Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Stereo Amplifier

In my never ending quest to improve my sound I was wondering if adding a two channel amplifier (the Halo A23) to my HK AVR 645 be worth it. I don't know a whole lot about an amp added to an AVR. will it be a noticable improvement to my 2 channel listening? Does it work for home theater too, or will the fronts overwhelm the rest of the system? Any advice would be appreciated. Thanks.

To your second two questions, yes, and no. It would work fine for HT (same thing, really, when you get down to it), and if you calibrate the system properly, they'll put out the same volume as if you didn't have the amp.

I wish i knew the answer to your other question.

I beleive the general consensus is at lower volume listening, there is little to be gained by adding an amp, slight improvement in low end slightly better treble etc. but for louder listening you should find a noticeable improvement.

Ken, would you order the UPA 2 already so you can have a definitive answer for these types of questions!!!

The Halo would be 125 watts into the m22's compared to the HK's 75 conservative rating, you might gain 1-2 dB's at reference, thats it.

Alex; Ken, you have the board.

Ken; Alex, I think I'll take "Emotiva Amps" for $269 inc shipping.

Alex; Damn right you'll take it for $269 inc shipping!!

:DJust having fun Ken!

Who started this thread anyway? ...uhhh, oh yeah.

actually in my owners manual it says the 2 channel is rated at 90 watts, so it might be even less noticable. For the price of some of the better amps I've researched one would hope for a marked difference in sound quality.

To be fair, even those subjective improvements (at moderate volumes) are a topic of hot debate around here.

Gary, in actuality there's no good reason to "hope" for any difference in sound quality, much less a "marked" one. Your present 645 is conservatively rated, as is the HK practice, and if any difference in the maximum sound level exists with the A23(125 watts)it wouldn't be more than about 1dB. For example, if a brief split-second peak could be played at 105dB with your 645, the A23 might be able to play it at about 106dB, not an appreciable difference. Furthermore, discussion of maximum level capability on brief peaks shouldn't overlook the fact that most of the time the speakers will be using about 1 watt for a comfortably loud listening level, even if a 1000 watt amplifier is connected. You control the amount of power used(with the volume control, of course), not the amplifier.

Your 645 powers the entire 20-20KHz spectrum with level response and inaudibly low noise and distortion. Within its designed power limits you can't do any better than this; there's no mysterious factor that somehow results in better than audibly flawless amplification. This is the case regardless of how expensive the separate amplifier is or how high its maximum power rating is. Don't waste your money.

Noted. thanks for the advice. You guys are a big help.

Hi Gary

It is my understanding that adding a stereo amp to a home theater system to drive the front L&R speakers has 2 objectives:
1. relieve power reuirements on the other channels, and/or
2. produce a "better" sound for stereo playback of music sources (CD,FM, TT,MP3)by using a "better sounding" stereo amp and/or a more powerful amp.

IMHO, with your system, not much benefit would be derived unless you added something like a 200w x 2 Bryston or Parasound Halo.

Mike19