I'm not going to be able to explain this technically or probably to many people's satisfaction. However, even at low volumes, what I have now is clearer, crisper, fuller and more distinct than what I had with my Yamaha receiver. What's interesting to me is that there is only a 35wpc difference between the yamaha receiver amp and the Emotiva amp. A friend of mine told me that the biggest difference (even at lower volumes) was a greater presence of lows / bass because of the stronger amps. He said that this new amp was not as strained as the Yammie amp so it had more headroom to push the lows. I'm sure I'm losing something in the interpretation but when he told me it made sense. There is a stronger presense of lows with this new amp which may be a key reason for everything else. The sound seems to have more punch than before (not a good description). Again, all I know is that I would much rather listen to the Emotiva combo than the Yamaha receiver.