Used 5ch Amp (Classe, Krell, Rotel)
BTW, here's a really nice integrated I'd bet would sound fantastic with your speakers. Not sure what your price range is. http://www.audioasylumtrader.com/ca/listing/Integrated-Amplifier-SS/Hegel/H360-Integrated-Amplifier/... FWIW... |
Yup, @big_greg and @millercarbon are giving you sage advice. If stereo is important to you, then focus your money there and don't waste big bucks on powering your surrounds. The other issue is the Arcam -- its preamp section is sucking the life out of your 2-channel performance, probably even more than the amp. So two choices -- get a good stereo integrated amp, or get a separate stereo amp and preamp. Either will work fine, but the integrated obviously saves you space and a pair of interconnects and will likely be a better value too. A HT bypass function, while not necessary, is nice to have in a hybrid system like this. Now, all you do is run the front L/R pre outs from the Arcam to the HT bypass input on the integrated (or any unused line-level input). When you want to do HT just choose this input, and when stereo choose the appropriate input on the stereo pre/integrated. Obviously your DAC or whatever stereo music source is now hooked to the stereo pre/integrated instead of the Arcam. The real beauty of this setup, other than only having to flip one switch to toggle between HT and stereo, is that in stereo mode the Arcam is now completely out of the system and has no affect on the sound. I suspect you'll hear a not small improvement in what you get from your Dynes in 2-channel. Anyway, best of luck. |
I am interested in a used Audi RS6 or an E53 AMG and some of you are recommending me a honda accord ’sport’ or suggesting I switch to a motorcycle (2ch amp). Common guys seriously !? Hmm, I find that a little condescending and more than a little ignorant. Ok, clearly we’re not understanding here so let me put it in words maybe you can understand. Buying a better amp while continuing to use the preamp section of your Arcam is like putting an RS6 engine in a Honda Civic . Got it? Sure you can do it, but it’s a huge mismatch and largely a waste. And especially your 2-channel performance -- 50% of your listening -- will continue to be SEVERELY compromised. You minimize the importance of a preamp in your system at your own peril. And let me be perfectly clear here -- the preamp section of your AVR absolutely SUCKS. IT SUCKS! PERIOD!!! Sorry if this hurts your feelings, but it’s an absolute fact. Many of us here are pointing you toward incorporating stereo components into your HT system because we’ve already been where you are, and we are trying to pass on some hard-won experience and advice in trying to help you avoid our past mistakes. But apparently we don’t know what we’re talking about and you and your 40 posts here know better, so you go ahead and do what you want. It’s your money. |
@loomisjohnson -- shame on you man. Your AVR’s preamp section sounded good COMPARED TO WHAT? It’s a $3400 AVR that includes multichannel amp, signal processing, tuner, preamp, DAC, internet connectivity, etc. etc. With all that, how much money do you think they have to dedicate to the stereo preamp section? Think they put some high-level quality parts in there do ya? I think not. And how well shielded do you think the stereo pre is from the rest of the electronic morass going on all around it? No, IT’S CRAP. At this price it can’t be anything BUT crap, especially relative to any half-decent stereo pre or integrated. And to me, letting the OP think the pre section of his AVR’s is anything more than CRAP is doing him a great disservice. You gonna tell me putting in a better 5-channel amp is gonna do anything close to improving his stereo performance compared to putting in a good integrated amp instead? PHOOEY! But I bet those rear surrounds are really gonna sing with all that high-quality, expensive power from the 5-channel amp. What a waste. The Rotel is more than fine for that. Comes down to that -- you want to feed those surrounds with lots of expensive power, or would you rather get a huge boost in stereo performance by feeding the C20s with both a high quality amplifier AND preamp? To each his own, but I choose the latter 7days a week and twice on Sunday. @danimaz -- hey man, sorry if I’m coming off like a jerk, but I’m (and a few others here) sincerely trying to help you here rather than just telling you what you want to hear. Sometimes the better thing to do isn’t the easiest or most obvious thing. I guarantee you if you slip a decent integrated amp into your system you won’t believe what comes out of your Dyn C20s. They’re great little speakers and will reward you hugely the better the electronics with which you feed them. Maybe you can borrow or demo one just to see what you could potentially have? Once you hear it, you’ll know. So you guys keep feeding the guy 5-channel amps he can blow his money on. I firmly stand by my recommendation as someone who was in the exact same position as the OP many years back. If he had mediocre L/R speakers I wouldn’t care so much, but his speakers are capable of providing so much more I think it’s sad to choke them off with the pre section of a mass market AVR. Peace out. |
That being said, danimaz would have to understand that this would be a staged approach, as he can probably only afford to get only one 2-channel amp or set of monoblocks now. Which means he would ultimately be spending $6-10K in the end if he wants that typeof sound. Plus, he would probably have to deviate away from Rotel as an amp choice which means left/right and center/surrounds would now have completely different sonic signatures. No. Not at all. My thought was to add a stereo integrated and done. Period. $2200 for something like a Hegel H200 and let the Rotel handle center and surrounds. Done. The H200 will scale the C20s to soaring new heights and HT still sounds great. The center speaker doesn’t match the L/R anyway, so worrying about matching amps is useless. My guess is, after adding the integrated the OP won’t even feel the need to upgrade further, but that’s just my guess. At least the C20s will finally be driven by proper stereo components, and since 50% of his listening is stereo, that’s a pretty big deal. If he wants, he can always sell the Rotel and buy a good-quality 3-channel amp, but I wouldn’t. The Rotel is fine. BTW, there’s a nice H200 available now, and it’s got a HT bypass so will just drop nicely and seamlessly into the existing system. https://www.ebay.com/itm/323589727096?ul_ref=http%253A%252F%252Frover.ebay.com%252Frover%252F1%252F7 |
