Yamaha Rx-a4a

[jayroam2003]

Good morning, thinking about getting a (3ch) external amp to go with my Yamaha Rx-A4A that is pushing (3) 4ohm (88.7 db sensitivity L/R & 85db center) speakers. I have 7 speakers total hooked up. So how important is it to get to reference levels or is any power improvement better than what I’m experiencing now. 50-65 watts vs 250 watts.

 

[Theriverlethe]

What are you experiencing now? Audible distortion or peak limiting?

 

[antcollinet]

And what do you mean by 50-65 vs 250? Where are those powers?

 

[Theriverlethe]

And what do you mean by 50-65 vs 250? Where are those powers?

He might be thinking of max power with all channels driven, but that’s an incredibly unlikely scenario.

 

[Theriverlethe]

On the other hand, Monoprice is running a sale on these great amps:

https://www.monoprice.com/product?p_id=43864

The power rating is conservative. They offer 90 watts at the "knee" before distortion shoots up, but they're capable of 250 watts burst power. I'm able to run my M5100X at "dangerous" volume levels with no strain, unlike the Yamaha A880 I have plugged into it.

 

[jayroam2003]

What are you experiencing now? Audible distortion or peak limiting?

Lack of umpf in the surrounds and center channel.

 

[jayroam2003]

And what do you mean by 50-65 vs 250? Where are those powers?

Yes power. I put watts after those numbers is it not showing up?

 

[jayroam2003]

On the other hand, Monoprice is running a sale on these great amps:

https://www.monoprice.com/product?p_id=43864

The power rating is conservative. They offer 90 watts at the "knee" before distortion shoots up, but they're capable of 250 watts burst power. I'm able to run my M5100X at "dangerous" volume levels with no strain, unlike the Yamaha A880 I have plugged into it.

Thanks that’s exactly what I just grabbed. The 5100x. Very happy

 

[Theriverlethe]

Lack of umpf in the surrounds and center channel.

That could be a channel level matching issue with auto-calibration, though I usually find that room correction wants to make the surrounds louder than they should be.

 

[antcollinet]

Yes power. I put watts after those numbers is it not showing up?

Yes, I know they are powers - where are the numbers from - I assume @Theriverlethe has it correct and you've made an assumption about "all channels driven"

If so, this conition never arises. IMO you can safely assume that real program material will never drive more than the "two channels driven" total rating.

 

[antcollinet]

Lack of umpf in the surrounds and center channel.

Unless you are experiencing distortion in those channels then lack of umpf will be a setup issue rather than a power restriction. I doubt your external amp will make a huge improvement - but it is not costing you a fortune either, so a not too expensive learning experiment.

 

[Theriverlethe]

Unless you are experiencing distortion in those channels then lack of umpf will be a setup issue rather than a power restriction. I doubt your external amp will make a huge improvement - but it is not costing you a fortune either, so a not too expensive learning experiment.

It does sometimes make an audible difference in my case, but I can easily drive an A/V receiver into obvious distortion with loud music.