So the other day my 6 month old Yamaha AVR went pop and never turned back on again, even when the speakers were disconnected.

It’s going back under warranty – but I think I’d like to pick up something better as it’s my understanding that the budget AVRs (mine was an RV 485) are built with much less robust components than an equivalently priced stereo amp?

Is it worth getting some second hand stereo amps or monoblocks (or new, eg Outlaw 2200’s – id have to import from the states but they do a deal for 3 monoblocks at 799 dollars when the individual amps are priced at 400) to power the front three speakers from the AVRs preouts? Would that help take the load off the AVR in futures and make it less likely to go bang and potentially **** my speakers?

Or would it just be a descent into lunatic audiophile territory?

My Left and Right channels are Q Accoustic 3050i floorstanders, 6 ohm average impedance, 4 ohm minimum and are rated for 25-180 watts.

At that price, why not pick up an Aventage range Yamaha amp (I have one) sound quality is great surround performance is great and it’s already done over 6 months happily of daily use?

unless your driving silly speakers I think it going pop is just bad luck. I’ve a 10 year old yamaha amp from the 6xx range and its going fine, despite being powered on/off every time the tv is.

The advantage amps are nice, but beware the low-end ones are just the rxv components in a shinier chassis (the 880 is a 685 and the 680 is a 585 from memory) – you have to get into the 1080 range to get something nice.

Tbh I’d just buy something from richersounds with a 6 year warranty if you’re worried about it

Fuse ?