amps to look at

goingganzo

ok guys the time has come to upgrade my 7 channel amp. and would like some opions.

i have a adcom 7 channel 125 wpc

the adcom is nice but i would like a little more sence my new theater i am desigining and going to buld in a few years will be larger the max space i can make it is 20x30 but that is a little large once i get the seating distance seats screen scixe and area between seats and seats and wall i will have final size.

i was thinking of a sunfire sig 400 wats by 7 channel amp. anything is the 3-4k range i should look at. i do have and love my sunfire pre. i like it better than the rotel and anthem pre i looked at. the athem you could tweak a bit more but the carver had a bit fuller sound. for ht. but the anthem had a more defined 2 channel.

all opions are welcome

F1nut

Trust your ears.

McLoki

You can usually get a cinepro amp in the $2,000-$3,000 range (If you can find one for sale). Their mkIII versions are very nice sounding. (then again, I think my mkI sounds awesome...)

Michael

LuSh

I'd check out the Krell Showcase 5 channel amp and the Classe' CAV 150...both can be bought for under your budget used. 7 channel is for the birds...

reeltrouble1

tweet tweet

I really like my 7 channel amp and my 7 channel system, its a great way to do HT if you have the room for it. But then I am just a bird.

RT1

unc2701

Ok, since you're going to have a dedicated theater, you're obviously gonna have a closet/ rack/ designated built in space for you gear. I'm gonna just throw this out and feel free to shoot it down, but why not get 3 or 4 two channel amps? Most 7 channel amps are NOT going to have a single power supply for each channel and if you want 400 watts out of it, you really should have TWO 20 amp receptacles going into it (I believe the cinepro does this). Get a few used dual mono 2 channel amps and daisy chain the 12 volt triggers on them- you'll have more slam than any 7 channel amp made.

PolknPepsi

How about Monoblocks...one for each speaker?

Dennis Gardner

I like the Sunfire idea since you like their pre. Personally, I would look into Outlaw's new 790. 300X7 would be plenty.

Remember that even in a larger room, your huge IB sub may allow you to run your mains and surrounds at small and wouldn't really require alot more oomph than your current Adcom can give.

Sami

Bi-amp the Adcom for your front stage and get 2 stereo amps for your rears? Endless possibilities but if you have the budget for new amp(s) then go for it and sell me the Adcom...

audiobliss

There is something kinda neat about 7-channel amps, but like others have said, for the most part they won't be able to touch a combination of monoblocks or stereo amps. Especially since you have a dedicated HT area and most likely will have an area set aside for your equipment, I'd personally seriously consider some stereo amps or monoblocks, myself.

But of course, from my perspective, anything in the 3k - 4k range (7-channel or not) is absolutely amazing.

PolknPepsi

Since you have the Sunfire Pre a matching Sunfire amp would look spectacular! Man, I love that black with yellow meters. And you have a great budget to work with too.

unc2701

Yeah, monoblocks would be ideal, but finding 3 matching, used stereo amps is hard enough... make that 7 mono blocks??? hmmmm... but on the other hand, Adcom 565's run about $400 each; times seven that's $2800. That's 300 man amps each and double down into 4 ohms... Oh and that 56" of rack space: dead sexy.

except that they don't have 12 volt triggers.

sickicw

LuSh wrote:

I'd check out the Krell Showcase 5 channel amp and the Classe' CAV 150...both can be bought for under your budget used. 7 channel is for the birds...

Since the Krell is a class A amp, does this mean that it outputs maximum current regardless of the sound volume? The specs say it uses up to 70 watts just in standby mode!

reeltrouble1

Adcom??? Please, he would be better off sticking with what he has.

+1 Sunfire

RT1

unc2701

Well, he's got Adcom already, so we know he likes 'em and you need to hear a pair of 565's before you knock 'em OK, I was mostly kidding on that last post, but at one point I did have 3 channels of 565's and 2 of 585's and it sounded pretty damn good.

As for the sunfires- haven't liked the ones I've heard (the 200 watt AVR & the 5 channel 200 watt power amp)- if you're gonna use these for music I would look someplace else. They also pull the cook-the-specs trick; that 400 watt figure is bullsh--

From the manual: "Power consumption: 1800W Absolute Max (Fuse Limit)"
Something doesn't add up here...

Really, there aren't many multichannel amps that can truly do more than 200 watts. It's just not possible without multiple power cords. Anyhow, my $.02... if you really want that 3db from 200 watts to 400 watts, you're probably gonna need to get more than one amp.

gregure

Sunfire sounds like a good idea, but I've heard some scuttlebutt from some people in the know that Sunfire has developed a reputation for rigging their wattage ratings, and that 400 x 7 is rather unrealistic. Again, just rumors. The reviews I've read on Sunfire are great.
However, I would recommend taking a look at Primare Amps. I truly love this gear. You would need to purchase an A30.2, their two channel amp, and an A30.5, their 5 channel amp to make 7 channels. Don't let the wattage ratings fool you, these things are very powerful. As one of my co-worker's likes to say: "Wattage means ****-all." It's all about power supply, and that's where Primare is king. The two-channel is $2000 and the 5-channel is $3000. Again, as was suggested, let your ears decide. Give them a listen.
To give you two examples:
At the Magnolia I work at, we have a 75 watt Primare integrated amp hooked up to some Vienna Acoustics floor standers, and it easily has more power and dynamics than anything else in the room including the B&K AVR 507 (150wpc), the Pioneer Elite VSX74TVXI (140wpc, supposedly), and the Denon AVR4806 (130wpc). Primare's 75 watts (actually 125 into 4 Ohms) kicks the **** out of every other amp in the room.
Also, Primare is what they use for the large home theater demo at the Magnolia Design Center in Seattle, a large theater room with Vienna Mahlers for front speakers. It sounds great, and is a very large room.
Check out the link here.
Quick facts: The conservative power ratings are 120 wpc 8 Ohms, 200 at 4 Ohms. Sounds small, but really, listen and you will see how powerful they are.
One disadvantage, however: The 5 channel amp has no balanced inputs, thus the only 50% price jump from the two-channel.

unc2701

oooohhhh... I forgot about primare- +1 on that. Independent power supplies, solid build... They're a lot like Bryston (and everyone knows how I love Bryston...) Speaking of which , you could probably pull a used 9b ST and 3b ST for about $3000. They usually spec out at 150 watts 8 ohm, but that's nowhere near clipping. Sony would probably label them 250 watts- same thing goes for the primares.

tdeluce

gregure wrote:

However, I would recommend taking a look at Primare Amps. I truly love this gear. You would need to purchase an A30.2, their two channel amp, and an A30.5, their 5 channel amp to make 7 channels. Don't let the wattage ratings fool you, these things are very powerful. As one of my co-worker's likes to say: "Wattage means ****-all." It's all about power supply, and that's where Primare is king. The two-channel is $2000 and the 5-channel is $3000. Again, as was suggested, let your ears decide. Give them a listen.

How do you think the A30.3 might compare with
the Adcom GFA-5503?

I have ordered the Outlaw M2200 M-blocks for my LCR
letting my Denon drive my surrounds. But I am considering
a complete separates solution in that scenario I would
move the outlaws to drive my surrounds and would
want a very high end three channel amp or three mono
block amps for my LCR.

ESavinon

I recently bought 7 soundstream da-2 thx amps.
they're extremely narrow in height.
I had them all 7 stacked together
I have them bridged at 500 watts.
I spent $1900 shipped from ebay.
They have excellent clean,detailed sound.
The ex owner had a 10.2 ss system.

aaharvel

http://www.lexicon.com/products/product-category.asp?cat=AMPS

Dennis Gardner

Glad to know that those Soundstreams went to someone here on CP. I have always liked both the DA-1 and DA-2 amps. I cherish my DAC-1 D/A converter that I have had for a couple of years now. Too bad to see Soundstream go away from there early designs when they soldout. I use their Reference 550 5 channel amp in my car also.

Your 500 watts per channel is crazy. You'll never have a need for more than that!

gregure

tdeluce wrote:

How do you think the A30.3 might compare with
the Adcom GFA-5503?

I have ordered the Outlaw M2200 M-blocks for my LCR
letting my Denon drive my surrounds. But I am considering
a complete separates solution in that scenario I would
move the outlaws to drive my surrounds and would
want a very high end three channel amp or three mono
block amps for my LCR.

If you don't need an amp w/ balanced inputs, the A30.3 would be an excellent choice for the front three speakers. In my personal opinion, I think Primare is much better gear than most of the other amps out there, except when you get to the level of McIntosh and Pass Labs. I've found Primare to be exceptionally musical, warm, detailed like nothing else I've heard at that level, and they don't run as warm as some other amps like B&K. Again, their power supplies are just so massive, it equals headroom to spare. And they are really heavy, too. Even the slim 2 channel amp is as heavy as a Denon 3805 receiver, if not heavier. Adcom is good stuff. Primare is great. I would hazard a guess that they blow Outlaw out of the water as well, but I have no personal experience w/ Outlaw to say for sure. Again, give them a listen before buying, I think you'll find it's some of the best gear available. Why do you think Sumiko distributes Primare exclusively to run their Sonus Faber and Vienna Acoustics speaker lines?

aaharvel

seriously. If your standards are that high and your pocketbook allows it- give Lexicon a try.

tdeluce

aaharvel wrote:

seriously. If your standards are that high and your pocketbook allows it- give Lexicon a try.

Thanks. Do they make a 3 channel amp or mono blocks?

aaharvel

hmm.. i don't think so. The only ones i think they offer now are the ones in the link that i provided in my 1st post on this thread.

tdeluce

aaharvel wrote:

hmm.. i don't think so. The only ones i think they offer now are the ones in the link that i provided in my 1st post on this thread.

Thanks just saw it now..

What would really be cool is something like
the Anthem P2 or P5 but 3 channels, i.e. a P3...

PolknPepsi

Just an idea...
Why not take a look at www.audiogon.com just to see what is on the market. Of course it's mostly used but it could give you an idea of what some high end and not so high end equipment is available. Never hurts just to look.

goingganzo

what would i gain by getting a amp with ballance inputs?

i will be giveing a look ai Primare and Lexicon a look. but i have to find some dealers of them.

jmierzur

Since you are considering Primare and Lexicon, try to see if you can find a dealer for Simaudio. Someone on Agon has this five channel amp for sale. There is also an Simaudio Titan 5-channel on Agon as well (search for Simaudio or Sim audio to find all listings).

If you listen to two channel music, consider a W-5 for the front L+R channels. Otherwise you can send the amp to Simaudio and have two more channels installed.

Simaudio amps are highly regarded and I highly recommend these.

mesquitehead

Outlaw

aaharvel

i was just wondering what's wrong with your Adcom 7607 being that you want to upgrade? That's a pretty nice amp.

Not enough power??