hooked up to a Roksan Kandy mk III for the fronts an for listening to stereo music.

In the end I found the hassle of switching everything on, getting sound levels balanced etc just to much of a chore. So I sold the the ESP 800 and bought a Yamaha DSP 765.

This time I ran both amps seperatly. I had the rund of speaker terminated with banana plugs. And depending on which amp I was listening to I just swapped the cables on the front speakers. Again after a few months of this I got sick of it.

Ended up selling both amps and getting the most musical amp I could afford at the time. Picked up an Arcam AVR270. Very nice amp but music is not in same league as the it was when going through the Roksan :(

In the end I comprimised on sound quality. When I eventually move to a bigger house I will do a bit of shopping and have 2 systems :D
 
Just to add I went from an Onkyo 609 to the Pioneer LX53 and noticed a nice improvement, especially in refinement, the jump was just as big again when I added the Arcam Alpha 8 power amp. It just seems less strained now at high volume.

I mainly use mine for movies but do also enjoy some great sounding music through it. My biggest limitation now is room size, I don't think I'd gain much upgrading further in my tiny room.
 
kidloco said:
Just to echo the comment that if you are going to go down this route then look for an amp with 'AV bypass mode', it makes things much less of a faff.

Originally I ran a Yamaha ESP 800, it handled the decoding and only has 3 channels of amplification. I used it to drive the centre, rears and sub. It was hooked up to a Roksan Kandy mk III for the fronts an for listening to stereo music.

In the end I found the hassle of switching everything on, getting sound levels balanced etc just to much of a chore. So I sold the the ESP 800 and bought a Yamaha DSP 765.

This time I ran both amps seperatly. I had the rund of speaker terminated with banana plugs. And depending on which amp I was listening to I just swapped the cables on the front speakers. Again after a few months of this I got sick of it.

Ended up selling both amps and getting the most musical amp I could afford at the time. Picked up an Arcam AVR270. Very nice amp but music is not in same league as the it was when going through the Roksan :(

In the end I comprimised on sound quality. When I eventually move to a bigger house I will do a bit of shopping and have 2 systems :D
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Yeah that can be a pain, lucky Cyrus has fixed gain mode so no need to muck about setting the voulme for the fronts when listen to 5.1.
 
Rung Sevenoaks and ordered the VSX-2021 in for Saturday to swap over.

Also bid on a Musical Fidelity X-A2 for music. I mean if I found it begin chore balancing all the sound...I'll just use the Pioneer and see, the difference might not be that big to my ears.
 
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You don't need to balance every time. All you do is balance once and then mark the position on the Hi-Fi amp dial. Easy
 
Well a chinagraph pencil is usually the weapon of choice, but ordinary lead will do...whatever floats your boat.

The Pioneer operates as normal. The volume on that acts as the master control the same as it would do if using it as the only amp.
 
Not found anything to move me away from my legacy setup.

Lyngdorf amp plugged into my Yam E800 still covers Tv/Film duty with teh Lyngdorf on it's own for music through PS3/Sky/CD.

It's not how big your case is and how fangly dangly your codecs are, it's just how you use the least amount of parts the best :D




Ok ok, billet aluminium face and a chunky chassis is lovely though :D:D
 
lucid said:
Well a chinagraph pencil is usually the weapon of choice, but ordinary lead will do...whatever floats your boat.

The Pioneer operates as normal. The volume on that acts as the master control the same as it would do if using it as the only amp.
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When I turn the volume up on the pioneer, will the integrated amp's volume go up too?
 
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