first time theater set up questions

[kingweb50]

I am setting up my first media room. So far I purchased paradigm studio 100's and cc-690 and 2 arp-590's and studio sub 12 from my local dealer. I have not purchased a receiver or anything else yet. my question is can I use a emotiva xpa-5 (200w x5) to power the speakers and purchase a less powered receiver like the marantz sr5008 to save money since the amp is higher powered? I have about 2 thousand left in my budget for equipment.

 

[Adam]

Welcome to the forum!

You certainly can use a receiver and separate amp, as long as the receiver has pre-outs for all of the channels that you want to amplify (and the Marantz SR5008 does). Do you already have the amp? If not, I'd suggest just getting the receiver first and trying it out. Then you can decide if you want more power. You might find that the receiver has plenty of juice to play as loud as you like.

 

[kingweb50]

no I have not purchased the amp or receiver yet. I read on here people saying the studio 100s need a lot of power to make them sound good so thats where the amp question came from. The sr5008 is 100 watts per channel. If more power is not needed I would stick with the receiver and save some money.

 

[fuzz092888]

I'm with Adam. I would try it before spending all that extra money on an amp. Remember, unless you're trying to listen to things really really loud you probably won't use more than about 50 watts or less with more being needed for big peaks (explosions etc).

 

[kingweb50]

ok I will just get the marantz first and see how it goes. Thanks for the advice guys

 

[ImcLoud]

Then when its time for an amp, Emotiva xpa3, outlaw 2200's {3 of them}, and a few others are all readily available... Let the avr power your surrounds and just get an amp for your front 3... I wouldn't go with the xpa5 unless you are going with a processor/preamp... Since you have that Marantz amp section sitting there you might as well use it, having 400w for surrounds is a giant waste... Although now the xpa5 and 3 are the gen2's so you will pay more for them, but I'm sure b-stocks will be a-plenty so you can save $100 there, just have to call them and ask if they have them... Same goes for outlaw, check the website but also call, I bought all of my 2200's from bstock and they came new never opened, 1 of them was bstock and in perfect shape...