New amp...Watt to do?

Oh, OK; that you can work with. The Marantz will be more manageable then. And maybe tonally more suited to your tastes.

 

Have you tried bringing the speakers out into the room to find optimal positioning? Could be a free upgrade.

 

The speakers are about 7.5 feet away from my listening position at the moment.

I have tried moving them out but they felt a bit in 'your face' so to speak, however I get what you are saying and will try moving them out again.

 

That's a very neat and handsome setup man ! And you got the amp and CDP in silver ! Kudos to you !

 

Thanks, I only got my dedicated room this year.

 

The '500 is a nice sounding amp but can sound slightly thin and lacks guts at the low end. The yamaha A-s801 (deals to be had) sounds markedly better in that department and can drive bigger floorstanding speakers quite well. I was blown away at the difference. The '801 driving a set of Paradigm floorstanders had very impressive, very deep subwoofer type bass.
In other words, the 801 would be a very nice upgrade from where you are currently parked.

 

There is simply no amplifier upgrade that could possibly impact your sound as much as speaker placement would. Speakers need space to create soundstage, and placement up against the walls will always compress that sound. I am in the same boat with very limited options in a very small room, but I move my speakers up and out from the walls when I can and it is a massive change. There are plenty of people who will tell you that an amp change will have no impact at all, and while I'm not willing to go that far I am sure adjustments to placement will make you much happier. Just google any of a million speaker placement guides and give it a shot.

 

Well I don't believe all amps sound the same, but how do you know it's not the speakers? The same speakers were with the Pioneer? I'm also feeling you might think about a tube amp.

 

I've thought about the 801 in terms of sonic improvement but I worry that they are just way too powerful for my room size.

 

The Pioneer was my first amp after 30 years in the HiFi wilderness (.. A bit dramatic) and it was used to drive some Tannoy Mercury bookshelf. I know this is world's away from my current setup but the Pioneer definitely had 'something'.

 

The Wharfedale's have at least 200mm + of space behind them and the back wall, but not much at the sides, which is my mistake for buying the tall storage unit and reduced the space on the back wall. However I bought the Wharfedale's because they have downward firing ports and according to the reviews they a&e not too fussy when it comes to placement.

 

No, that's not a "thing." Maybe you'd never use full power, but it doesn't harm anything.

 

Cool, although the 801 is a nice unit I don't actually need its high quality dac, so with that in mind would I get similar sonic improvement with the 701?

 

Many thanks.

That's satisfied my curiosity.

I'll let the matter drop now.

 

However...

 

not at all. it isn't about maximum volume- its about being fast, dynamic, clean and un-strained and like "live music" . you should go to an audio show where they have dual 1Kilowatt monobloc amps in a dang hotel room.

 

Mount the TV a few inches higher, put an absorption panel beneath it and one behind each speaker. That will result in a big upgrade, and even if you buy something like Auralex Sonolite panels, it'd cost only ~ $150.

IME, the A-S500/501 is good enough to showcase the differences in $5K/pair speakers, so personally, I'd also go with a speaker upgrade before swapping amps. If you're simply looking for a smoother sound, you might try the Rega Elex-R, a Sony TA-A1ES, or Simaudio Moon 240i. These will produce a smoother sound due to their class A leanings. The 701/801 Yamahas will provide more grunt but won't be any smoother than what you have now.

 

Well, I'll repeat "speakers" like a broken record, and after that "try a tube amp"

 

How can something be to powerful, you deside how loud you wanna play, not the amp, if sound is to loud at 9'oclok use attenuators -10 db, the 2 volt many cdplayers have won't overload the input and the volume range would be more like the turntable.

More power = more power for clean loud music and bass.

For a long periode i ran my diamond 225 with no more than 2x30 watt in 8ohm, more than adequate, i wouldn't use anything less but still adequate. (stereophile say they are 85db)