First foray into separate 2-channel amp, 200wpc

"Rok2id
get the Emotiva used. The big one. The pre amp section of your receiver will just be a switch box and volume control, unless you listen to LPs."

Rok, are you talking about the mono monster, or the XPA-2? I can't afford two of the mono amps. I would jump on a XPA-2, but they rarely show up for sale used.

BTW, I don't have my turntable in action now and my receiver has a phono input, so I am good there as well.

I was speaking of the XPA-2. should be able to drive any speaker. When I get my new speakers, I plan to get the xpa-2 and use my harman kardon hk-3490 as the pre.

mtrot, the above posters are all giving you good advice. to pile it on, your speakers are 91db@8ohm, which is pretty sensitive; i don't know why you'd need a monster 200w amp to drive 'em and you're much better served by focusing on quality than quantity of power. that said, at your price point, i like parasound hca (good bass control) and acurus, though i think you'll see a significant improvement with any of the models touted above.

11-02-11: Mtrot
"Thanks! OK, Adcom, Acurus, B&K...how would anyone characterize the "house sound" differences between these?"

IMO, the Adcom can be on the bright side of neutral, the Acurus is very punchy and fast down low with detailed highs, and the B&K is warmish with a midrange to die for.

"Also, is there much difference between the Acurus A150 and A250? They actually seem to be about the same size and weight."

I have owned both but currently am enjoying my A250 everyday. The A150 is very punchy and lively but doesn't have the low impedence driving capabilities and headroom as the A250. The A150 responds well in most situations but just doesn't have quite the ooomph as the A250. I have considered getting (2) A150's and running them as monoblocks just to see how they perform.

Bill

The tightest amp for bass I've had in my system was a Bryston 2BSST. If bass control is what you're looking for this might be a brand worth exploring. They won't mellow out or make anything seem warm and fuzzy, but they sure get an iron fist control over woofers in my experience. There's a 3BST on sale here for a little more than your looking for, but ain't that always the way?

Also, you may experiment with different interconnects and speaker cables that could tighten things up as well. I once had the Zu Cable Julian speaker cables in my system, and they also damped and tightened up the bass considerably. Just another avenue to consider.

Oh, and last but certainly not least and also the least expensive option, have you experimented with speaker placement yet? The further out you get the speakers from the corners and away from the front and side walls will tend to make bass less boomy. Even if you don't plan to keep the speakers out that far into the room, it's instructive just to play around with it to see what happens.

Best of luck.