[George W]

Hello,

I’m looking for help in devising an upgrade path for my system.  In Late 2002 I finally finished building a 5.1 setup using kits from Adire Audio, specifically kit281s and kit81s, along with a shiva ported subwoofer.  I was powering the system with an Onkyo 696 receiver and my source was a Pioneer dv-c603 cd changer.  To make a long story short I was never quite satisfied with this system, mostly I found that the music wasn’t very emotionally involving and never really drew me in, though in hindsight I’m not sure if it was a fault of the speakers or other components.  Accordingly I have decided to revamp my setup and go for quality over quantity.  I have sold my old speakers and sub and I am about to purchase a pair of the speakers I wanted to buy in the first place, the Rhythm 9500 kit from North Creek Music as seen at
http://www.northcreekmusic.com/NorthCreekKits.html.
I have heard nothing but good things about these after a great deal of research so they may be considered set for now. Once I get them though I will have about $800 left to spend on audio for the next several years as all my money will go to paying off college loans.  My first thought was to spend it on new amplication.  It has been shown (after I bought it of course) that the Onkyo I purchased only puts out ~40 Watts a channel when powering a 4ohm load, which the Rhythms are.  Although the Rhythms have an efficiency of ~92dB I know that the Onkyo was not really designed for such a low impedence and a new amp would probably go a long way towards improving sonics.  In that vein I was looking at an Aksa amp which I have heard great things about.  After talking to the designer it was decided that I would need to go with the 100 Watt unit, since it would be a better match with the 3.2 Ohms the Rhythms dip down to.  Building the Aksa kit would take most of my budget but could by used with my Onkyo functioning as a preamp.  
Next I got to thinking about the suitability of the Onkyo for such a purpose and that is mostly where my questions lie.  I have heard amongst forums like this that AV receivers typically perform poorly on music (relatively speaking) compared to a dedicated 2 channel preamp.  Thus I am wondering if my money would be better spent with an integrated amp of some sort, rather than using the Onkyo.  I don’t know much about integrated units at this point so if it is deemed wise to go that route I would appreciate some suggestions about which products to look at.  Also keep in mind that I would probably need some sort of ht bypass on the unit as I need the video switching of my receiver, and I will eventually be adding more speakers to the mix.  Another upgrade path to look into could be the addition of a subwoofer, but since the Rhythms go down to the upper 30’s I think the money would probably make a more significant impact in other areas.  Also at this point I think I would like to stick with solid state.
So…what would you do if you were me  
Thanks,

George

[Carlman]

George, you are correct in many of your assumptions and I'm in a somewhat similar place in my hifi choices but, under different circumstances.

I have the AKSA amp and am very happy with it.  It will reveal details that the Onkyo can't.  It will also do a lot of other things right as well.  With the Onkyo, you will hear congestion and harshness as the volume rises compared to the AKSA.  These sonic characteristics are a much more important factor to me rather than the specs of which amp can handle which load... Unless Onkyo has changed over the years, they tend to have harsh preamp sections.  This weakness will be readily revealed by the speakers and amp you are considering.

Now, what's the good news?  Some good pre's are cheap-ish.  I just sold my preamp so, that's not an option but, if you can find a used Audible Illusions 2d, you will have a great pre.  Also, a Melos MA111 can be found for around $200 that will be suitable.  Those are both tube amps which will work well with the AKSA.  One last option and people may laugh... is a Hegeman Hapi II pre.  It's solid state and does nothing wrong in my book.  It'll blow the Onkyo out of the water in sonics.

I like your speaker choice.  That would be the one thing that should remain constant.  Upgrading electronics is much easier than speakers in my opinion.  You have a constant in your system if you do this.

If you can't afford the AKSA/cheap pre at the moment, maybe in the meantime you can get a different amp that sounds similar to the AKSA but, isn't as good.  The older B&K ST-140 and ST-202 are excellent options for now.  They cost from $200-$500 and are ready to play.  That way you can get a good pre... maybe something like the Purist from IRD (which I'm considering at the moment) and then afford the AKSA later.  This would get the Onkyo out of the equation quicker.... which to me is going to be your least favorite part of the system wherever it is.

I have not heard the Purist, though... so, it's just a conceptual suggestion.  I whole-heartedly recommend the AKSA 100 w/Nirvana.  It's the best amp I've heard and provides a LOT of flexibility.  

Best of luck.

[JohnR]

One option would be to build the AKSA as an integrated unit by adding a pot. There is some discussion of this in Hugh's FAQ:

http://www.aksaonline.com/faqs/faqs_general.html#gq4

You could also add a switch to select between the audio and video L/R signals.

[George W]

Thanks guys,

I have decided for now to get the speakers and the Aksa, and see if I can live with the Onkyo for a while.  Truth be told a dedicated 2 channel preamp doesn't really fit in with my lifestyle, and I may just save up until I can afford a nicer HT preamp, though I'm sure that's audiophile heresay  .  If the Onkyo proves too obnoxious though, I'll probably have to bite the bullet and buy a cheap used preamp to hold me over.  Thanks again for the advice,

George