In need of some Amplifier advice. Is therereally any point in it with my current setup?
Just reading and catching up on this thread. One comment I will make is I think your choice of Yamaha 3070 is a very good one. I think the Yamaha is the most neutral and most natural sounding receiver without pushing any particular characteristic (for example, Anthem receivers tend to over-push high frequencies like a ribbon tweeter, Marantz receivers are to warm/slow losing resolution when everything sounds like mush). However, every single receiver will be limited on the aamplifier section. They ALL will have very limited size power supply and all will only have 2 output transistors per channel (one transistor for positive waveform and one transistor for negative side of waveforms). adding an external amplifier will enable you to drive the speakers much better (even on easier 8 ohm speakers). Amps will have massive power supplies, huge transformers, large capacitance such as 50,000uf to 100,000uf (compared to something like 2 x 6800uf of a typical receiver). They will have anywhere between 6 and 12 output transistors per channel (the Parasound A21 has 8 transistors per channel). You will have much more clarity, attack, slam, punch. Adding an amplifier to your Yamaha 3070 can be a great first step. That being said, the Yamaha will have conventional op amps in a clean sounding fashion. I would be careful of amp choice and would stay away from ultra-clean stuff like typical Class D or Bryston type amps. Look for a warmer or “Class A” type amp. Parasound A21 is an excellent choice. I’m sure there are others. I believe the Parasound uses a fully discrete jfet input stage ran in Class A mode. If if you were interested in Class D, only 2 recommendations. PS Audio Stellar Gain S300 with Class A input stage. Or Nord One Up with Sparkos discrete Class A op amp input stage. A comment on on the Parasound integrated. It is a very nice integrated if you need all the features. It is basically an A23 amp with a larger transformer and a P5 preamp put into a single chassis. It is very nice, but it is not an A21 amp! The P5 preamp is okay, and is a great buy if you need all those featurs, but there definitely better choices. i would say to start with something like a Parasound A21 with your Yamaha 3070. You could always add a really nice preamp later and configure the system as a “hybrid HT/2-channel system”. many have recommended to start with speakers. Changing speakers can definitely have a significant impact on sound. But the amplifier is also a very important piece and can really make any speaker “sing” much better. |
If you really wanted an integrated, I would look at the Hegel. Like this H160: http://www.audiocircle.com/index.php?topic=155723.0 It is pretty much the equivalent of the Parasound Integrated (but without phono preamp and sub crossover). Hegel also has limited analog inputs (1 rca, 1 XLR, 1 ht bypass). However I think the Built DAC is much better. The Parasound Integrated/P5 DAC is pretty much junk. I think it would be a better end result than the Parasound Integrated. There are more expensive integrated, of course. The Hegel will be very nice, but personally I would rather go with A21 amp and a very nice preamp. |
Here is the thing... if you try to upgrade your overall sound by getting better speakers and powering them with the Yamaha, they aren’t going to sound very good. If instead you upgrade to the Halo, you get an immediate improvement and can upgrade the preamp/dac later. And now the sweetner... if you buy the Halo preowned and decide a year from now to go a different direction, you will probably loose less than $150 on the resale as parasound halo holds its value!! |
That was one of the reasons I was learning towards Parasound Halo as a whole. They seem to hold their value and are U.S. based making any problems easier to deal with. I was considering the A21 before I looked into an integrated. The Specifications seemed great for the price point and the reviews were all top notch. I agree with you on the speakers. As I've been playing with the various integrateds I mentioned what I thought were weakness in the speakers had nothing to do with the speakers. The integrated Parasound and Rotel boosted the mid range and bass response that seemed a little weak before on the Yamaha AVR as a lone paired component. At the moment i have the budget to replace all components if I choose to do so. So I am also looking at various speakers. However, I definitely agree with you after pairing my speakers with various integrated amplifiers that the source, (amplification) is the most important. |
