REQUEST: Thoughts on likely best external amp option to improve movie and multi-ch music SQ and system longevity for a 5.2.4 HT.
GOALS: Improve movie/multi-ch music SQ and avoid premature AVR death (heat) or speaker damage (THD) by running the AVR too close to its max output on a routine basis.
COMMON REQUIREMENTS:
a) Use is Movies and Multi-Ch Music,
NOT 2-Ch music, in a Dedicated HT room (15' x 18' x 8' tall).
b) Augment a
DENON x4500H (125W /ch at 2-ch @ 8 ohm)
c) <$1.2k delivered (lower is better)
THE THREE OPTIONS: (Specs below are for
all channels driven @ 8 ohms.)
1) Add a
stereo amp for Front L/R;
Parasound 2250 V.2 @
275W /ch.
$999
2) Add a
three-channel amp for Front L/C/R;
Emotiva XPA-3 Gen 3 @
275W /ch.
$1,199
3) Add a
five-channel amp for all five base layer speakers;
Outlaw 5000x @
120W /ch.
$820 ($749+ship)
MORE DETAIL:
a) Atmos sounds great, but system feels power limited when running all nine channels from only the Denon.
- For movies, dB volume needs to be in mid-low teens to provide impact. When I was only running a 5.2 rig, volume was in mid-20s for similar impact.
b) System is tuned up to best of my ability using both
MultEQ XT32 and the accompanying
Audyssey MultEQ Editor App (very cool BTW).
c) When all nine channels are running, I expect each channel only has ~30W available, nowhere near the 125W 2ch spec.
d) Speakers are;
Ascend S2 mains,
Duo center, and
Luna surrounds, two
SVS subs, recently added four
JBL Arena 61C in-ceiling Atmos speakers.
DISCLAIMER:
Initial inclination is the five-channel option, even with lower per ch power, will provide the best SQ improvement for my use and best reduce the load on AVR.
However external amps are not my strong suit, so thanks for your thoughts.
Cheers,
XEagleDriver
