Amplifier upgrade for EMotiva T1+ floorstanding speaker

[pawan_pullarwar]

Hello Friends,

I currently have an audio setup that includes Emotiva T1+ tower speakers (4-ohm, recommended amp power 75W to 350W) paired with a Yamaha R-N602 (150 W at 4 Ohms) 2-channel network receiver. I also have a Bowers & Wilkins ASW610 subwoofer connected to the receiver. After auditioning many speakers ranging from ₹60k to ₹12 lakh, I chose this setup. I primarily listen to new Bollywood songs.

Now I am thining provide more power to T1+ speakers, so that this power hungry speaker can be fully utlized. My plan is to replace the Yamaha R-N602 with a Yamaha WXC-50 as a preamp/streamer, along with an Emotiva BasX A2 amplifier (has power rating of 250 watt at 4 ohm), aiming to achieve deeper bass and fill my living room with immersive music even at lower volumes.

Do you think this change would significantly enhance overall listening experience in terms of depth and overall sound quality compare to playing it with Yamaha R-N602? I'm particularly interested in achieving a fuller, richer bass and a more engaging soundstage.

Edit : I like listening by selecting Pure Direct in my receiver.

 

[Nash07]

Hello Friends,

I currently have an audio setup that includes Emotiva T1+ tower speakers (4-ohm, recommended amp power 75W to 350W) paired with a Yamaha R-N602 (150 W at 4 Ohms) 2-channel network receiver. I also have a Bowers & Wilkins ASW610 subwoofer connected to the receiver. After auditioning many speakers ranging from ₹60k to ₹12 lakh, I chose this setup. I primarily listen to new Bollywood songs.

Now I am thining provide more power to T1+ speakers, so that this power hungry speaker can be fully utlized. My plan is to replace the Yamaha R-N602 with a Yamaha WXC-50 as a preamp/streamer, along with an Emotiva BasX A2 amplifier (has power rating of 250 watt at 4 ohm), aiming to achieve deeper bass and fill my living room with immersive music even at lower volumes.

Do you think this change would significantly enhance overall listening experience in terms of depth and overall sound quality compare to playing it with Yamaha R-N602? I'm particularly interested in achieving a fuller, richer bass and a more engaging soundstage.

Edit : I like listening by selecting Pure Direct in my receiver.

Hi,
I think the WXC50 has been stopped.
What you could look at is the Wiim and the Bluesound Node. There is a new Node Nano launched from what I've heard.

 

[sandeepmohan]

Do you think this change would significantly enhance overall listening experience in terms of depth and overall sound quality compare to playing it with Yamaha R-N602? I'm particularly interested in achieving a fuller, richer bass and a more engaging soundstage.

The Yamaha N602 is a pretty good stereo receiver. I think you should try listening or spending some time outside of the Pure Direct mode and see if your opinion changes about the sound. Use the Tone Controls. Its not the end up the world if you add some equalization to the sound. Could potentially save you all that money you're going to blow on a dedicated amplifier. You can consider this if the sound is still not satisfactory.

I'd hold on the Yamaha Streamer too.

To be clear, a loudspeaker needs good, quality power. Not necessarily more power.

All you may need to do is dial up the bass very slightly on your sub woofer or the pre out from the receiver. This should solve your need for more bass. Re position the sub woofer or main speaker and check if the bass goes deeper. I nice way to understand bass gains is by cutting out the sub woofer completely and then adding gain in stages. In short, listen to the system without the sub woofer. Then gradually increase the Bass or Loudness control on your amplifier till you are happy with what you are hearing. Slowly introduce the sub woofer into the mix. See how you go.

Whatever change you make above, spend time with it. Focus on the music.

You have very good stereo equipment. Spend some time fine tuning it before you go out and buy something new.

 

[pawan_pullarwar]

The Yamaha N602 is a pretty good stereo receiver. I think you should try listening or spending some time outside of the Pure Direct mode and see if your opinion changes about the sound. Use the Tone Controls. Its not the end up the world if you add some equalization to the sound. Could potentially save you all that money you're going to blow on a dedicated amplifier. You can consider this if the sound is still not satisfactory.

I'd hold on the Yamaha Streamer too.

To be clear, a loudspeaker needs good, quality power. Not necessarily more power.

All you may need to do is dial up the bass very slightly on your sub woofer or the pre out from the receiver. This should solve your need for more bass. Re position the sub woofer or main speaker and check if the bass goes deeper. I nice way to understand bass gains is by cutting out the sub woofer completely and then adding gain in stages. In short, listen to the system without the sub woofer. Then gradually increase the Bass or Loudness control on your amplifier till you are happy with what you are hearing. Slowly introduce the sub woofer into the mix. See how you go.

Whatever change you make above, spend time with it. Focus on the music.

You have very good stereo equipment. Spend some time fine tuning it before you go out and buy something new.

Thank you Sandeep for suggestion. I will try tuning my receiver and woofer. One more question, does preamp also help in reducing distortion and increase sound clarity ?

 

[pawan_pullarwar]

Hi,
I think the WXC50 has been stopped.
What you could look at is the Wiim and the Bluesound Node. There is a new Node Nano launched from what I've heard.

It is available at Pune avstore.

 

[Amarendra]

It is available at Pune avstore.

As suggested Wiim could be a better option with lot more functionality like analog to digital conversion, room correction, eq, etc. The Wiim Ultra is also released abroad if you can source it. However be mindful that most streaming options in India will give you only lossy sound- Amazon/Spotify/Apple etc unless you are using Roon or similar to play your locally stored songs. Another option is a good DAC with a built in preamp such as Eversolo or similar. This will help you drive your new power amp. Amp hunting is a bottomless pit right from entry level Crown to higher end Audiolab etc. But do check if power is an issue or just changing tastes. Try a minidsp as well to see if it helps.

 

[sandeepmohan]

. One more question, does preamp also help in reducing distortion and increase sound clarity ?

That will depend on how much money you are willing to throw at a pre amp. At the very minimum, the pre amp will need to be at the level or higher, compared to your Yamaha receiver. At this point, I would question the capability of the Yamaha acting as a power amplifier so you end up going down a rabbit hole. Before you throw money at new equipment, you first need to understand if you've hit the limits of what the current equipment can do.

 

[Phani24]

It is available at Pune avstore.

Check Eversolo z8. Dac plus preamp.
Even dmp A6. Dac+steamer +preamp

 

[pawan_pullarwar]

Hi! I decided to go ahead with the Emotiva BasX A2 amplifier, pairing it with the Yamaha WXC-50 as a preamp. This setup - Emotiva BasX A2 + Yamaha WXC-50 + Bowers & Wilkins ASW608 Subwoofer + Emotiva T1+ Tower Speaker has brought impressive dynamics and room-filling sound.

However, the higher frequencies still weren’t as refined as I prefer, and the overall warmth was also not so good. So, I decided to try out the Fosi Audio P3 preamp, and wow… it has made the sound so much clean, dynamic, and no distortion, So good that I never expected that this small and cheap Fosi Audio P3 can make so much of difference.

 

[pawan_pullarwar]

ok, So after above setup, everything was good except base, it was not as deep as I wanted from Bowers and Wilkins subwoofer. So I decided to use Yamaha receiver again and I was fideling with Yamaha's musiccast app which also controls WXC-50's settings. There I found setting Compressed Audio, which was selected by-default. It actually compress wifi audio signal. So turned it off and done. It made so much difference and highs were clean and base was deep.