Recommendation for Power Amp to drive SRT's

dpowell

I'm going to be upgrading from an Adcom GFA-7500 to something else to power my SRT's at some point and would like opinions on what to get. I'd like to stay under $2,000 if possible so here's what I'm considering:

Parasound Halo A51 - likely a +$2,000 amp used but has amazing reviews

B&K Reference 200.7 - not as powerful as the A51 but 2 more channels and still a quality amp. Can get one for around $1,500

Earthquake Cinenova Grande - Don't know much about these but it has the most power of them all and there's one on the 'gon for $1,395.

Anything else I should consider?

My main goals:

Feed the beasts all the power they want
Tame/smooth the highs
Each SRT satellite will get two channels from the amp for a total of 4 channels dedicated to the mains.

Dawgfish

You really can't go wrong with the B&K or Parasound. I prefer the B&K by a hair, but YMMV.

unc2701

The reference 7270 is pretty much identical to the 200.7 and a lot cheaper. IIRC, there's minor tweaks, but they sound exactly the same to me. Hell, call their service department- they're really helpful and can probably tell you if there's any difference.

ESavinon

I run my secondary SRT system with the A51 with good results.

dpowell

ESavinon wrote: »

I run my secondary SRT system with the A51 with good results.

Ed,
I remember you saying you had a Halo A51 for yours. What do you run on your primary SRT rig? BTW, nice signature. I bet you've spent quite some time accumulating that many SRT components!

Bernal

Amplifier
SUNFIRE
Theater Grand Amplifier - TGA-7201


Power Output (8 ohm, 1kHz)
Front 200W + 200W
Center 200W
Surround 200W
Surround Back 200W
Output at Clipping 400W / Ch at 4 ohms
Maximum Output Voltage 40Vrms
Maximum Output Current 80A p-p / Ch
THD < 0.5%
Damping Factor 150
Hum and Noise -115dB, A-weighted
Sensitivity Balanced(for rated output) 0.65Vrms
Sensitivity Unbalanced(for rated output) 1.3Vrms

Connections


Output Impedance (Front) Voltage Source Approx. zero ohms
Output Impedance (Front) Current Source Approx. one ohm
XLR Input Impedance 10kohms
RCA Input Impedance 24kohms

Trigger Inputs


Voltage Range 5 - 18VDC
Impedance Approx. 600ohms
Turn-On Current 20mA @ 12V

General


Power Consumption (120VAC, 50-60Hz) 280W (1/8th power)
Dimensions (W x H x D) 17" x 5.9" x 16.7"
Net Weight 43 lbs


01) DENON AVR-4308CI: Advanced 7.1 CH/5.1+2 CH/ 3.1+2+2 CH A/V Home Theater /MultiMedia Multi-Source/Zone Receiver with Networking and WiFi/170 watts x 7 channels
02) SUNFIRE Grand Signature - Bob Carver's
03) OPPO BDP-83SE Blu-ray Disc Player w/SACD & DVD-Audio
04) OPPO DV-980H 1080p Up-Converting Universal DVD Player with HDMI and 7.1CH Audio
05) DENON DVD-2500BTCI: Blu-ray Disc™ DVD/CD Digital Player/Transport
06) HITACHI P55T501. 55" HD1080 Plasma HDTV
07) POLKAUDIO LSiC (Center speaker)
08) POLKAUDIO LSi15 LEFT (Front speaker)
09) POLKAUDIO LSi15 RIGHT (Front speaker)
10) POLKAUDIO LSiC Vertically (Surround speaker)
11) POLKAUDIO LSiC Vertically (Surround speaker)
12) POLKAUDIO LSif/x LEFT (Surround back speakers)
13) POLKAUDIO LSif/x RIGHT (Surround back speakers)
14) VELODYNE OPTIMUN SERIES 12"(High Output Digital EQ SubWoofer 2400W/1200WRMS)
http://www.polkaudio.com/forums/showcase/view.php?userid=98096 (Not updated)

dpowell

unc2701 wrote: »

The reference 7270 is pretty much identical to the 200.7 and a lot cheaper. IIRC, there's minor tweaks, but they sound exactly the same to me. Hell, call their service department- they're really helpful and can probably tell you if there's any difference.

Interesting. I'll look into that. My understanding is that the older B&K stuff is a bit better quality.

thuffman03

Sunfire is the way I would go.

ESavinon

My second system uses 3 NAD 208 thx amplifiers.

dpowell

thuffman03 wrote: »

Sunfire is the way I would go.

Thanks. Do you have any specific reasons you prefer the Sunfire over the others?

ESavinon

I'm also in the market for a new multichannel amplifier.

These are in my short list:

http://www.earthquakesound.com/cng_7.htm
http://www.anthemav.com/products/anthem-statement/amplifier/p-series/p-5
http://www.outlawaudio.com/products/7900.html
http://www.halcro.com/logic/productsMC70.php
http://www.ati-amp.com/at3000.html

ESavinon

dpowell wrote: »

Ed,
I remember you saying you had a Halo A51 for yours. What do you run on your primary SRT rig? BTW, nice signature. I bet you've spent quite some time accumulating that many SRT components!

It took me 3 years and a few road trips to finish my SRT collection .

dpowell

Nice list Ed and thanks for sharing. I love my Anthem products and that looks like a sweet amp. I may have to open my horizons a bit more before pulling the trigger on something. My main concern is taming the dang tweeter on the SRT's. It's too bright and harsh with the Adcom. I don't want to end up with something (an expensive something) that doesn't manage those tweets well.

dpowell

ESavinon wrote: »

It took me 3 years and a few road trips to finish my SRT collection .

Have you managed to find a pair of the elusive SDA rears?

dpowell

Thanks for the help. I found that the B&K I was looking at is too deep to fit in my cabinet (by about 2 inches). I just found a steal on 3 Parasound HCA-1200 II 2 channel amps locally. They are 205wpc @ 8ohms which is a big step up from what I was using previously. I'm going to use them for awhile and see how I like the Parasound sound.

nooshinjohn

Sunfire Cinema Grand Signature 425~7 or it's more current relative the 7400 would be the way to go if they were my speakers, but I went with the Parasound for the voting... The 200wpc Sunfires are not as dynamic as the 400wpc versions.

dpowell

nooshinjohn wrote: »

but I went with the Parasound for the voting...

Thanks. That's a nice vote of confidence since I ended up with some Parasounds (although not the one I listed).

ESavinon

dpowell wrote: »

Have you managed to find a pair of the elusive SDA rears?

Yes I did! The last setup found had the SRT rears. I found those in IOWA.

Dawgfish

I think you'll be very happy with the Parasounds. They make great products. You really couldn't have gone wrong with the B&K, Parasound, or the Anthem (which another poster mentioned). I have owned all three and they are very, very close in overall performace. So close were it really would come down to which one you could find the best deal on as far as which one to recommend buying.