Amp for 5.1 RTIA's

cfrizz

Bgoodfella wrote: »

cfrizz wrote: »

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

What speakers are you using with the sunfire?[/quote



Polk S60 Main Speakers, Boston VR-920 Center Channel, Polk FXi-3 Surround Speakers.

I originally had a Parasound 1500A 2 channel 200wpc amp driving just my front RTA-8Tspeakers which is what introduced me to what a powerful amp can bring to the table.

I wanted all of my speakers to powered to their full potential which is how I ended up with the Sunfire I have, which is the 405wpc 5 channel version.

If I had come across the 200wpc Sunfire version first, I would have scooped that up.

My amp powers all of my speakers with ease with power to spare when needed and runs very cool, and only weighs about 40lbs.

The beauty of having a separate amp is that you can keep it through all other upgrades to your system.

mark090852

jeremymarcinko wrote: »

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

I agree, too, with the "newer" Emotiva amps. I have a XPA 2, gen 3, and it has sounded great with my LSim 703s and also my S 20s. Nice warm sound, not bright at all.

tonyb

400 bucks is a good price for that Sunfire, if it's still available One might think there is a problem with it.

Ask the owner some questions, like if there is any hum or static sound to the amp. If it's ever been worked on, and that all 5 channels are quiet at all volume levels , no added noise. Is he the original owner.

Bgoodfella

tonyb wrote: »

400 bucks is a good price for that Sunfire, if it's still available One might think there is a problem with it.

Ask the owner some questions, like if there is any hum or static sound to the amp. If it's ever been worked on, and that all 5 channels are quiet at all volume levels , no added noise. Is he the original owner.

The owner of the amp said that there is no hum or any noise coming from the unit, the only thing wrong with it is that the light on the joule meter is out, but other than that he is saying it works perfectly on all 5 channels... he doesnt have it posted for 400 but when i offered 400 he said he would take it since he already sold all of his martin logan speakers since that set up doesn't fit in his new place.

pitdogg2

Meter lamp is common problem. In the past with old Carver Amp's that had the incandescent pig tailed lamps they were replaced with LED might be an option for the Sunfire.

tonyb

Bgoodfella wrote: »

tonyb wrote: »

400 bucks is a good price for that Sunfire, if it's still available One might think there is a problem with it.

Ask the owner some questions, like if there is any hum or static sound to the amp. If it's ever been worked on, and that all 5 channels are quiet at all volume levels , no added noise. Is he the original owner.

The owner of the amp said that there is no hum or any noise coming from the unit, the only thing wrong with it is that the light on the joule meter is out, but other than that he is saying it works perfectly on all 5 channels... he doesnt have it posted for 400 but when i offered 400 he said he would take it since he already sold all of his martin logan speakers since that set up doesn't fit in his new place.

Good to know, that's a great price for that amp, go get it.

cfrizz

Get it while you can!!!!

Bgoodfella

I'm trying to work out a time to meet up with him, it's a struggle since we have very busy schedules and they are opposite of each other haha

Bgoodfella

pitdogg2 wrote: »

Meter lamp is common problem. In the past with old Carver Amp's that had the incandescent pig tailed lamps they were replaced with LED might be an option for the Sunfire.

I'll have to look into it, but to be honest the less lights distracting me from the show or movie, the better :-p definitely not a deal breaker for me

FestYboy

The NADs you listed are 2 channel units rated at 100wpc and 200wpc. The 2400 sits at 150wpc. All amps of that era are built with ridiculous amounts of headroom, easily surpassing their rated output. Good 2 channel units. I was thinking more along the lines of their multi channel amps and more specifically the master series.

Bgoodfella

FestYboy wrote: »

The NADs you listed are 2 channel units rated at 100wpc and 200wpc. The 2400 sits at 150wpc. All amps of that era are built with ridiculous amounts of headroom, easily surpassing their rated output. Good 2 channel units. I was thinking more along the lines of their multi channel amps and more specifically the master series.

I'm not too familiar with NAD, but those are pretty much all that was near by

Bgoodfella

What is it that gives amps the headroom? Is that something to do with watts?

FestYboy

It helps that they under rate their output. The output power caps and transformers are oversized as well.

gp4jesus

Bgoodfella wrote: »

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

The 1205 is essentially a 5 channel Parasound HCA-1000A. If you happen across another, take it from me, your LCR will like it. So will your surrounds.

Tony

Bgoodfella

gp4jesus wrote: »

Bgoodfella wrote: »

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

The 1205 is essentially a 5 channel Parasound HCA-1000A. If you happen across another, take it from me, your LCR will like it. So will your surrounds.

Tony

Thank you for the info, I still havent decided on an amp yet. I was trying to make it out to check out the sunfire cinema grand amp this weekend but the circumstances didn't allow it. Part of me keeps going back to the HCA-2205, but part of me is back and forth if i will even notice the difference from the sunfire to the parasound in mainly home theater. The other reason I've been thinking about the HCA2205 is, i could use the 3 for my mains for HT, and save the other 2 for a 2 channel music set up in another room - maybe with some LSIM's that i keep looking at online...
Decisions decisions.

Bgoodfella

Sorry to revive this forum from the dead, but I missed out on the sunfire when I finally went to go get it -it was sold
Currently i am looking at a parasound hca 2205a from California . I know these are getting to be old amps now days, is 800 a fair price? I've seen several old forums where they are selling around 600 to 700, but also seeing some on ebay for 1200 ish.
Also I keep waiting for adorama to do more polk lsim package deals so I can snag one but I haven't seen anything for almost a year! If they do come back around, would the 2205 be a good amp for them?( 707 or 705, 706x and 703 or the FX for the back 2)