help me spend not much money

[rebith75]

Currently have a pair of Dayton BR-1's, a 12" sub with a dayton plate amp, and an old 2 channel denon crappy amp/receiver.

Looking to get another pair of bookshelf speakers

I have about 150 to spend on some sort of amplification set up for all this:

I have heard good things about the Teac digital 3-channel amp that can be had for about 100

good things about the sonic t-amps

I am also interested in DIY amps that are cheap similar to the gainclones (can one of these power a pair of bookshelves??)

or just buy a better used receiver off craigslist and call it good

could I send the signal from my old denon into the plate amp then out to the sonic t amp or gainclone then to the bookshelves (also would the signal already have cut out low frequency bass so the sonics would have "less to do" and get the bookshelves fairly loud and clear) Right now that is the setup I am inclined to go with, any pro's con's to doing this (since essentially the signal would be amplified through the crappy denon then again through the plate amp then again through the sonics...or when routing a signal through the plate amp and out to the speakers is it not amplified??...)

I know this is alot to swallow and probably sounds a bit confusing but thanks for the help

[joecarrow]

First off, a few questions- I'll try to help.

What don't you like about the Denon?
Do you use this mostly for movies, or music?

Here are a few things to keep in mind, based on what you've said.

First, the BR-1's aren't the most efficient speakers in the world. For movies, or for any kind of listening that isn't whisper-quiet, I wouldn't use any amplifier rated for less than 25 watts. For decent performance, no less than 50 watts.

That rules out the Sonic Impact (unless you really don't like it loud), and puts a huge caution on the Teac L700P, since that amp is only 30 watts per channel.

Right now I really think your best bet is going to be to sell your old receiver, increase your budget slightly with the money received from that sale, and then buy a good used receiver to replace it. There might be a better option for it, but why don't you tell us a little bit about what you don't like about the Denon?

[rebith75]

Thanks for your time, first of all the Denon model is DRA-365R, I bought it for about $20 used 3 years ago, when turned up there is a noticeable and annoying buzzing (which is normalish I think but shouldnt be that loud). I just have a feeling that my setup could sound so much better if I replace it (unless it isnt that bad...this is my first try at a good sound system). Okay so it is a no go on the sonics because I do like it loud (what about the gainclone?? would this work much better) I am attracted to the pre-amp/power amp setup but with such a low budget would I be better off just getting a decent used stereo receiver. Also if I went to preamp/power amp route I have a quick question...When doing this I am looking at a little preamp with like 3 inputs and a single rca out (red and white), could I then take that and input into a sub plate amp then out individually for each pair of speakers through small power amp (and has this signal been "crossed over" where it only contains frequencies above whatever I set the sub plate amp to??) Is this a common setup (the pre amp to the sub first then out to power amps/speakers???) Again thanks ALLLOOT for helping an annoying noob

[joecarrow]

The gainclones can have a wide variety of power ratings, ranging from 30 to around 100 watts- and in order to have high power they need expensive power supplies. Unless you can get a transformer for cheap, they might not save you that much money.

Your Denon is probably buzzing because of the power supply, and inadequate filtering in a few places in the amp. I have my doubts that using it as a pre/processor for outboard amps would be that much quieter.

If you had a preamp with switched inputs, and a single stereo output- yes, you should be able to send that stereo output to both a plate amp and to a separate amplifier for the main speakers.

Unfortunately, this usually doesn't give you an active crossover and the main speakers play all of the same bass frequencies as the subwoofer. Sorry, most sub plate amps don't (as far as I know) do it. If the plate amp's user manual is available (often there's a PDF online), you might find that it says otherwise. Worth looking.

If your budget has a little flex, you could also check out the Panasonic SA-XR55. It's available for around $215 shipped. There are plenty of reviews out there, and it seems to have an accurate power rating of 100 watts/channel.

I have that receiver, and hum and buzz are the last things you need to worry about. With the digital connection from my DVD player, it's dead quiet even turned all the way up and my ear by the tweeter. It doesn't have amplification for a subwoofer, but it has a lot of flexibility with an adjustable active crossover.

[spasticteapot]

Well, let's see if I can help.

1. Go build the Modula MTs. They're supposed to be marvellous. They'll cost a bit more than $150, but they're supposed to be worth it. (I'm looking at getting a pair myself.)

2. Go build a three-channel Gainclone with a low-pass filter for one channel (for the sub), and high-pass for the other two (the speakers.)