Chironick Posted July 13, 2018 Share Posted July 13, 2018 Hi all, After peoples opinion on where i should look at upgrading next. Currently have focal 826v and yamaha a830, happy with current sound but desire for more better has got me wondering how where i can look at upgrading. Currently 50/50 music and movies but it terms of improvement wanting to improve music sound. Should I look at a seperate integrated amp to to run the 2 or even 3 channel to keep fronts the same or pre amp with better DACs? thanks in advanced Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Al.M Posted July 13, 2018 Share Posted July 13, 2018 The speakers are quite good but the av amp is a sub $1000 unit and as most cheap or mid av amps go they are blurry sounding. You could use a home theatre bypass function on one of the units allowing you use a better quality stereo amp at the flick of a switch. Preamp on the Av amp won’t be good because the cheap power amp within the amp will hold it back. There are many previous posts on good intergrated stereo amps within the price range used or new. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blakey72 Posted July 13, 2018 Share Posted July 13, 2018 (edited) Huge room for improvement depending on what you want to spend. As Al.M said, speakers are good.What do you use as a source for music? Edited July 13, 2018 by blakey72 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chironick Posted July 15, 2018 Author Share Posted July 15, 2018 Combination of Spotify and CD. So best to go a seperate integrate stereo amp? What about a 2 or 3 channel power amp ? Havent thought about budget yet just researching options 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Irek Posted July 24, 2018 Share Posted July 24, 2018 Hi, can you tell us exactly the whole system, what is the source (streamer), cables? I love Focal speakers. You really need a good integrated stereo amplifier with HT bypass to start with. My list would be starting from the lowest price: Marantz pm 8005, Musical Fidelity M5si, Parasound Halo integrated. You will not believe your ears. I can also recommend isoacoustics stands. Cheers, Irek Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
synthz Posted July 29, 2018 Share Posted July 29, 2018 Irek i was researching about Focal speakers (Electra JM Labs 936 and Chorus 826) and from my research people are saying Focal's speakers characteristics are bright, so all the other gears in the family need to adapt to that in order to get a perfectly balanced sound. Is that true? I find that is quite a deal breaker for me because I would like all my gears to 'get along' with each other. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Irek Posted July 29, 2018 Share Posted July 29, 2018 (edited) Focal Electra has an opinion to be on a bright side but Focal chorus and aria are not bright at all. Marantz and Musical fidelity are on warmish side, Yamaha or Parasound are more natural and punchy. Personal preferences. Edited July 29, 2018 by Irek Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
synthz Posted July 29, 2018 Share Posted July 29, 2018 Thank you for your insights Irek Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chironick Posted July 29, 2018 Author Share Posted July 29, 2018 On 24/07/2018 at 4:39 PM, Irek said: Hi, can you tell us exactly the whole system, what is the source (streamer), cables? I love Focal speakers. You really need a good integrated stereo amplifier with HT bypass to start with. My list would be starting from the lowest price: Marantz pm 8005, Musical Fidelity M5si, Parasound Halo integrated. You will not believe your ears. I can also recommend isoacoustics stands. Cheers, Irek Thanks irek. Streamer is a x minix media box connected via hdmi to Yamaha amp. Cables are Tara labs can’t remember the exact range. so your opinion would be to go for for the interstates amp with ht bypass? Would a seperate 5 channel power amp for all channels be better or still be holding it back with the preamp of the avr? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Irek Posted July 29, 2018 Share Posted July 29, 2018 Hi, definitely the preamp is very important and yes the one from AVR will hold it back. Somebody was suggesting to use Australian made ELEKTRA HD2 5 CHANNEL POWER AMPLIFIER $3200 as a really good choice. I guess adding stereo preamplifier + surround preamp or AVR with preout should do the trick. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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