Audio Systems: Amp upgrade

Question
Hi

I have the Yamaha RX 373 with the Tannoy HTS 201 5.1 package. I'm looking at an amp upgrade. Would I notice much difference in quality with the Yamaha RX 675?  Would my speakers have more potential with this amp or are there other amp makes that would suit better?

Also I'm thinking of changing my old speaker wire, would the QED 42 strand speaker cable be suitable for the HTS package or would the QED 79 strand be better suited for the towers.  I know a lot boils down to resistance and distance, I'm not in a large room.

Thank you in advance for any advice you might be able to give.

Regards

Paul

Answer
Hi Paul,

I can't really answer this specifically because what you would perceive as a "quality" difference may mean something different to you than what I might think.

I can say that I've always thought Yamaha has had quality audio products. I've used numerous models over the years, and don't have any reservations about recommending the brand in general. I'm not familiar with those particular models in depth... one or the other may have been in a rack that I was working with, but other than that I can't say much specifically. My best advice is to say trust your ears... if you like how it sounds, then you've made the right choice.

When it comes to speaker cabling... the only thing you need to worry about is the length of the run and the gauge of the wire. Speaker cable - while an important link - is the least sonically impactful cable in any system. Most of the perceived differences that you may/may not hear are wholly subjective. In controlled double blind testing - you more than likely will hear zero differences. As long as you have a sufficient gauge to deal with the distance, you're good. For example - on a 4 ohm load using a 12 AWG speaker cable, you'll have about 0.5dB loss after 30-40 feet... typically, we don't hear differences until closer to 1.5 to 3 dB. Stranding has little sonic effect, so don't get too wrapped up in that.

Be VERY wary of expensive speaker cabling and wordy claims about performance. There are vendors who will sell you $0.50 of copper wire for $50 in a heartbeat, promising "magical" performance.... 99.9% is snake oil.

2 brands that professional broadcast and post production engineers use are Belden & Canare. THESE are the true industry standard. Vendors such as www.markertek.com and www.bhphotovideo.com are good places to look for these brands (stay away from retail).

I hope this helps you out a bit