Amplifier and speakers

[DeathStorm]

I'm considering buying an AV receiver and a power amp mainly because most AV processors are hideously expensive or out of date (no DLNA, airplay etc) and my current speakers run at 4 ohms but I don't especially like the idea of running a second amplifier if it's not doing anything so this has got me wondering what exactly does an amplifier do when there are no speakers attached? Will the amplifier portion be doing almost nothing without any speakers to drive?

Alternatively I could go for something like an Audiolab 8200AP processor, Rotel RMB-1565 power amp and Sonos or whatever (although the Audiolab doesn't have room correction so that's probably a bad idea).

 

[Disco Boy]

I have almost no idea what you are talking about.

What do you have, what would you like to do and what is your budget?

 

[Grimley]

The OP wants to use the pre-amp part of the AV receiver as a processor to decode the surround sound & send it to a separate power amp. I've thought about doing this myself but I can't justify the cost these days as the Home cinema gets little use.

For that it will need pre-outs. AFAIK the power amp part of the AV receiver will be idle if there are no speakers connected. looking around this type of AV receiver (new anyway) isnt going to be cheap anyway, but certainly cheaper than a stand alone pre-amp/processor.

 

[lucid]

I have almost no idea what you are talking about.

What do you have, what would you like to do and what is your budget?

It's pretty clear to me. Technology moves way too fast to invest a tonne of cash in a monster AV amp capable of driving a challenging load, and the alternative of an AV processor + power amp is already outdated. So... buy a power amp that won't date and takes care of the muscle side, and then take advantage of the aggressive pricing and higher VFM in the AV amp world to invest in a smaller AV amp with a set of pre-outs. The AV amp can still be used to drive some speakers, just not all, but at least the buyer won't be stuck with a deadweight when the next must have feature arrives.

I just did something similar for a customer. Yam 771 AV amp + a Hi-Fi 2 channel amp to get the best of both worlds and no compromise to music.

Power amps - Rotels are good. I use them myself. Also have a look at the secondhand market as well. There's some big 4-way and 5-way Yank amps that hold their value really well.

 

[Lowe]

This is exactly what I do currently. My AV receiver only drives the centre. The fronts and rears have their own power amps taking their feeds from the pre-outs. Works like a charm, and will do until I can take the step and buy a dedicated processor. By only running one channel the receiver is far less likely to run out of currentfrpm it's PSU at higher loads.

 

[DeathStorm]

I have almost no idea what you are talking about.

What do you have, what would you like to do and what is your budget?

A Meridian 861 and a Rotel RMB-1095, the problem is the 861 is so out of date I'm only really using it for audio (of which it does a fine job) and the 1095 is a bit too power hungry (1200W power consumption) plus I've never been too happy with the way it sounds in my home. I should be able to sell them and cover most of the cost of replacement parts but yes I'm probably sacrificing quality for convenience but I've been doing that for years happily and I think I'll get more out of my music this way.

It's pretty clear to me. Technology moves way too fast to invest a tonne of cash in a monster AV amp capable of driving a challenging load, and the alternative of an AV processor + power amp is already outdated. So... buy a power amp that won't date and takes care of the muscle side, and then take advantage of the aggressive pricing and higher VFM in the AV amp world to invest in a smaller AV amp with a set of pre-outs. The AV amp can still be used to drive some speakers, just not all, but at least the buyer won't be stuck with a deadweight when the next must have feature arrives.

In a nutshell yes.

I just did something similar for a customer. Yam 771 AV amp + a Hi-Fi 2 channel amp to get the best of both worlds and no compromise to music.

Power amps - Rotels are good. I use them myself. Also have a look at the secondhand market as well. There's some big 4-way and 5-way Yank amps that hold their value really well.

I'm a little hesitant on getting another Rotel, on the upside it would be class D so pretty efficient and you can find them dirt cheap second hand but it gets mixed reviews when it comes to how good it sounds and with my 1095 even though it had all the power in the world I never found it all that engaging (plus it dims the lights when I turn it on ). This is with speakers that are fairly warm/pleasant sounding.

Your suggestion of a 2 channel power amp with a receiver actually makes a lot of sense, any recommendations? I was considering the Pioneer LX85 as the receiver is pretty 'cheap' being last years model but I have no clue what power amp would suit me.

Actually what got me started on all this was I replaced my computer speakers with AVI ADM9T's and I was seriously considering going for active speakers on the hifi but they don't do any center or rears (another set of ADM9T's seems like overkill) and even though I haven't done a fair test they don't sound quite as good when hooked up to the hifi (although I may just need to do a better job with the sub).