[milford3]

Thinking of buying the Emotiva amplifier for two channel listening.  It will be connected to the Marantz AVR SR7008.  The question I have will the Emotiva make a difference or is this a waste of money.  It's a handsome unit for sure.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01KZHOXW8/ref=ox_sc_act_title_1?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER

[JerryM]

What amp are you using right now?

[milford3]

The Marantz AVR's amp.  My speakers are the Hoyt Bedford type 1's.

[zoom25]

I have owned and currently still own several products from both Marantz and Emotiva for the past ten years (PM6004, CD5004, Stealth DC-1, Mini-x-a-100). I have heard many of the Marantz receivers at friends house. You're essentially trading the house warm sound of the Marantz for a tiny more resolution, more neutral in the mids, although with the risk of getting a brighter, fatiguing sound. I will say that the Emotiva is better at maintaining linearity at different levels.

What are you planning on using these with? For a more balanced sound, the NAD integrated are more neutral. It comes down to component matching and personal preferences.

[milford3]

I checked out the NAD.  But their is a cravat to buying the NAD.  One has to go through a dealership to buy their product.  Markup anyone?   In this day and age of direct buying via the internet the NAD is out. 

[JLM]

At this wattage/price I'd look hard at classdaudio.com amps or NuPrime STA-9 amp.  A cheaper option would be a Crown 1500 (better than the 1000).

But with the high efficiency of the Hoyts you're normally only listening to less than 1 watt and could reach rock concert levels at home with 40 watts or less.  (This is tube amp territory, where they perform better than most solid state.)  BTW, how many watts are the Hoyts rated to handle?

A better solid state wattage match and better quality would be Dayens Ampino stereo power amp. 

[RDavidson]

For your application and speakers, I'd go with class D. NuPrime is a good suggestion. Most class A/B amps I've tried (I've tried MANY), particularly higher powered examples, just don't give up the goods unless pushed at least a little. With your Hoyts, my guess is the sound with the Emo would be a little thin. Class D amps, in my experience, sound consistent irrespective of load / volume level (within reason of course). Class D are similar to Class A with regard to sounding consistent at low levels all the way up to where distortion eventually comes in.

[Wind Chaser]

But with the high efficiency of the Hoyts you're normally only listening to less than 1 watt and could reach rock concert levels at home with 40 watts or less.  (This is tube amp territory, where they perform better than most solid state.)  BTW, how many watts are the Hoyts rated to handle?

A better solid state wattage match and better quality would be Dayens Ampino stereo power amp.

+1 on both accounts.

[gnostalgick]

  Emotiva's are good, but I doubt that much power would be much benefit unless you're thinking of changing speakers in the future.

  If you're interested in NAD, I've purchased them online from Spearit Sound--they have deals on refurbished/open box models & I haven't had any issues with my purchases.

  However I'd second (EDIT: guess I'm third) the Dayens Ampino as a better sounding & performing amplifier--I'm a very happy owner of their monoblocks (upgraded from a NAD AVR & owned an integrated years ago). At the price of that Emotiva, you may also want to consider the Dayens Menuetto--it has more power & is supposed to be a bit more neutral than the warmer sounding Ampinos. I believe all of their integrateds have a passive pre, if you like the idea of a bit more versatility at the cost of a few watts.