Additional amplification?

Well here is something you can try for free, take your 5 channel amp and use it for your front speakers only. One channel will drive your center speaker and the other 4 channels will bi-amp your mains. This can sometimes (not always) make a big improvment. Take some cheap lampcord wire and listen to your speakers as they are hooked up now, then hook it up and listen with same cheap wire in bi-amp, if they sound a lot better bi-amped then you may want to consider this and add a two channel amp for your rears. Set your rear speakers to none for this test on movies and try two channel music also with just your Front speakers in play. I at one time did this with a system I had and had huge gain in sound quality on that system, YMMV.

I have a very similar setup.

Yes a good 2 channel amp will make a difference. Especially if you have a good 2 channel capable Pre/Pro.

I would suggest, if a new amp is the primary goal at the moment, putting all that you can torward that.

I use a Bryston 4B-ST, and for the money its hard to beat, they are known for great bass and extended highs. I would also recommend Plinius, Pass Labs, Krell, and Levinson. IMO all the aformentioned amps will surpass both the Rotel and Parasound.

My Bryston is going to stay around a while, but when it time is up, I hope to replace it with Pass Labs x350 amp.

Last but not least, Let YOUR ears do the deciding.

Point taken! So now it looks like Rotel RB 1080, Parasound 1500a or Anthem MCA-2. Any other thoughts and/or suggestions?

Tim

Crown and Crest are great sub amps. Lousy for home audio. Ever heard sound at a club be more transparent/clear than a good 2 channel set-up? Crown and crest are crude beasts, not refined machines. Unless you just want to crank metal, you will not be happy. Also, what would a 1000 watt crest do to your ears/speakers at full volume?

Anyone out there with thoughts on Crown or Crest pro-audio amps in lieu of the Rotel or Parasound products?
Crown CE-1000 seems like a great value!

Thanks in advance,

Tim

Thanks Kemp!

I have both the Parasound 1500a and the Rotel 991 which is the predecessor to the 1080. In the store I auditioned both of these amps on Monitors and liked the Rotel better but when I brought them home and put them on my NHTs, the Parsound went on the mains and the rotel on the subs. That being said, I thought the rotel was a little more laid back on the Monitors and I am not a fan of a bright sound. But the Parasound was more transparent on my NHTs. Both are good amps and I would suggest trying an in home demo if at all possible and keep the one you want. After all, they have to sound good to you in your system. Good luck.

-Kevin