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Adding an Amp to a Receiver

CrazyEddie69

CrazyEddie69

Member
I have recently purchase a Sansui AU-517 to listen to vinyl and CD and finally power my loud speakers. This old integrated amp from the 1970's is wonderful.

Now, I have a "gutless" Marantz SR5200 in my den upstairs. I purchased this receiver new in 2003/2004 for movies and music. I also purchased Mirage FRx series speakers including the sub (5.1 system). I have always hated the sound. The SR5200 does a horrible job powering the main speakers when I listen to music. I recently hooked up the Sansui to the mirage speakers and the sound blew me away (compared to what I got from the Marantz).

So here is my question:

Q: If I hooked up a NAD Amplifier would I get better sound or just louder "gutless" sound (I hope this makes sense). I was looking at a 1989 NAD 2400 Power Amp Monitor Series on ebay.

Any thoughts would be appreciated. I'm just not ready to give up on the Marantz just yet.
 
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You then need the ability to separate the preamp & power amp in that thing. If you can, connect preamp out to your amp of choice. Chances are this won't help much ( I could be proven wrong), since most signal processing is in the preamp which has the tone & volume controls. Can you post a back-panel shot of the marantz unit? That'll remove all doubt.
 
I have never enjoyed using a receiver to be used as a preamp powering a power amplifier. Most dedicated preamps do a much better job than using the preamp section of a receiver.
 
Mamrak1 said:
I have never enjoyed using a receiver to be used as a preamp powering a power amplifier. Most dedicated preamps do a much better job than using the preamp section of a receiver.
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That goes without saying, but the OP's receiver sounds like shiite to him, so he's got nothing to lose for trying, if it's even possible , which in his case I kinda doubt.
 
Mamrak1 said:
I have never enjoyed using a receiver to be used as a preamp powering a power amplifier. Most dedicated preamps do a much better job than using the preamp section of a receiver.
Click to expand...

Never tried it with a receiver but currently liking one of my Belles amps connected to my Kenwood KA7300 integrated as the preamp. The Kenwood is a schveet amplifier in its own right but the Belles is oh so sweet.
 
MarantzSR5200.htm
 
You’ve got pre outs for front channels so you are good to go.

As far as your question, I would say probably/quite likely and the NAD 2400 is an excellent choice for what you are trying to do. I have a 2700 and used to bridge it to power a 400W 12” Kicker Comp VR in MTX sealed box. It powered it just fine, excellent pairing.

It is a monetary risk for you though, no guaranties. But I have had excellent success running various pre outs from receivers or integrateds to more powerful amps. My fave combo is pre-out of Hitachi IA-600 (73-74 30W) into Forte Model 3 (200W). But the Hitachi sounds fabulous and plays plenty loud on its own (good luck ever picking up another one:)).
 
CrazyEddie69 said:
I have recently purchase a Sansui AU-517.... This old integrated amp from the 1970's is wonderful.

Now, I have a "gutless" Marantz SR5200 in my den upstairs.... I also purchased Mirage FRx series speakers including the sub (5.1 system). I have always hated the sound. The SR5200 does a horrible job powering the main speakers when I listen to music. I recently hooked up the Sansui to the mirage speakers and the sound blew me away

So here is my question:

Q: If I hooked up a NAD Amplifier would I get better sound or just louder "gutless" sound (I hope this makes sense). I was looking at a 1989 NAD 2400 Power Amp Monitor Series on ebay.

Any thoughts would be appreciated. I'm just not ready to give up on the Marantz just yet.
Click to expand...

I'm a little confused, you mention that the Sansui is "wonderful" and "the sound blew me away" so why are you considering purchasing a NAD sight unseen/unheard?

To the point of your thread title, with regards to the Sansui yes you can connect it to a receiver as long as the receiver has pre-ins you can also use it a pre-amp connected to a power amp.

If it's anything like it's older brother to the vaunted AU-717 why mess with success? great amps from a great company then in their prime.

Au517.JPG
 
I don't understand either. If Sansui AU-517 is working properly. What is the goal? What are you trying to accomplish?
 
To answer rwartner question/comment:

I have a media room in my basement (7.2 Surround Sound, Denon Receiver, 120 Projection Screen, etc., all in-wall and in-ceiling speakers with a Mirage sub). I replaced the Marantz with a sub-entry level Denon because I never liked the way the Marantz sounded playing music. I also switched to the Denon because the Marantz has no HDMI outs for my 4K projector. The Denon is great for movies, but also a bit disappointing in two channel mode (even using the 2 mirage loud speakers) playing music.


Since the Covid outbreak, I have found myself listening to CD’s and Vinyl more (I have a nice Pioneer PLX-500 turntable that was collecting dust). I decided last week to buy a Sansui integrated amp. I use the Sansui there to power my 2 loud speakers and sub (FRx Mirage loud speakers and Cerwin Vega sub) for music only. I also have 2 Polk speakers in my workout room. The Sansui also powers these two speakers. This is my personal "mancave" and home gym. It's where I listen to what I want to listen to (hard rock and metal), watch what I want to watch (movies and live sports), and workout.


Upstairs I have another TV room. This is where I put the Marantz. It's the largest space and most used room in the house. It's where we (our family of 5) watch TV and listen to music (occasionally). I have a 5.1 surround sound system set up (Celestian floor standing speakers and center, Mirage book shelves, etc.
 
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I've done the receiver pre-amp to a power amp, and aside from showing me just how bad the receiver's amp was, the pre-amp section didn't really hold it's own against an inexpensive pre-amp.
 
There is only one way to tell if the bad sound is coming from the receiver amp or the receiver preamp. You must swap them out and make a comparison. Feed the Sansui with the receiver preamp, if there is an amp in on the back of the Sansui. If this comes out muddied, then try the reverse, feed the amp of the receiver with the pre out of the Sansui. If this comes out to sound great then you know the preamp of the receiver is the weak spot in the system. Using this system, you can then feed the receiver front to one pair of your speakers and feed the second pair of the speakers with the amp of the Sansui integrated.

Doing this leaves you limited to music only, as the receiver video and audio will be overridden by the Sansui preamp. This does not sound like a problem for me personally. I have 3 systems in my house all setup for music. All three systems are dual receiver each feeding two pair of speakers. As an example, in my bedroom, where I am now, my Sansui G-8000 operates as the main preamp feeding the preout to my Sansui Model Eight Deluxe. The 8000 output feeds the JBL L36s and the Deluxe outpoint feeds the DCM TF400s. I feed all three of my systems with a Thinkpad. I can play video files and DVD discs through the laptop and also all my audio .flacs and .mp3 files through the Thinkpad too. I could also link the Dish Network receiver to the laptop if I had a hdmi in, which I don't. These are older Thinkpads.

I hope you can find a good way to settle you issues. To me music is more important.
 
Why not? I really love my old Marantz receiver, though I feel like it's not quite giving enough juice to the speakers that I'm using it with. I figure that somewhere down the road I'll get a decent power amp that has a much higher power rating than the Marantz, hook it up and I should be good. I think that some folks feel that this is somehow an inelegant solution, but I know that if it sounds good and provides the power I want that I wont care...
 
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I guess I have things to consider. I posted questions about vintage integrated amplifiers on another discussion because I was just going to sell the Marantz and buy used or new. I was offered to try the NAD poweramp to see if it makes a difference.

Thanks GD... for the receiver recommendations (NAD 7155, NAD 326, NAD 7020, Yamaha RX-950, Yamaha RX-730, Yamaha RX-530, Yamaha RX-V1105, Denon DRA-1025RA)
 
CrazyEddie69 said:
Q: If I hooked up a NAD Amplifier would I get better sound or just louder "gutless" sound (I hope this makes sense). I was looking at a 1989 NAD 2400 Power Amp Monitor Series on ebay.

Any thoughts would be appreciated.
Click to expand...

CrazyEddie69 said:
I was offered to try the NAD poweramp to see if it makes a difference.
Click to expand...

If it's the same one as the one in your IP then definitely try it. This way you can hear and feel how it pairs with your speakers and then let your ears be the final decider. In the end all that matters is how it sounds to you, everyone's hearing and perception is different
 
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