Is it worth replacing an old amp?

Amplifiers sound different. Replacing your old DSP-A1 with a new amp o an old amp could change the sound and improve or worsen the audio quality. That being said, there have been significant advances in amplifier technology over the past few decades. Whether or not those advances sound better to you or not is something only you can decide.

You Probably would get better results. However it's still a HT unit which is made for movie soundtrack's. Music is second  thought. Imo you will get better results by going with a 2 channel amp. 

What you’re saying I agree with...I think. So if I read into this alittle, is it true then that if one particular amp sounds great with speaker X, that same amp might sound awful with speaker Y? I just assumed that if an amp sounded good on a given speaker, it very likly would sound good on just about any speaker (within reason). So I guess this is not true. Therefore, options would be, find a trusted person who has already made a comparison between a given speaker and amp, or find retailer that is willing to allow me to take home and sample the amp. That would make comparisons with high end equipment difficult seeing I’m looking to save $ and get used equipment.
Thanks...nothing is easy...

One possibility: check out online gear retailers that allow a home trial.

Some sell demo units. For example, here is a link to Crutchfield's current list of Integrated Amp Clearance deals:
https://www.crutchfield.com/outlet_category_4/Home-Audio-Outlet-Products.html?fa=1#&price=0-1200
They let you keep it for 60 days. 

Others sell used. TMR (The Music Room) offers a 14 day return policy. I've found them very pleasant to buy from and sell to. Here's their current list of integrateds: 

https://tmraudio.com/components/integrated-amplifiers/

Just my 2 cents...

My experience has been primarily with Pass and a few other brands over fifty years. An amplifier made by the same manufacturer will show significant improvements in ten years and a huge difference in twenty. It is a competitive market and to stay relevant a company must keep improving the sound. So, in general they all have. 

Companies typically have house sound, so, unless they took a turn (which could happen with a company like Yamaha) then you will get a similar but much improved sound with a much newer model.


I cannot comment specifically on recent Yamaha, the last one I owned was about 1980… it was supposed to be a high power amp (it weighed 75 pounds)… but the Acoustat 2 + 2’s electrostatic I owned drained it at low volume. The new Pass amp that I bought (Threshold s500), blew it away on power and overall tonal balance.

Although you don't know until you try, you'll find that most mass market receivers are pretty bloody awful. Artemus has it right. 

It all depends on the match between the amp and the speakers it could be better or worse, it is always a question until you try it and listen to the change whether good or bad.

No upgrade your source.

I've been using an old Aragon 8008BB for the past 25 years in my secondary system with some KEF LS50s. I got the bug to upgrade, so I bought a PS Audio Stellar S300 Class D amp a few weeks ago at a great used price.  Bottom line ..the S300 does some things better than the Aragon, but overall, the Aragon is richer sounding & more musical. 

The latest Yamaha models are very musical with a European flavour rather than the historical Japanese sound. The HT models can do Stereo very well and for their cost and reliability (which you are aware about with your current amp) but the dedicated HiFi models sound fantastic for the price.
All IMHO 😷

AG 🇦🇺

I still have my original Yamaha HT amp from way back (and matching cassette player) and they still work and sound reasonable. I’ve acquired and passed on a fair number of HiFi and HT amplifiers, with a good number number of them Japanese flagship models. The beauty of these are they sound great (most of these would be in the top 80% sound wise) and second hand are great value.

My choice would be one of these.

Cheers AG 🇦🇺

I can just say that I changed from a cheap and old amp to a similar priced but new amp and the sound improved a bit. Then I changed to a much more expensive amp (also pretty new) and the sq improvement was huge, even with my old speakers. So it can make a big difference. I bought everything used and gambled but it payed off.

My experience is old can be just as good as new. I have two modern albeit Chinese tube amps, one of the Chinese amps is just OK, the other one is poor, experimenting on that one. I also have a 1961 Frank pram 30 integrated, I wouldn’t swap that for anything, it just sounds right in my setup. I have another 1960s integrated tube amp which again is just OK. To my mind there are too many variables to just compare old v new. As has been mentioned, try and get some home demos, what sounds good in the store, may not when in your home.

Simple answer.   Audition in your system a 'better amp' you may wish to purchase.  Any dealer worth his salt will allow you to do that.
If he doesn't, walk away.

If you think the sound quality is better enough to buy it, then buy it.
From the dealer.  Don't be a cheapskate and buy the amp cheaper on the net.

While you are trying out amps please consider Tubes. 

@divby0 some speakers are easier to drive than others. In that situation, an amplifier that sounds good with an easy-to-drive speaker may have problems with a difficult-to-drive speaker and therefore will sound bad.

Likewise, there is a degree of matching that will take place. Let's say you have a speaker that has harsh treble. Using an amplifier that rolls off the high frequencies could make that speaker sound better. But that same amplifier with a speaker with smooth extended treble will make it sound like you're missing out on some of the music.

As others have said, you need to go listen to some amplifiers to decide if it will improve on the sound of your existing system. Just as what you hear when replacing your amplifier will depend on the rest of the equipment you are using, plus your room and listening situation, later on if you decide to replace something else like your speakers, the result will again depend on everything else including the new amplifier you got.

Hello,
If your amp is working you will notice a much bigger difference in the preamp. Emotiva has a two channel preamp with HT bypass. Used it’s about $800. This is the start or bottom of preamps but has awesome sound and capabilities. On the high end but doing the same is Ayre or Hegel. I think MACs have this feature too. Try to borrow a two channel preamp so you can hear what I am talking about. I do this right now with the Emotiva ups1 preamp with a Marsh Sound Design. I would pass on Rogue Audio with bypass. When I tried their HT bypass it had a 10db loss in volume due to you power it off to engage the bypass. This store in the Chicagoland area lets you try before you buy. https://holmaudio.com/
They do not carry Emotiva so you will have to trust me it’s awesome with tons of different amps. I hope this helped. 

Divvy,

I too had a 205. When I went to Streaming i sold it and bought a DAC and a Streamer. Now talk about an improvement in SQ! Wow, even the wife commented how much better it sounded. And that was using a $750 Ares 2 DAC. 

Not sure how much you want to spend.

I have no experience with 5.1 receivers, sorry.

I feel the front end of your receiver is still worthy of serving you well. You would benefit driving your speakers with amplifiers that can effortlessly handle their low impedance. I followed a suggestion to select an amplifier well above the recommended wattage so a strong passage or sound effect would play without reaching the clipping level of the amplifier. No need to play at high levels to hear the benefit of an amplifier upgrade.

My system is a Yamaha RX-V777bt running as a preamp, Parasound A21 driving AR-303 L/R, ARC D200 in bridged mode driving an AR2c Center, ARC D200 driving a pair of Avid 103 for surround L/R, Kenwood Basic M1 driving a pair of ENERGY Connoisseur C-1 as Back Surround speakers. I upgraded the Bluetooth receiver to an XQ-50 Pro Bluetooth 5.0 w/ LDAC, digital out (coax) to the RX-V777. Audio from the LG 4K TV via TosLink.

Something that people haven't mentioned is that over time, the capacitors in the amplifier section go bad and need to be replaced.  That alone will likely improve your SQ. 

My amps are 36 years old. You couldn’t pay me enough to give them up.