Stereo amp upgrade path?

1-stratus mini's might be the best speaker psb has made!
2-You need a good sub for the 5.1 recordings. Not only will it keep your mains from picking up the slack, it will keep the amp driving the mains from overworking.
3-If you buy a used dvd, make sure you get a warranty. Even 30 days will cover any shipping problems. Personally, I would just buy new so you get the best features and the longest possible use before it's obsolete. Features you need to consider: Bass Management, SACD, DVD-A, 24/96 or 192, dual outputs, coax and toslink digital outs.
4-You will like movies better even if you use tiny radio shack speakers for the rears. Hell, go to a garage sale and get anything. It will be fun.
5-The receiver will need replaced eventually. Even though you don't have pre-amp outs, you should still have a tape loop output if you really need a pair of stereo outputs to an integrated. This is a pain in the butt though since the speakers can only be hooked up to the integrated and its volume control.
WHAT WOULD I DO: Buy a nice dvd. Blow the rest of the budget on the best used receiver that you can get with pre-amp outs. You can use the dvd for dolby decoding..... and use the 5.1 inputs in the receiver. Eventually, you will be able to add external amps as your budget allows. If you spend the $350 on a dvd, you will be amazed how much receiver you can get for $650. That buys one heck of a used denon unit.

I know this is a shamless plug but I have a nice Entegra 6.2 with pre out for all ch. Not that you would 'need' different amps---This is a nice sounding piece. Actually there are a bunch of these late model receivers available. Mine is 100x5---Price is flexable.--Like most of these owners, I have moved up to a 7 ch amp./receiver. I think once you hear music from a 2ch source going into all 5 speakers--- Well it's pretty good. You just get so much for your money with a good sounding receiver. This refers to most of them,not just mine. Also there is good selection of used book shelf speakers for 300 or so. Really good cd players will run a grand. A half decent dvd-cd player can be had for 200,used as suggested from above. Good luck careful spending can yeild good results.

essentiall you have two choices. the cheapest out is to buy another AVR WITH pre-outs. this will give you much better audio tham that old yamaha, and set you up for you next upgrade.

the other way is ultimately cheaper, with a higher up front cost. just bite the bullet. buy a new pre/pro and a new 5 channel amp. look at the NAD, Rotel, Outlaw gear in your price range.

have fun either way.

I'd have to agree with most of the responses so far, especially Avguygeorge & [email protected]. From what I read and/or understand from your message, sound quality is important to you, not necessarily features. And there are some minor constraints regarding money, so building two separate systems, one dedicated for audio, the other for AV, will be expensive, even if you chose to "share" the speakers (you'll need to connect & disconnect the speakers cables to avoid any electrical problems to do this).

(Here are a couple of my recommendations based on what you did or did not say: DVD-Audio & SACD were not requirements, just better sounding CD - hence the current Panasonic DVD player and NAD 541/521 thoughts, neither of these units support either format that I am aware - though I love both the NAD players).

1. Your current Yamaha AVR is the weak point in your current system, no question. Get a good USED AVR or separates if you can afford it. Integra, Denon, Rotel & B&K all make good AVRs. An old B&K AVR202 would be good, and most of the Integras are a excellent choice, as well as the Rotel & Denon units. I have experience with all but the Denon AVRs, all sound wonderful for both CD and DVD. You can find most of these for several hundred dollars ($300-800). Recall that these units will actually be producing your sound, whether CD or DVD, so look for one that has a good quality DAC in it. For now you can still use your Panasonic DVD player as the transport.

2. Get some supporting surround speakers, as indicated in previous responses. For starters, almost anything would do. You'll be surprised at what this will do to your movie experience. You may end up watching a couple more movies to enjoy this new experience, that's OK.

3. Get a good transport to play both CD's & DVD's. Again, there are several NEW & USED out there for little money. For example I've read online that there is an Onkyo DVD player (NEW) that goes for cheap (about $70) and is very good to excellent. I would recommend, if you can, to look upward a bit more, for example Meridian's older 586 & 586.2 players are fantastic for both CD & DVD formats, and you can find a USED 586.2 around the $700 range, there are several others in this realm as well. Enough said, but get a solid transport and deliver the best signal possible to the DAC in the AVR.

4. You obviously have a PC, get a good sound card for it and hook that up to your new AVR. A great way to enjoy your CD's and might replace getting a dedicated CD player to do the same. Begin to build a PC-based music server if you haven't already.

5. Get good interconnects and speaker cables. No these don't need to be expensive, just good. I'm not sure what you are using on your current system, you only mentioned speaker cables. A good cable works, a bad cable will screw things up - and a "20 gauge Rat-shack zip cord" would not do you well, so you did good upgrading the speaker cables, though you might want to continue looking at other cost-effective alternatives.

The biggest thing you want to think about, is there are a lot of changes coming down soon, so what do you see in a year from now, maybe two, and how can you best build to that dream. You've got a good start with your speakers, and I hate to say to stay away from new equipment, someone's got to buy it, but your are only losing more money, because inevitably, you going to change and upgrade you system again, so keep the financial losses down if you can.

Todd

Thank you all for the responses.

Based on what I am reading (correct me if I am wrong), a better quality AVR will make a more significant impact on my "system" than adding a dedicated CDP. If that is the case, then I have a net budget of $1k to spend on the AVR (and write off the CDP?).

Oh, for Todd, my AVR connectors are (sigh) admitedly Rat-Shack connectors. Not the classic ultra cheap $2.99 red/white connectors that I thought so highly of as a child, but the "better" gold class ones that they offer. I think the gold ones were a whopping $15 per connector.

Features really aren't that important to me. I honestly could care less that the Yamaha AVR that I have has 7 or 8 suround modes: I (no joke) have never used them. To my ears, all they do is change the way the music sounds, not necessarily improve them. Heck, I don't even bother adjusting bass/treble controls as I don't really feel a need to.

Simple is good. 5.1 suround is more than enough for my needs - quite frankly my listening room simply won't support 7 speaker surround.

As to buying new vs. used, I have no problems at all buying used. Fact is, I am not about to ever be "cutting edge". What I want is something that works for my ears. I am very open to suggestions here.

I did notice several B&K 5.1 AVR's (202) on the classifieds. Can anyone comment on how well B&K works with PSB speakers? Final note here, the PSB's are 4ohm speakers. Will the B&K be able to drive them effectively?

and, perhaps more importantly, can someone explain to me the importance of a DAC (Digital-analog-converter) as it pertains to the CD player? I am not well versed on this. Is it that the DAC resides in the AVR or the CDP/DVD? Or both? And, why is this important? I have seen notes about 24/96 DAC's. What does that mean?

Yes, noob questions, but one has to start somewhere! I am finally in a financial position to actually begin creating a high(er) quality sound in my home. As always, there are a LOT of questions.

Thank you most kindly for your responses.