AV receiver advise

Robzere31 · 24 Mar 2015 at 00:37

I currently have a Yamaha RX-V359 AV receiver which has my sky+HD box, Sony blu ray player & Sony TV connected to it. There is also a chromecast plugged into the TV.
Amp was given to me last year for free, & sky & blu ray are connected to TV via hdmi cables then a optical cable from TV out runs to the AV.

Whilst sound is quality is OK, there seems a distinct lack of power from it requiring me to really crack the volume up to get anything from it.
I'm running a pair of diamond 9 speakers for fronts along with a Yamaha YSTFSW050 subwoofer. I also have a small no name centre speaker connected.

I've also picked up a second pair of diamond 9 speakers to run as rears at some point.
I've bought some fiscal 2.5mm cable as I currently have some cheap 1mm cable that was about 5p per mile!

My question, do you think it's worth me investing in a better amp?
I've been offered a denon AVRX2000 receiver for £175. Do you think it's worth it?

I'm not looking for amazing sound but would like to get the best out of what I have.

Robzere31 · 24 Mar 2015 at 13:12

Thanks for the really detailed reply. Given me something to think about.

Out of interest, what speakers would you recommend to use if I kept the yamaha amp?
They would need to be a similar size to the diamond 9s if possible.

Robzere31 · 4 Apr 2015 at 15:07

Just a quick thank you for the advice, ended up purchasing a pair of Tannoy DC4 speakers & a matching Tannoy centre speaker.
Also bagged an unboxed/ex demo yamaha RXV775 amp. Just finished hooking it all up, & the improvement in quality is unbelievable!

I'm going to use my diamond 9s as rear speakers once I've picked up some more cable as I haven't quite got enough to reach where I want to place them.

Class me one happy bunny!

Robzere31 · 4 Apr 2015 at 19:02

Had a listen to the next model up (DC6) which were on offer for £200, but I couldn't really tell any difference in sound, so settled on the DC4s for £145.

Listened to the Denon AV amp, which has was available for £175 an an ex demo, sounded good, but then the guy mentioned they had 1 yamaha RXV775 as an ex demo (also has a small scratch on the side of it, for £225
Had a quick listen, & thought it was worth the extra.

Including the centre speaker the whole package came in at just over £440 which I'm happy with.
Slightly more than I was planning to spend, but worth it.