Sunfire TGA-7201

finfan66

I was just curious if anyone has this amplifier and what they think about it. I have been looking at it for about a year now. Finally today I called a local dealer and they gave me a pretty good quote. So in a couple of hours I will go down there and order it. Figure I can hook it up to my Onkyo receiver and get more power for my home theater. Just looking for a little feedback. Thanks.

EndersShadow

finfan66 wrote: »

I was just curious if anyone has this amplifier and what they think about it. I have been looking at it for about a year now. Finally today I called a local dealer and they gave me a pretty good quote. So in a couple of hours I will go down there and order it. Figure I can hook it up to my Onkyo receiver and get more power for my home theater. Just looking for a little feedback. Thanks.

If your looking for a Sunfire I would suggest looking at a used Sunfire Grand Cinema 200x5. There are some refurbished ones (refurbished by Bob Carver's company) that go for 875 right now. You could use your Onkyo for the 2 rear surround channels and still be fine and save a bundle.

http://www.carveraudio.com/index.php?page=shop.product_details&flypage=flypage.tpl&product_id=3&category_id=1&option=com_virtuemart&Itemid=104

finfan66

Thanks so much for the feedback. The past month I worked over the holidays at the Post Office part time. All the money I made I saved for this amplifier. It is exactly what I want. I only use a 5.1 home theater system, so this amplifier is perfect for what I need. The only thing is there will be no connection for my sub. I will have to go with the input on my receiver for that. So I won't get any extra power for my sub. I am okay with spending the money. This and a new blu ray player are the only things I will be buying this year.

nooshinjohn

Grab it if you are happy with the price. The Sunfire amps are great pieces, and sadly are becoming scarce, particularily the 7 channel versions. Sunfire has decided to walk away from making amplifiers, so pricing should be coming down as they try and sell through old stock.

EndersShadow

finfan66 wrote: »

It is exactly what I want. I only use a 5.1 home theater system, so this amplifier is perfect for what I need.

I am a bit confused here. When you say "It is exactly what I want" are you referring to the Sunfire TGA-7201 or the Sunfire Cinema Grand 200x5?

finfan66 wrote: »

The only thing is there will be no connection for my sub. I will have to go with the input on my receiver for that. So I won't get any extra power for my sub.

I am a bit confused by this as well. Your sub (unless its passive) has its own amplifier built in so you wouldnt gain any additional power by connecting it to the amp.

In addition you can normally buy a plate amp for your sub (if its passive) to drive it by itself for a couple hundred bucks or less.

finfan66

nooshinjohn wrote: »

Grab it if you are happy with the price. The Sunfire amps are great pieces, and sadly are becoming scarce, particularily the 7 channel versions. Sunfire has decided to walk away from making amplifiers, so pricing should be coming down as they try and sell through old stock.

I know what you are saying. I was looking at a Sunfire receiver last year and now they are all out of stock! So now the next best thing is to go with the amplifier. Even refurbs on Ebay are almost going for what they cost new.

nooshinjohn

The Sunfire TGR3's can be had for 1500 or less if that is what you are after. Occasionally, I see a TGR401 go for less than 2k

finfan66

EndersShadow wrote: »

I am a bit confused here. When you say "It is exactly what I want" are you referring to the Sunfire TGA-7201 or the Sunfire Cinema Grand 200x5?



I am a bit confused by this as well. Your sub (unless its passive) has its own amplifier built in so you wouldnt gain any additional power by connecting it to the amp.

In addition you can normally buy a plate amp for your sub (if its passive) to drive it by itself for a couple hundred bucks or less.

Sorry about any confusion. I am still a beginner compared to a lot of people on this site. I am talking about the Sunfire TGA -7201
just like I have listed in the subject line in the initial post! It does have 2 extra chanels in case I decide in the future to hook up more speakers.

I didn't know you buy a plate amp for your sub. Not sure if its passive or not.

shawn474

http://www.polkaudio.com/forums/showthread.php?128255-Adcom-Sunfire

EndersShadow

finfan66 wrote: »

I am talking about the Sunfire TGA -7201 just like I have listed in the subject line in the initial post! It does have 2 extra chanels in case I decide in the future to hook up more speakers.

If the equipment in your signature is what you have, your NR807 should be a 7 channel reciever and more than capable of driving 1 or 2 sets of surrounds, so really you could get by with a 5 channel amplifier and let the Onkyo handle the rear surrounds, but I understand wanting more power myself

finfan66 wrote: »

I didn't know you buy a plate amp for your sub. Not sure if its passive or not.

Your sub (PSW 450) has its own amplifier so your not using ANY power from your reciever (or an external amplifier) to power it.

finfan66

EndersShadow wrote: »

If the equipment in your signature is what you have, your NR807 should be a 7 channel reciever and more than capable of driving 1 or 2 sets of surrounds, so really you could get by with a 5 channel amplifier and let the Onkyo handle the rear surrounds, but I understand wanting more power myself



Your sub (PSW 450) has its own amplifier so your not using ANY power from your reciever (or an external amplifier) to power it.

Thanks for the info on the sub. Is it better to just get a sub without its own amplifier? Sometimes when I am watching movies I will not hear as much bass as I want out of my sub.

I just wanted to add more power without buying a new receiver. I like my receiver and it has all the inputs that I need. I can even use my old turntable. I figure in the future I will just keep upgrading my receivers instead because the Sunfire amp will give me all the power I need.

EndersShadow

finfan66 wrote: »

Thanks for the info on the sub. Is it better to just get a sub without its own amplifier? Sometimes when I am watching movies I will not hear as much bass as I want out of my sub.

You should turn up the gain on your sub and if its all the way up, then you just need to purchase a better sub. Getting a passive sub isnt something most people do honestly.

finfan66 wrote: »

I just wanted to add more power without buying a new receiver. I like my receiver and it has all the inputs that I need. I can even use my old turntable. I figure in the future I will just keep upgrading my receivers instead because the Sunfire amp will give me all the power I need.

I agree with you 100% here. I have a 5 channel amplifier myself for this exact reason. I will still suggest saving some money and getting a 5 channel amplifier rather than 7. Your surrounds normally dont use that much power compared to your fronts (Left, Right, Center). If your Onkyo doesnt have to send any power to those speakers (or your surrounds) since they are powered by an external amp, all that power is free to be used for your rear surrounds and it should be more than adequate. The ONLY exception is if your using speakers with a 4 ohm load (like Polks LSi series) for your surrounds.

nooshinjohn

EndersShadow wrote: »

I will still suggest saving some money and getting a 5 channel amplifier rather than 7. Your surrounds normally dont use that much power compared to your fronts (Left, Right, Center). If your Onkyo doesnt have to send any power to those speakers (or your surrounds) since they are powered by an external amp, all that power is free to be used for your rear surrounds and it should be more than adequate. The ONLY exception is if your using speakers with a 4 ohm load (like Polks LSi series) for your surrounds.

Under normal use, I would agree with this statement, but with regards to the Sunfire 7/200, I would get the seven channels. Sunfire will allow you to re-direct poser from the unused channels to the mains, so you could effectively bi-amp your fronts if you chose to from this amp. I have done so with a 7/400 to great effect.

finfan66

EndersShadow wrote: »

You should turn up the gain on your sub and if its all the way up, then you just need to purchase a better sub. Getting a passive sub isnt something most people do honestly.



I agree with you 100% here. I have a 5 channel amplifier myself for this exact reason. I will still suggest saving some money and getting a 5 channel amplifier rather than 7. Your surrounds normally dont use that much power compared to your fronts (Left, Right, Center). If your Onkyo doesnt have to send any power to those speakers (or your surrounds) since they are powered by an external amp, all that power is free to be used for your rear surrounds and it should be more than adequate. The ONLY exception is if your using speakers with a 4 ohm load (like Polks LSi series) for your surrounds.

I will have to check my sub and see how far I have the volume turned up.

Any how I will probably still go with the Sunfire 7 channel because that is the smallest amplifier they have listed. I am not interested in older models. I have always wanted to add a Sunfire to my collection.

I was just curious when I hook up the speakers to the amplifier and then the amplifier into the receiver - do you still do the auto speaker calibration through the receiver? Will the receiver still be able to calibrate the speakers automatically or will there be problems because of the speakers hooked into the amplifier? I know it might be a dumb question but this is my first time hooking up a amplifier to a receiver.

EndersShadow

nooshinjohn wrote: »

Under normal use, I would agree with this statement, but with regards to the Sunfire 7/200, I would get the seven channels. Sunfire will allow you to re-direct poser from the unused channels to the mains, so you could effectively bi-amp your fronts if you chose to from this amp. I have done so with a 7/400 to great effect.

LOL, I will default to you on this one John

finfan66 wrote: »

I was just curious when I hook up the speakers to the amplifier and then the amplifier into the receiver - do you still do the auto speaker calibration through the receiver? Will the receiver still be able to calibrate the speakers automatically or will there be problems because of the speakers hooked into the amplifier? I know it might be a dumb question but this is my first time hooking up a amplifier to a receiver.

You will need to re-run the auto calibration program, but it shouldnt have any problems, and should be just like the first time you connected it.

I would recommend getting some of these RCA interconnects while they are on sale since you will need 1 cable for each speaker you connect.

finfan66

Thanks for all the feedback! It is greatly appreciated. I can't wait to get that Sunfire amplifier. I had a Carver a long time ago that I bought out of box buy from Circuit City. I regret selling it on Ebay every day.