Currently upgrading my home theater with ATC HTS7’s for the rear and ATC HTS11’s for the front. Seeing how the ATC’s are only 85db I want to add a seperate 5ch amp to power them better. I want decent power but also high current. Any thoughts on these:
Marantz mm7055
Emotiva XPA-5 Gen3
AudioControl Pantages g4
Rotel RMB-1585
Parasound Halo A 51
Anthem MCA 525 Gen 2
I’ve had a pretty reliable Yamaha 5 channel amp for over 10 years, never had a problem with it at all. Was one of the earlier amps to have HDMI connections. A friend has Anthem which he thinks is the bee’s knee’s, I’ve read good things about them. They’d want to be good as they’re normally expensive.
Umm what is the AV processor you are using?
Which AV receiver are you using at the moment? It might be that it could power the rear channels while a good 3 channel power amplifier looked after the front.
I’m using a Lexicon RV-6 AV receiver.
“I’m using a Lexicon RV-6 AV receiver.”
It looks like your Lexicon is very closely related to the Arcam receivers. They are supposed to be very good but depending upon the room size and volume level you listen at any of the amps above will give you greater reserves/less chance of clipping. In the UK at least, the Marantz is the cheapest. It is also the least powerful. All the others are very powerful and I think it comes down to which you prefer, any particular sonic attributes you like and the relative prices where you are located. Bearing in mind the link between Arcam and Lexicon (and JBL) as part of Harman, it could also be worth considering one of the Arcam power amps too.
Thanks for your thoughts. Yes, the Lexicon is a rebadged Arcam. I believe it’s internal amp will be inadequate to drive 5 ATC speakers as they are not very efficient. I am trying to determine which multi channel amp has both sufficient watts and sufficient current to drive the speakers?
Take a look at the monolith 5x from monoprice.
The Monolith looks interesting, class AB and decent sized power supply. It’s designed by ATI and is very reasonably priced. Guess i’ll just have to “buy & try”.
If you are looking for a single 5 channel amp, I would honestly be looking at either NAD M28 (7 channel) or Linn Majik 5100 (5 channels).
If box count isn’t a major concern, I might be tempted to add 3 midi sized TEAC AP-505 power amps with the centre driven by one amp in bridged mono mode.
Looks like a good option. In all honesty I would be surprised if all from the Rotel upwards were not up to the job of powering the new speakers in all but the largest rooms: certainly the Anthem, Parasound and Audio Control look very capable units. The majority of the amplifiers in your list are also assembled/manufactured in North America too. Most are class A/B or class H with large toroidal power supplies (Emotiva uses switch mode). ATI are another option to consider as well as Monoprice.
Surely you’ll be thinking about 3 pair of 500’s or 300’s
Hahahaha… only if Naim makes me a 5.1 processor (500 level of course!)
I wish they did I’m still using an AV2 and about to see if I can fit a Hicap to the board. I am not keen on any of the HDMI based processors so stuck with analogue out from a modified Panasonic in preference
A multichannel naim processor is also my dream, although i dont appreciate hdmi connection. I would prefer an add-in card in the preamp (282, 252, 552…) with 7.1 analog input and its output. With a multistandard player (oppo, pioneer, primare, panasonic…) we could create a full naim multichannel system … and my 4 pairs of Ovator naim would thank heaven
It is also my choice. I use a modified pioneer LX-91
I use a heavily modified Panasonic 9000 7.1 to AV2, and also in parallel I use a modified 10X10 Mini DSP to integrate with 4 Subs, I only EQ and time align the subs so no EQ on the 7 speakers. All have linear power supplies and a lot of Silmic/Panasonic FM/OsCon caps and Takman/Shinkoh resistors
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