need amp advice

The 5.3s are very revealing in exposing the characteristics of upstream components. I agree with many of the above posts that the preamp is probably more critical at this point, especially since the 5.3s present a relatively benign load to amps.

I also agree that you should take some stuff home for a demo, and the decision will likely become an easy one. I'd highly recommend trying the Adcom GFA-750 preamp as it's very transparent and also has a home theater pass through feature that will let you seamlessly integrate it with your Yamaha, which can continue to do the surround processing for movies and surround music. You can then add a stereo amp later for the L/R fronts, which will leave you with high-end components throughout the critical stereo path while your Yamaha powers the center/rears and does surround processing.

As far as amps go(if you go that route instead), I'd consider Sim Audio, which Soliloquy has used to voice their speakers. I'm using a McCormack DNA-0.5 Rev. A that is in your price range(used of course) and works exremely well with the 5.3s--highly recommended if you can find one. Since you're obviously using your system for HT as well as stereo I won't bother with tubes.

As a fellow owner of 5.3s I can tell you that proper placement will be as or more important than your components in getting the most out of these speakers and your system. In my experience they don't really open up in terms of the soundstage and midrange unless you get them around 4 ft.(or more) from the back wall. This may not be possible in your situation, but the point is don't neglect speaker placement in your quest for better sound. Best of luck.

Tim

Now that you mention it, I'm a little worried about speaker placement. I move quite a bit with my job and who knows if I'll always be able to get them away from the wall enough. No way will my fiance' go for 4ft from the wall. One mistake I made was buying a 57" widescreen instead of a 50"-53" widescreen. The 57" overcrowds my 17 x 18 living room a little. The room is open past 18 feet except for a 5ft patition that seperaters another room and prevents putting furniture there.

I usually don't like monitors on stands, takes up as much room as a slim floorstander and without the bass.

Soliloquy sounds great with tubes. Try a Rogue 88, often on sale here for about $850.

Hi Gunbunny. Actually, I believe ALL the pieces of a system are very important. It will only be as good as your weakest component. And I agree with some of the other members here that it is your Yamaha.

3 1/2 years ago I dove into HT building a system around a Marantz AV550 pre/pro and an ATI AT1505 amp. Even though I never owned a single piece of high end 2-channel gear in my life, I KNEW this setup wasn't cutting it for me musically.

For the last two years I have been bitten by the audio bug big time! I still have my original HT gear, but have built a separate music system all together. Musically the two systems shouldn't even be compared.

My feeling is that when you replace your preamp and possibly your amp sometime in the future, then you'll really see how good your Soliloquy 5.3s are. You'll be amazed. Another option though is to get a preamp with HT pass through and use the Yamaha's amp for both music and HT.

I'm sorry this isn't what you wanted to hear, but I learned a few years back that for me I could never get satisfying music from an HT system. And I feel a bit guilty in suggesting you take this path because if you get snagged like me, you'll end up spending way more than you ever thought you would. Buy used gear if you can.

Good luck!

I don't know if you've purchased the Soliloquy 5.3's yet, but you may want to think really hard about them based on what you've said about frequent moving and the fiance' not being very understanding of having loudspeakers 4' out in her living room.

The 5.3's are rear-ported which is one of the primary reasons for their need to be placed away from the rear wall. Soix is dead-on when he says that speaker placement and room interaction are equally important (if not more so) as the components they're driven by.

I had a pair of Platinum Audio Solo's which I LOVED. Unfortunately, I moved to a new home where my listening room is about half the size of the old house and the Platinums are rear-ported. I tried for several months experimenting with placement, but could not tame the bass coming from the REAR ports. Interesting note...Platinums are mini monitors with TREMENDOUS bass output (32hz). Earlier you said that you're not fond of stand-mounted speakers because of the lack of bass. Not necessarily true. Also not true is the assumption that monitors are less critical with room placement.

You might want to look for speakers which are sealed rather than ported (or at least with a port on the front) and which seem less finicky about placement. I know you've got your heart set on the Soliloquys, but you'll probably be very disappointed and frustrated when you fire up your system knowing that your speakers are not performing optimally because they're sitting 1' from the wall where they "look" the best. Trust me, I've been there. It's all about tradeoffs. If you can't place them where they NEED to be and still keep the peace, then you're probably better off with something that "SOUNDS" better where they "LOOK" better, if you know what I mean. All the more reason for an in-home evaluation - Especially with speakers!!!

Maybe some of the other contributors can recommend speakers that are more forgiving of room placement so that you can compile a new audition list??