Amp's recommended for A9's

CinderLyon · July 2013

What brands of amp's are suggested in the $1000 range that will drive a pair of A9's

Inspector 24 · July 2013

Parasound, Rotel, Adcom. Pick something with 200wpc minimum.

Drenis · July 2013

I see you already have a GFA-555 Adcom amp in your list of gear. Is it really not enough? Start looking high power Class D amps then with your budget if you need more.

I ran a Carver TFM-42 on my A9's when I owned them and that was MORE than enough power (375wRMS/ch).

B&K amps synergize well with A9's too.

B Run · July 2013

Out of those 5 amp brands given you can't really go wrong, they should all get the job done and sound great. If it's 100% home theater use i'd throw Emotiva in there too, but don't want to get your thread shut down :biggrin:

snake1 · July 2013

I can speak for parasound's,, they came highly recommended from this forum. I have a 2250 myself. Also I spoke with Parasound's Richard Schram, who spoke very highly of pairing it with my 12's which are almost identical to your 9's. Also, you could check on parasound hca-3500. They can usually be had not far out of your price range and PLENTY pf power! 120 amps/ch and 350wpc. I have toyed with switching to one myself. My .02 for ya.

Msabot1 · July 2013

Tubes or S-S?

CinderLyon · July 2013

Not really sure. Value is first concern. Music and HT use 50:50 I do not even think I am in the market but i thought i would ask around and start doing some research. I am pretty happy with my Adcom atm. My Adcom is 20 years old now. Have things changed all the much?

CinderLyon · July 2013

i just made a lowball bid for a gfa 555 amp on a bidding site. I figure if one is good two will be better

Drenis · July 2013

CinderLyon wrote: »

i just made a lowball bid for a gfa 555 amp on a bidding site. I figure if one is good two will be better

You may disagree with that statement once you hear the result. IIRC, the Adcoms never faired well when bridged. If that's what you want, buy a proper pair of monoblocks.

Msabot1 · July 2013

DUDE...EVERYTHING Changes in a second..let alone twenty years...PEACE!!

cfrizz · July 2013

You are worried about something happening to your 20 year old amp so went out and bought another just as old???:eek:

leftwinger57 · July 2013

I don't know how less or more effcient those A9s are compared to my 2bs but w/ my Adcom 555 at 12 pos on the pre it's scarey loud and do not want blow these up.It's a very clean powerful amp and should be enough to push those A9s

Dawgfish · July 2013

Actually the RTi-12s/A9s respond very well to biamping (not running bridged, but vertical passive biamping). I used to own a pair of RTi-12s and they never sounded as good as they did when biamped coincidently with GFA-555s. The bass is astounding. The A9s will take everything two 555s will give them and then some. If you end up winning the auction, you will like the results, just make sure you use the same brand, type, and length of speaker cables and ICs with each amp.

Having said all of that, the others have brought up some legitimate concerns. The 555s are getting a little long in the tooth and the caps are known to leak and go bad over time. If the caps haven't been updated in the amps, I would strongly consider doing so.

The other thing is neither the 555s or A9s are known for being warm sounding. The combination of the two is a little bright to my ears. Ymmv however, it's I personal thing. I personally think A9s pair well with warmer sounding amps like B&K or Parasound. Again ymmv.

CinderLyon · July 2013

Well I am trying to seek justification for replacing my amp i suppose. It works. it works darn well. It has as much volume as I would ever need. It is getting old. I have not replace the capacitors. It is not leaking. It or the combo is a bit over the top on bright on some music.
I am wondering what a new amp really buys me. It does not help to say dude everything has changed. A little more specificity would be helpful. What types of amps do folks like to use. Put all my money into Strong 2 speaker. or strong 3 speaker. I know everyone has their own particular take on this...

It will be a month before i even do this so lots of research. I am leaning towards just waiting till my amp dies.

And I lost the bid.

sagasa · July 2013

I will recommend Emotiva XPR 2 your A9 will love it. If you want to hear your speakers full potential this is the
Amp. I did it to my Rti12 the result was amazing. I use mine more on home theater that is where this speakers
Shine..

Habanero Monk · July 2013

I use a Yamaha P2500S. It can be obtained for around $400 and I had zero risk in evaluating it since GC has a 30 day return policy. It replaced my Marantz Mono-blocks. Really allowed the Lsi 9's to open up

Dawgfish · July 2013

Another option (and the one I would recommend) is running a tube pre with Ht pass-through (like an Anthem PRE-2L). This will allow you to keep your current set-up for HT, but also use a dedicated tube pre for two channel music listening. The tube pre will go a long ways towards taming the brightness( especially running warmer sounding tubes) and will be light years better for music. It really gives you the best of both worlds, far better two channel performance while retaining your ht setup.

jumpindick · July 2013

I would say parasound halo series. I have one driving rti a9s and it does a great job.

GFOviedo · July 2013

sagasa wrote: »

I will recommend Emotiva XPR 2 your A9 will love it. If you want to hear your speakers full potential this is the
Amp. I did it to my Rti12 the result was amazing. I use mine more on home theater that is where this speakers
Shine..

I was also going to suggest Emotiva. They seem to be the best bang for your $$$.

nguyendot · July 2013

Used is best bang for your buck, actually. Emotiva is just one of many brands. Personally I think they look good and have a good price. A used Rotel or Parasound might be better however.

tonyb · July 2013

With RTI's, you'll want an amp on the warmer side of neutral. B&K, Parrasound fit that bill and are more musical than some other bargain brands. Certainly there are no shortage of amps to try, but the 2 I mentioned will put a grin on your face not easily removed for years to come.

drummer86 · July 2013

Used is definitely the best bang/buck ratio if you're patient. I'd go the monoblock route if it were my money... or maybe a Parasound HCA-2200. Plenty of options under a grand. Best thing about used is you can usually sell them for about what you paid, again, if you're patient.

4xoddic · August 2013

I've read many of the posts on this forum re: RTia9s. In 2009, I began with Polk RTia9 X 4, CSi5 & FXi6 X 2 powered by a Pioneer SC-07 (140 W x 7).

After the many posts re:external amp bringing the a9s alive; I read too much & convinced myself to go that route. In Sept. 2012, I installed a QSC GX7 pro amp, with the main a9s @ getting 740 Watts RMS @ 8 Ohms. Note: there is some skepticism that the GX7 could actually be putting out 740 Watts RMS. All I know is that the result has made 2 channel listening much more enjoyable = seeming to tame some of the "brightness."

CinderLyon · August 2013

4xoddic wrote: »

I've read many of the posts on this forum re: RTia9s. In 2009, I began with Polk RTia9 X 4, CSi5 & FXi6 X 2 powered by a Pioneer SC-07 (140 W x 7).

After the many posts re:external amp bringing the a9s alive; I read too much & convinced myself to go that route. In Sept. 2012, I installed a QSC GX7 pro amp, with the main a9s @ getting 740 Watts RMS @ 8 Ohms. Note: there is some skepticism that the GX7 could actually be putting out 740 Watts RMS. All I know is that the result has made 2 channel listening much more enjoyable = seeming to tame some of the "brightness."

well that amp is certainly affordable. Makes me wonder why some amps are so darn expensive.

eclypse · August 2013

I'd snag up 2x XPA-1 amps.. can be found cheaper second hand for around $1200 a pair. Or go with a XPR-5.

Another choice is with 2x XPA-2s running in bridge mode (single speaker). Would be 500 watts ea amp bridged.

If I had it all to do over again i'd grab 2 XPA-1s.

http://shop.emotiva.com/

They just had there summer sale and the XPR-5 was around $1700 I believe with the XPA-1s around $800 ea.

Inspector 24 · August 2013

FWIW, Parasound HCA-3500's can be had for $12-1500. I just picked up mine in near mint condition for $1400 shipped. They have larger power supplies than the Emo's too, which I'm told is a good thing. So far I'm amazed at what it's done for the A9's It's more of everything that is good about them and they're a lot less bright and harsh to listen to at volumes compared to the last amp, Parasound HCA-2003.

CinderLyon · October 2023

Well 10 years later my adcom power amp decided to start making a discernable low level buzzing sound that sort of cycles; In a quiet room it is noticeable.

So now it seems like replacement time.

Anything new folks might suggest given it has been 10 years since my original post?

I have noticed that my a9's get kinda muddy when full orchestras are playing loud all at once. Mostly they are amazing.

And i switched to a Denon 3600 AVR (has preouts), set up in dolby atmos 11.1 a long while ago. I tried a couple onkyo but they kept breaking.

rooftop59 · October 2023

I would suggest something warmer like a parasound or B&K reference. A parasound hca-1500 or A21 would be awesome.

If you want to really step up your game, try the musical fidelity A308CR that TMR is selling right now: I have the integrated and it’s by far the best amp I’ve ever owned…

skipshot12 · October 2023

You won’t get one for 1k but a WOPL 700 would be the ticket.
And, it’ll be bullet-proof with a lifetime warranty….

CinderLyon · October 2023

The wopl is pretty nice to look at. Right now I am currently leaning on a new Parasound Model 2250 v.2 Two Channel Power Amplifier, $1500 free shipping (to hawaii), and 2 year warranty.

Still researching. I looked as some used gear but really dont like the 90 day warranties, especially since shipping here can be rough.

Waiting to pull the trigger on the 10th. (prime day)

Brelvis · November 2023

Had to double check the start date for this thread! I am still running a pair of Rti10s with, up until last week, a B&K REF7250. My B&K started popping and I could see sparks coming off one of the capacitors so I think it's time has come. I've been trying to find someone who can repair my B&K as I really love it but have been unable to find a repair shop in the Dallas area.

Back to the subject, not sure what your price range is but I have been looking at the Emotiva XAP Gen 3 and some of the ATI offerings since ATI purchased B&K way back. There is also Monoprice who have their own line of class AB amplifiers made by ATI. These are all reasonably priced amps which are new with good warranties.

Amp's recommended for A9's

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