Yamaha RXV581

Hedge said:
Well after looking at prices of them Ati amps you mentioned I think I can continue to live with what I've got in our living room.

Could spend 2 grand on adding ceiling speakers, replastering and re decorating then getting a more noticeable impact than driving my fronts harder lol.
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You don't need to spend that much. It's just that I wanted to upgrade (from my already good amps) So little point downgrading or sidegrading.

Plenty of affordable power amplifiers around.

Also see it more of a investment. Once bought you won't be changing them for many many years. Analogy to a computer is like a good quality PC case. It'll last many PC upgrades.

How about this?
https://emotiva.com/product/xpa-3-gen3/
 
I could stomach maybe £500 in future but a grand is pushing it.

I'll have a look into this stuff.
 
Hedge said:
I could stomach maybe £500 in future but a grand is pushing it.

I'll have a look into this stuff.
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Should be able to buy a 2 channel amplifier for £500, so that'll help a lot, for stereo & that means also helping in multi-channel- that frees up power for the other remaining important channel (center)

£1000 is really a bargain for a decent multi-channel amplifier tbh. Once you get it, then you'll have it for ages, so the cost is immaterial. Unlike AVR's, power amplifiers don't go out of date. If you have speakers that are tricky load, or a crap AVR then I'd recommend it. Your system will sound better, less likely to blow drivers, able to play louder & cleaner.

First dabble into seperates was splitting from AVR to AVR + stereo integrated amp, then changing the AVR to a Yamaha DSP decoder/3 channel avr, then changing getting a av pre, then power amps.

AV pres are the expensive components (and over priced)
 
Hedge said:
Well after looking at prices of them Ati amps you mentioned I think I can continue to live with what I've got in our living room.

Could spend 2 grand on adding ceiling speakers, replastering and re decorating then getting a more noticeable impact than driving my fronts harder lol.
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just go take a look on avforums. nobody on there has had any issues with yamaha amps, etc. i've certainly not read about them in the 200+ page long official threads on yamaha avr's.

if it was that common an issue i'm sure you would know about it.

pioneer is the only other company i would think about buying an AVR from. yamaha have been doing this for decades and i know someone who has a 30 year old yamaha still going strong.
 
I ended up buying an Onkyo Onkyo TXNR676. I don't know if this is classed as much of an upgrade from a purists point of view but it sounds significantly better than my previous AV receiver (HT-R538). The GUI is much, much better and all the connectivity is great. I've done some testing between DTS and DTS HD on Saving Private Ryan and there is a definite improvement with the latter. I just need to get a GT 1030 GPU so I can enjoy lossless audio and 4K HDR :D. Currently using ARC from my B6 OLED so I either go for 4K HDR with DTS or 1080p with lossless:(

I'm wondering what to upgrade next, either the Onkyo supplied rears or the Onkyo supplied active Subwoofer. I'm thinking the subwoofer if we end up buying a detached house. Possibly get a B&W ASW608.
 
MG42Maniac said:
I ended up buying an Onkyo Onkyo TXNR676. I don't know if this is classed as much of an upgrade from a purists point of view but it sounds significantly better than my previous AV receiver (HT-R538). The GUI is much, much better and all the connectivity is great. I've done some testing between DTS and DTS HD on Saving Private Ryan and there is a definite improvement with the latter. I just need to get a GT 1030 GPU so I can enjoy lossless audio and 4K HDR :D. Currently using ARC from my B6 OLED so I either go for 4K HDR with DTS or 1080p with lossless:(

I'm wondering what to upgrade next, either the Onkyo supplied rears or the Onkyo supplied active Subwoofer. I'm thinking the subwoofer if we end up buying a detached house. Possibly get a B&W ASW608.
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How about BK XLS400 or BK Monolith +, SVS SB2000 or PB2000. If the Onkyo sub is passive, then yo can't use it with your new amp.

For high end check out SVS SB Ultra 16 or SVS PB Ultra 16. I use a SVS SB Ultra 13
 
hornetstinger said:
How about BK XLS400 or BK Monolith +, SVS SB2000 or PB2000. If the Onkyo sub is passive, then yo can't use it with your new amp.

For high end check out SVS SB Ultra 16 or SVS PB Ultra 16. I use a SVS SB Ultra 13
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The current Subwoofer is active so seems to work just fine, connectivity wise. When I ran the audio calibration mic at the start of the setup, it set the Subwoofer as +6db which sounded better (deeper and more pronounced) but also started to distort at certain times. Probably not good enough quality? I've set it to +2db now and it seems more "stable".

I like to buy second-hand speakers in general as you tend to get more for your money. If you had £500-£600 to spend, would you still get a new BK Monolith+? I'm gonna replace the rears with B&W 601 S2 so once the sub has been replaced I should be good to go until I want to spend serious money which probably won't happen for a few years!
 
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MG42Maniac said:
The current Subwoofer is active so seems to work just fine, connectivity wise When I ran the audio calibration mic at the start of the setup, it set the Subwoofer as +6db which sounded better (deeper and more pronounced) but also started to distort at certain times. Probably not good enough quality?

I like to buy second-hand speakers in general as you tend to get more for your money. If you had £500-£600 to spend, would you still get a new BK Monolith+? I'm gonna replace the rears with B&W 601 S2 so once the sub has been replaced I should be good to go until I want to spend serious money which probably won't happen for a few years!
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On the sub itself, turn down the volume dial a little. Then re-run the setup. You want the AVR sub channel level to be around 00.

Subs are a personal thing. From my own experience, for music I prefer sealed. In a smaller room, for music or movies & prefer sealed.

In a larger room I'd go ported. For a larger room with movies I'd go ported. For larger room for music not sure which I'll choose. Talking of which I'll be putting that SB Ultra 13 in a 23 foot x 12 foot room, hoping one is enough.
 
hornetstinger said:
On the sub itself, turn down the volume dial a little. Then re-run the setup. You want the AVR sub channel level to be around 00.

Subs are a personal thing. From my own experience, for music I prefer sealed. In a smaller room, for music or movies & prefer sealed.

In a larger room I'd go ported. For a larger room with movies I'd go ported. For larger room for music not sure which I'll choose. Talking of which I'll be putting that SB Ultra 13 in a 23 foot x 12 foot room, hoping one is enough.
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Thanks, I will try that and see how I get on. I've no idea how accurate these "room calibration" mics are as it's the first time I have used one. Reviews seem to suggest it's pretty decent.

As we are not 100% sure on the house we are buying I will wait a few more months before I buy a subwoofer. I would imagine, based on our budget and living down south the lounge will be 20ft x 13ft max.
 
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