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Just bought RF3's-need advice on amp


kcpup

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Hi - I'm new here.

 

We recently purchased an new turntable, and upgrade for us. It's an U-turn Orbit Special. I also bought their Pluto phono preamp. Sounds fantastic. We have a 7 year old Yamaha amp/receiver - an RXV-665. Our previous speakers were two Paradigm Atoms, a Paradigm center channel, and a Wharfdale sub.  

 

We use the Pure Direct setting on the Yamaha a lot for LP's, and despite the quality of our little Atoms we realized we wanted some more bass. We watch movies and such, but most of our listening is for music, so the home theater thing is not primary.

 

We got some old RF3's in nice condition for a good price. I hooked them up to the Yamaha. They sound good, and definite improvement. However, I realized that we were really pushing the amp. The volume was way up to get the speakers louder (much more than the previous setup). 

 

I realize that powering full range speakers is more demanding on the amp, and this is likely part of this. That said, the Yamaha is 95W/channel amp. I'm wondering if it isn't quite powerful enough to drive these RF3's.

 

If that's so, I was looking for some thoughts on how to bring out the best in the RF3's. Do I need to add a power amp? If so, we don't have a lot to spend. Can I get something decent for $200? I'm happy to buy used...lots of our audio/video setup has been pieced together from Craigslist.

 

I don't need a DAC - I just purchased a new Korg DAC-10R to play my HiRes files and stream Tidal, as well as record vinyl to DSD. Lots of the Amps have DACs and stuff I don't need. We like the Yamaha and don't feel a drive to replace it. 

 

That said, if it is cheaper to just buy a more powerful receiver to drive the speakers, then I'll start crawling Craigslist again. Thoughts on the power I need to drive the speakers would be helpful. We aren't super loud players, though we play some of our music loud - just not head banger, so to speak. Most of our listening is Jazz at regular levels.

 

Thanks in advance for your thoughts.

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