Amp for 5.1 RTIA's

Bgoodfella

Hey guys, I'm new to the forum but have been a long time stalker. I've been researching an amp for my 2x rti a7s, csi a6, and 2x fxi a6s.
They are being fed currently by my denon avr x4300h, and strictly used for HT movies and tv.
Locally I have options of a
parasound hca 2200ii ~$600
Parasound HCA 1205a ~$400
Sunfire cinema grand 200x5 ~$400
I feel like there are a few others but not fresh in my memory.
One question I have been trying to find an answer to with no luck - is it better to get a better quality 2ch amp and let the avr run my center and surrounds? Or get a 5 ch amp that may not be as good quality as the 2 channel amp?

Also I am open to other ideas for amps in the phx(mesa) az area
Thanks
Bgoodfella

Bgoodfella

I forgot to add, I can get a parasound 2205 shipped from vegas ~800+shipping

Bgoodfella

Rotel rb 991 for roughly 300

FestYboy

Don't forget NAD, several there too.

mrloren

I would go with all 5 speakers if you can.

Used the Sunfire is good, a fellow member has one and loves it
An Emotiva XPA-5 would also work well. I've read RTi and Emo to go well. I had a gen 1 for a weekend on my RTi's and it sounded great. My current XPA-3 sounds awesome on my Signatures.

ken brydson

Are you running a quality sub?

F1nut

DSkip wrote: »

I'd go with either of those Parasound five channel amps.

THIS

mdaudioguy

Since HT is your thing, adding external amplification to at least the front three speakers should be your goal, since the center channel is usually said to be most important in HT. The Parasounds always get good reviews here.

(Not to spark an Emo debate, but I used to use Emotiva amps with my RTi HT setup and wasn't pleased with the overall result. Not entirely horrible, but the combination seemed inherently bright.)

Bgoodfella

ken brydson wrote: »

Are you running a quality sub?

Not currently, I have a polk psw 5xx i forget if it's a 550 or 505 or whatever but something along those lines - i do plan to get either an svs pb2k or Hsu mk3 or something along those lines when one comes along

Bgoodfella

DSkip wrote: »

I'd go with either of those Parasound five channel amps.

The guy with the 1205 said
"The only thing is that each channel has an attenuator for adjustment on the back and they are scratchy when you adjust them. They could use some Deoxit."
When I asked if anything was wrong with it. Do you guys have any idea what he is talking about? I sure don't. Still new to the amplifier thing.

Bgoodfella

FestYboy wrote: »

Don't forget NAD, several there too.

Locally I see 2x nad 2200 amps, roughly 200 each, and down in Tucson i see a 2600. What's the thoughts there

cfrizz

The Sunfire will make your speakers very happy. I should know I have one!

Viking64

Bgoodfella wrote: »

DSkip wrote: »

I'd go with either of those Parasound five channel amps.

The guy with the 1205 said
"The only thing is that each channel has an attenuator for adjustment on the back and they are scratchy when you adjust them. They could use some Deoxit."
When I asked if anything was wrong with it. Do you guys have any idea what he is talking about? I sure don't. Still new to the amplifier thing.

Each channel has a level adjustment. (Black knobs along the top.) Deoxit is a spray that cleans the contacts in these controls.

Bgoodfella

Viking64 wrote: »

Bgoodfella wrote: »

DSkip wrote: »

I'd go with either of those Parasound five channel amps.

The guy with the 1205 said
"The only thing is that each channel has an attenuator for adjustment on the back and they are scratchy when you adjust them. They could use some Deoxit."
When I asked if anything was wrong with it. Do you guys have any idea what he is talking about? I sure don't. Still new to the amplifier thing.

Each channel has a level adjustment. (Black knobs along the top.) Deoxit is a spray that cleans the contacts in these controls.

Is that something which should cause me any concern?

Bgoodfella

cfrizz wrote: »

The Sunfire will make your speakers very happy. I should know I have one!

What speakers are you using with the sunfire?

Bgoodfella

Another question I've wondered about, I keep reading about amplifiers and musicality... is that much of a concern for a 99.9999% HT use? Or do I need mainly strong current to feed these speakers?

Viking64

Bgoodfella wrote: »

Is that something which should cause me any concern?

I wouldn't think so. It should be perfectly normal in a used component. I would imagine some people use it as a preventative measure also. Perhaps someone else might chime in as to whether this raises other concerns of which I am unaware.

pitdogg2

Bgoodfella wrote: »

Viking64 wrote: »

Bgoodfella wrote: »

DSkip wrote: »

I'd go with either of those Parasound five channel amps.

The guy with the 1205 said
"The only thing is that each channel has an attenuator for adjustment on the back and they are scratchy when you adjust them. They could use some Deoxit."
When I asked if anything was wrong with it. Do you guys have any idea what he is talking about? I sure don't. Still new to the amplifier thing.

Each channel has a level adjustment. (Black knobs along the top.) Deoxit is a spray that cleans the contacts in these controls.

Is that something which should cause me any concern?

No turn them all the way up and forget about them.

mdaudioguy

Bgoodfella wrote: »

Another question I've wondered about, I keep reading about amplifiers and musicality... is that much of a concern for a 99.9999% HT use? Or do I need mainly strong current to feed these speakers?

No and yes, in that order, for the most part. You'd be hard pressed to discern the characteristics of an amp with most HT content. High current will give you better dynamics, which is what you should be after.

tonyb

Guy in my neck of the woods has a Parasound 2505 for 500 bucks, a bit less than the 800 your looking at.

Bgoodfella

ok so now the question that i am having is ...
does the parasound 2205 sound two times better than the 1205, to justify twice the price, or $400 more?
and on the other hand, is the power of the sunfire cinema grand better than the power of the parasound 1205? is there much discernable sound between the two of them?
part of me was contemplating holding out for a cinema grand signature or a theater grand to get the 400x5, but i am not seeing any listed and ive been looking for a couple of months locally.

Bgoodfella

tonyb wrote: »

Guy in my neck of the woods has a Parasound 2505 for 500 bucks, a bit less than the 800 your looking at.

ooh that is intriguing, where is that neck of the woods?

tonyb

You don't need that much power. The 2205 is a 5 channel amp, the 1205 is a 2 channel amp, hence the difference in price. Sunfire sig is 400watts per channel, you don't need that kind of power.

Either the Sunfire Cinema , or 2 channel Parasound HCA 1200 would do just fine and let the receiver power the surrounds and center. In my opinion, the Parasound is a better match with the speakers you have.

Bgoodfella

i could be wrong, but im seeing 5 channels on the listing for the 1205a.

If i go 5 channel, would i be better served bi-wiring the A7's, and single channel to the CSIA6 // or just running a single channel to each of the 5 speakers?

tonyb

My mistake, I was thinking the 1200, instead of the 1205. Just run a single channel to all 5 speakers if you go that route. It's more than enough for those speakers. Your not going to use all that power anyway with those speakers.

Keep in mind the extra costs too for RCA cables to hook up all 5 channels. Buy decent ones, don't use those red and white cables that may have come with an old DVD player.

Bgoodfella

Thank you for the heads up, what brands are considered decent / good enough? I'm not necessarily even close to audiophile by any means so i dont need any 24kt gold cables or anything crazy like that haha

tonyb

Signal cable analog 2, he'll give ya a discount if you tell him your a member here. Bluejeans cables is another, and our own Douglas connections, of which he's a member here.

Bgoodfella

well, the HCA 1205 is no longer available, i missed out on that one... it now seems like it is boiling down to the sunfire cinema grand 5 x 200 or the Parasound HCA2205a from vegas at nearly double the price+shipping... im thinking the sunfire is probably the better bet, or is the parasound close to twice as good - to justify paying that much more for it?

mrloren

SVS make a good RCA cable too. I could not find a bad review on them at all.

PSOVLSK

I believe I once had the Sunfire you're considering and a nice thing about it is that it runs very cool. My current Parasound 1205a gets pretty warm. Might be something to think about if it's going to be in a cabinet.

I never owned the amps at the same time, so I can't give a side by side comparison, but my recollection is that they are pretty similar.

jeremymarcinko

Parasound for sure if you can find one used in your budget.

Check out the Outlaw Audio 5000 also if you want something new. It’s pretty good 5ch amp for the money.

I would also consider the newer Emotiva amps, probably not the gen1 amps, as many agree they’re a lil bright.