Amplifier recommendations

[Cjamrr]

Your right, i was in a hurry to get a new amp for my new speakers. Originally i demoed my speakers at 2 different focal dealers. One using moon preamp and amp, the other using peachtree. I had no idea then about amps until after i bought my speakers. I will find out from good reviews from owners not dealers.

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

Yes.
Are all amps the same?

If you give most people a blind-test, they will have an extremely difficult time telling any amps apart, unless the Amp was made to sound different with some kind of EQ, Tones, or DSP.

However, you still want a high quality amp. So you don’t want to go too cheap.

At the same time, this is a hobby, so it’s not always about sound quality. It’s also about other intangibles like pride of ownership or resale value.

You don’t want to spend too much or too little. And only you can determine what those numbers are.

Brands like Anthem, Adcom, ATI, Parasound, Rotel, and Carver should all be great. Compare the prices from your dealers. And pick one that is in your budget.

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

Also, in case you haven’t noticed, many amps are associated with ATI one way or another.

ATI owns B&K, Theta Digital, and DataSAT.

Some of the Mark Levinson and Lexicon amps were made by ATI.

ATI also makes some amps amps for Cary Audio, Outlaw, and Monoprice.

When I spoke to the regional sales director of Adcom, one of the first things he said was that Adcom is “a sister company of ATI”.

 

[Cjamrr]

Would you recommend ATI for 2 channel music or a 3 channel for both music and HT? And which Amp would you setup for a customer with Focal Kanta No. 2 speakers and onkyo tx rz 1100 avp.

 

[DigitalDawn]

We have a Black Friday sale on ATI. Check here.

 

[everettT]

Would you recommend ATI for 2 channel music or a 3 channel for both music and HT? And which Amp would you setup for a customer with Focal Kanta No. 2 speakers and onkyo tx rz 1100 avp.

What's your center? The ATIs are well made and easy to recomend. Also the QSC I linked is more than ample, thx certified, low distortion and 2ohm stable.

 

[PENG]

You guys are cool. It’s good to hear from you. Sorry, i got overwhelmed by the options of getting a sound system to fit within my budget. The Anthem mca325 would have been a good buy from dealer at a lower cost, which i wanted also to purchase another JL Audio e112 to balance out my sub HT setup. Having both would have been under 5 k. I don’t know where to start for amps. The QSC DCA 1622 sounds interesting. The ATI’s, B&k, Carver m1.0t mk II.

If you happen to like that particular Carver, go for it. If you are keen on transparency/accuracy, the MCA 325 would be my choice, I would bet you 5 to 1 in a properly set up blind test you cannot tell it apart from the STR or any amps that are design to be transparent. If you it sounds bore in your room with those Focals, try EQ to suit your taste.

For price, you can't beat the QSC DCA and Crown XLS. Verdinut said the fan in the DCA was quiet, but I suspect if you sit close enough, listening at low level in a very quiet room, you may hear it.

Impedance dip or not, it depends mostly on your sitting distance and spl you listen to. As I mentioned, I am quite happy with my 5 watt amp diving the 1028 Be, that has similar power requirement to the Kanta's.

 

[Cjamrr]

What's your center? The ATIs are well made and easy to recomend. Also the QSC I linked is more than ample, thx certified, low distortion and 2ohm stable.

My center speaker is Focal chorus CC700. I checked out the QSC. I’m gonna look at ATI.

 

[Cjamrr]

Whats your opinion on these:
ATI AT6000, or ATI AT3005.

 

[lovinthehd]

Would you recommend ATI for 2 channel music or a 3 channel for both music and HT? And which Amp would you setup for a customer with Focal Kanta No. 2 speakers and onkyo tx rz 1100 avp.

If you're using the same setup for movies and music, then the three channel amp makes sense as the center gets much of the work in a movie. Or two 2-ch amps. I wouldn't distinguish amp itself for use in movies vs music, tho.

 

[Cjamrr]

We have a Black Friday sale on ATI. Check here.

Where is your sale?

 

[Cjamrr]

If you're using the same setup for movies and music, then the three channel amp makes sense as the center gets much of the work in a movie. Or two 2-ch amps. I wouldn't distinguish amp itself for use in movies vs music, tho.

Does a three channel amp serve differently than a two channel amp in music?

 

[Cjamrr]

Also, in case you haven’t noticed, many amps are associated with ATI one way or another.

ATI owns B&K, Theta Digital, and DataSAT.

Some of the Mark Levinson and Lexicon amps were made by ATI.

ATI also makes some amps amps for Cary Audio, Outlaw, and Monoprice.

When I spoke to the regional sales director of Adcom, one of the first things he said was that Adcom is “a sister company of ATI”.

Whats your opinion on these:
ATI AT6000, or ATI AT3005
for music/HT

 

[lovinthehd]

Does a three channel amp serve differently than a two channel amp in music?

It's just got three channels, has nothing to do with music particularly, just allows you to externally power the three front channels with one amp.

 

[Drunkpenguin]

Think of each channel as a separate amp. So if you have a 3 channel hooked up to left, center, and right then they all get amplified when used. So if you turn on 2 channel music only the left and right are used. The center speaker amp channel just kinda sleeps when not needed.

 

[PENG]

Does a three channel amp serve differently than a two channel amp in music?

Not in terms of sound quality, but for power supply, some amps use one per channel while some, such as the Anthem MCA series allow the total available power (from 2 or more transformers, and the storage caps) to be shared between all channels. That is probably one reason why the Anthem MCA multichannel amps have higher dynamic power rating than equivalent ATI amps.

 

[Cjamrr]

I understand now. I listen carefully last night just with the anthem MCA amp playing music. Any possibility that the Onkyo tx rz 1100 AVP could be playing a little bright?

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

Whats your opinion on these:
ATI AT6000, or ATI AT3005
for music/HT

I am 100% confident that both amps will sound 100% awesome for music and HT.

I also own the AT3005. I have used it to power Revel Salon2, B&W 802D2, KEF 201/2, Philharmonic 3, RBH SX-T2 and SVT Towers, and other towers from Dynaudio and Focal.

Both amps will sound equally awesome for both music and HT.

 

[PENG]

I understand now. I listen carefully last night just with the anthem MCA amp playing music. Any possibility that the Onkyo tx rz 1100 AVP could be playing a little bright?

Possibly, how far do you sit, and how loud? If you don't have a spl meter, the volume position would give us some idea.

 

[Cjamrr]

Possibly, how far do you sit, and how loud? If you don't have a spl meter, the volume position would give us some idea.

The couch would be 14’ away, the pub table is behind the couch and is 20-25’ away from LCR speakers. Dart board is 37’ away. I listen both mellow to comfortable loud. Not extremely loud. Ok, maybe once in awhile when its get the Led Zep out or going up country with canned heat.