Gary
No one is going to be able to give you a real true life value in regards to your question
. There are too many variables. Even if you said which amp, it would be awfully hard to give your question any certainty
Ill assume you mean to spend the $$ on a 2 ch amp.
At $1000 to $1500 into a used 2 ch amp
. Id say you should hear some improvement depending upon the amp you select. But not as much as if that money was spent somewhere else in your system
like with a source.
I feel the threshold for the point of diminishing returns is at the $5.5 > $6K MSRP for amps, by and large.
With many preowned amps of this ilk finding themselves nearing 50% of the original MSRP now, the used amp market of between $2500 - $3000 should put you pretty square into it.
How much? Ok
20%. To 25%.. perhaps more, maybe less.
However, as was said, the better the associated components the better wil be the results of such a step up. The room too is another matter entirely and it does matter as well.
Naturally the synergy between the amp and speakers is pretty important
and if all else in your rig is to encounter upscaling at some point you may wish to begin elsewhere
like at the speakers or at the source itself. Id go with upgrading the source first, if it was me.
I feel the two places that the biggest change in sound can come from, is either from upgrating the source or upgrading the speakers.
Looking to swap out an amp without knowing how the future source sounds, or what demands the upcoming speakers may have, seems counter productive to me.
If you already know which way lays your goals, low power amp + high eff spekrs, high power amps + moderate eff spkrs, All tubes, all SS, a mix of both, etc. then I guess changing out the amp first is as good a place to start as any.
The amp is just one piece of the puzzle. As with any puzzle the rest of the pieces must fit together. Ive used the scissors and tape approach in the past to put my puzzles together and wasnt keen on the outcome
even though the pieces were all there
more or less
it did fit though!
Front to back or back to front seems the two more popular approaches for system building. To start in the middle Id need to run across a real gem or a deal I simply could not pass up.
Itll sure sound a lot different
the margin of betterment however might not gbe as great. Upping the amplifier ante as was said will increase the odds in your favor.
Prior to settling on an amp, do consider the speaker amp match first or have some outline in mind for prospective down the road speakers
2 ways, flr stands, panels, horns, omni, etc. That will aid you in selecting your amp.
Good luck.
