2 ch. or 5.1 amp for HT mostly for music

Krell, thanks for the speaker offer, but at this point they are out of my budget range. Are you saying to forget the HT and concentrate on 2 ch.? If so, and I wanted to keep my HK receiver(for the time being), would it be an improvement to buy a 2 channel just for stereo and run us the receiver as a preamp?

Rny---Did you decide to go away from HT to 2 ch. stereo?

Hello Papertrail,

I didn't really go away from HT. I ultimately moved toward a separate 2ch music-only system in another room. The receiver-based system remains, with exceptional digital front end and sans the 2ch pre and amp. For me here in this reduced HT system, garbage in/garbage out rules the day. Speakers have come and gone. I have settled on using the sat/sub system that I purchased when I got the HT receiver. It's just ok, good enough for cable tv and a movie once in a while. The system is not able to bloom the movie score like it did with the 2ch components, but it is simply not a priority for me. The last few years have been devoted to the assembly of my main 2ch system, which is where the music lives.

From my point of view, I don't know about your HK and Polks but it should be adequate for HT. Does it make music for you? If it doesn't you may have to take a path similar to mine or move to other multi-channel processing equipment that meets all of your needs.

Good luck and enjoy!

Rny and others, Actually the HK and/or the Polks do not quite make what I am listening for in music. I have two fronts a center and a sub. I usually listen in stereo mode. I am trying to decide whether to change out the speakers first, buy a better DVD/Cd player because my current one is a JVC cheapie, or to try the 2 ch. amp. Over a period of time I plan to do all and maybe go to a dedicated 2 ch. system like you did. Right now what do you and others think would give me the quickest return for my bucks.

You are describing a common situation that I would guess most here are familiar with and one that is discussed very often. Upstream or downstream, which dictates good sound to you?

Sorry, I am not able to offer recommendations for "quickest return for your bucks". It comes down to what makes sense to you and what your ears tell you. I can only share my sequence of upgrades from approximately where you currently are.

My first leap were main loudspeaker replacements done simultanously with 2ch amp introduction/synergy. Improved digital front end was next along with cable trials/upgrades and experimentation with coupling/decoupling. Followed closely with the 2ch pre, which finally gave me untainted stereo. Next, the matching center channel gave me seamless theater sound. I continued to use my av-receiver for multi-channel processing, sats for surrounds and sub for movies only. That was it, as good as I would ever need, until...

A couple of good dealers would be helpful and lots of research will allow you to avoid many pitfalls.

Good luck to you!

I bought an HK a/v 230 to pre out into my 2chan main and then amplify just some extra rears for enjoyment with movies and SACDs. Pre-outing into my main cause a hum which I could not get rid of. I ended up bi-amping--main amp powers L/R front directly from SACD/DVD player, and H/K powers L/R rears directly from player. The plus is less wiring and a more direct path, the negative is two volume controls, though I found this easy to manage with the test tones from the player. All that said, now I realize I could have gone with just an extra 2channel amp for the rears, without all the extra stuff.