Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Home Theater Adding an Amp?

Considering adding an amp. Not sure if its needed but many have said I would get improved clarity and will be able to listen at higher volume with less distortion. I seem to get pretty darn good performance now but hey, if it can be better....

Here is my set up:

Yamaha RX-A3050
M22 fronts
VP160 center
QS8's surround

Any advice on the need for an amp and if so what specs should I be looking for? specific product recommendations?

Whats the distance between your main seat and the center?

About 10 feet

I would think you should be ok with the 3050.
I'd like a 3050 some day...
My 1010 and ADA are still treating me good though.

I don’t think it’s the equipment, rather setting adjustments I could be making.

What subs are you running ATM. At one point during my HT addiction i was running a Denon AVR 3311 which is a fairly decent receiver (still in service ) and i added a Emotiva 3 channel amp and the difference was huge. I dont play movies loud and it was not that kind of change, it was fullness and cohesion of the sound that i experienced. Now people say amps dont sound different, i happen to think they do, and some say its expectation bias i say BS. I added the amp and my boys noticed the difference and they did not know the amp had been added. If you dont want to take the chance find someone to borrow one from or buy one with a 30 day return, i highly doubt you will return it.

I think with the M22's you should run you sub a bit higher , i recommend crossing over at 120hz unless your sub is a long ways away from the mains. I had M2's for a short period and they sounded great but i had to play the sub up a little to compensate.

I have a specific sub issue. Some others suffer from the same affliction as me. It’s a not so rare illness called “wifedoesntlikethebigboxonthefloor” syndrome. Sooooo I have a Sunfire HRS-8 in Wall system. It OK, just OK. I have my center VP160 set to large and with that combo seem to do pretty well with bass. Since you are an amp fan.... any suggestions? Amplify all channels or just certain ones?

Not intending to feed your upgradeitis but it seems to me that a speaker upgrade is probably best before going to a separate amp. I'd start with a set of front speakers with HP woofers such as the M100 or M80 with VP180. Those are bigger so might be tough to sneak past your spouse, but you could always contact a divorce lawyer to help solve that problem...

I suspect aaron will have a WAF issue with large speakers as well. I agree if you can get them past the recreational director (sex) i would upgrade your mains. As for the amp i would do the LCR and let the 3050 handle the rest.

I can certainly upgrade the on walls and center. My center especially is behind an AT screen so no issue there. My M22’s are wrapped with stone on wall so upgrade there will take some labor. Also doesn’t 90% of the dialog come from center? That’s where I’m seeing the biggest need for improvement. My M22 channel levels are actually turned down much lower than my center to try to improve dialog volume. The VP180 would certainly need an amp right?

Dude i am no pro so you have me stumped. I have heard nothing but good things about the VP160. I dont have one but i have a large center i built using Axiom drivers, its a cross between a 180 and 160 , i am severely hearing compromised (tinitus) and i hear dialogue loud and clear. i would check and be sure all drivers are working correctly and get yourself an SPL meter so you can see what each speaker is putting out.

since you have a screen , how far away from the center speaker are you.Maybe share some pics .

https://www.axiomaudio.com/boards/ubbthreads.php/galleries/422073/Aaron's_Home_Theater

This is a link to my gallery. My center is about 12 feet from my front row.

Sorry last post was for my other thread. Using my phone right now and got mixed up.

I’ve checked my drivers they seem to be working correctly. Maybe my upgradeitis is truly just getting the better of me. i did find a deal on a Sunfire 7201. I think I’m going to try it out.

I never regretted for one minute buying my Emotiva 3 channel amp. I bought a five channel and the 3 sat for quite a while , i sold that and bought another 6 for Atmos. Do it ,im sure you will be happy.

Done! It’s on the way

Phase one on your journey to a Pre/Pro. Congrats

So I successfully purchased and connected my new Sunfire 7201. Certainly a big difference in clarity and depth. Still feeling like dialog can be muffled from my center. Bass, explosions, gunfire, etc and such from my center is amazing. I think its possible the cavity I built which was designed to allow my center to sit behind my AT screen might be part of the issue. I was thinking of surrounding the speaker with foam, essentially filling the cavity. Might that be something to try? http://i1371.photobucket.com/albums/ag298/aspicer75/room6_zpsnnanvh7i.jpg[/img]

Well, I paid the upgrade for photobucket but still not pulling.... hopefully you can follow the link.

See if you can find something to sit it on and pull it out of the hole temporarily. I know the screen is AT but try playing a movie with it up and listen to it. AT is a term, a lot like water resistant or even water proof, resistant for how long? water proof to what depth. I dropped an iphone in the sink and grabbed it and it still worked, last weekend i washed it with my jeans the result was less than favorable.

I would second this advice. Having the front baffle of the centre channel protruding even a fraction of an inch in front the cavity opening can make a big difference.

So! Back to this, I finally did decide to figure out a way to add another sub even the "recreational director" was opposed. I found a spot in the rear of the room where it could be mostly hidden from normal view. After a bit of manipulation and adding a vibration isolation pad under the sub, the room now holds huge bass with no vibration problems and the wife is totally fine with the look of it. Win Win...

Now onto my issue with my center channel......I messed around with the center placement and such inside the cavity. Didn't make the biggest difference. HOWEVER!!! I did decide to try some decoupling of the cavity as I was also getting in wall vibrations when the bass from the center kicked in. I built a box 1" smaller than the cavity out of MDF. I then bought 3/4" rubber vibration isolation pads (same as I used under my sub) and lined the cavity fully with those. Also on the inside of the new box. So I now have a box within a box completely decoupled from the original cavity and wrapped in rubber vibration control. I placed the center speaker back inside the new box and surrounded it fully with foam pads and pillows which I picked up at the local Walmart in the bedding section.. :-). Turns out my issue was an echo that was being created during dialog only scenes. Wasn't as noticeable during explosions due to the sheer volume (however the vibrations inside my walls certainly were). This new design completely solved my problem. The VP160 sounds as amazing as everyone always said it would. It was just my original design that was the problem.....

That's great news, and thanks for the details.

It's amazing what we have to do some times to get room etc.. to stop interfering with the speakers.

Ha that’s right! I even had to pull the sconces off the walls and put weather stripping behind them to get them to stop vibrating. Happy as can be now! Until my upgradeitis kicks in again for my fronts.... I anticipate that will be next

Careful if you anticipate the feeling of upgraditis will be stronger.

Congrats sometimes it takes a little extra to get things just right. Glad you solved your issues relatively easy.

I have a Z lines T.V. stand I've added burly rubber feet to all shelves. It has no issues with my V.P.160 or equipment, though the T.V. mount section rattles like crazy if the T.V.s volume goes to high. Probably should find a way to rubberize its connection points.

Yes! I found through trial and error there are a lot of ways to stop vibration. This little pad they make for under legs on furniture have been helpful for me in random places too.... like behind my replica Braveheart sword where the hilt meets the wall....

Yeah... I had all kinds of problems with rattling subwoofers... none of which had anything to do with the subwoofer.

The only thing I could blame on the subwoofer was that my SVS cylinder would make an awful "grunk" kind of noise on very bass-heavy scenes... I had to fix that one by adding an EP500 and turning them both down a bit. Everything else was room rattles.