I absolutely agree with Bdgregory. Just to be clear about the question, if you just forget about the number on the receiver's display, how does the system sound when you listen at different loudness levels, low, moderate, or the loudest you would ever play it?
Using a receiver as a pre-amp...many questions
I have totem sttaf (8ohm, 88db sensitivity) l+r, a totem tribe II (6ohm,88db sensitivity) as center, and the totem storm sub. I use the system for both movies/tv and l+r and sub for music...music being the most important to me soundwise. My receiver is an integra 40.3. Ok so here come the questions...
In order to have the system sound good for anything (movies/tv or music) I feel like I have to turn the receiver up too high (around 68-75 out of 100)...otherwise the sound is flat/boring. Do people agree that this is a problem, or I should just turn it up and be happy? Keep in mind that once I do turn it up I am very happy with the sound it produces...overall I like what I have.
What I am thinking about doing is buying three red dragon audio m500 monoblock amps and connecting from the receiver to the amps. Should I expect this to improve the sound at lower levels, or the high volume need is just a function of the way my speakers work and nothing different will happen?
Another option I am thinking about is buying a two channel amp (I am thinking of tube hybrid) to connect to receiver, and using it to power just the l+r speakers to get possible improvement there.
Ultimately I would like to get away from the receiver altogether as everything I read says that a real pre-amp and amp improves sound dramatically...however all of my connections are HDMI (computer music, movies, and cable) and until someone starts making an HDMI dac then I think I am stuck with the receiver.
Sorry for so many questions but as you can likely tell I am a rather new audio person and need advise. Any comments on the questions above would be great...also setup suggestions that I may not have thought of would also help.
In order to have the system sound good for anything (movies/tv or music) I feel like I have to turn the receiver up too high (around 68-75 out of 100)...otherwise the sound is flat/boring. Do people agree that this is a problem, or I should just turn it up and be happy? Keep in mind that once I do turn it up I am very happy with the sound it produces...overall I like what I have.
What I am thinking about doing is buying three red dragon audio m500 monoblock amps and connecting from the receiver to the amps. Should I expect this to improve the sound at lower levels, or the high volume need is just a function of the way my speakers work and nothing different will happen?
Another option I am thinking about is buying a two channel amp (I am thinking of tube hybrid) to connect to receiver, and using it to power just the l+r speakers to get possible improvement there.
Ultimately I would like to get away from the receiver altogether as everything I read says that a real pre-amp and amp improves sound dramatically...however all of my connections are HDMI (computer music, movies, and cable) and until someone starts making an HDMI dac then I think I am stuck with the receiver.
Sorry for so many questions but as you can likely tell I am a rather new audio person and need advise. Any comments on the questions above would be great...also setup suggestions that I may not have thought of would also help.