Amp suggestions

[ougrad02]

For my receiver I am using an onkyo 705. I am looking to purchase an external amp to power the main right and main left speaker, leaving the receiver to power the center and the surrounds. If I am to use external amps is that the best approach, or should I get an amp to power the center channel? Or do I need to pick up an amp to power the fronts and center? Sorry for all the questions but I'm new to the whole external amp idea.

So far I am interested in the outlaw monoblock amp. Is there anything else that delivers 200 watts per channel in a small package such as this amp? The max I would like to spend on amps is $800 but would love to be closer to $500 or $600 if possible.

Thanks in advance for the help.

Jeff

 

[bandphan]

id up your budget, or your money would be wasted in my opinion. I amp my mains becuse i listen to alot of music, more than movies. Im sure someone will have an opinion on 3 channel amps(b&k, outlaw monos, krell, ect..) What mains ?? Center?

 

[mazersteven]

id up your budget, or your money would be wasted in my opinion.

Why does he have to up his budget? Why would it be a waste?

 

[bandphan]

Why does he have to up his budget? Why would it be a waste?

imo, imo
based on the info provided, liking to be in the 5-600 dollar range. Still dont know what the mains are, and if three channel is needed.

 

[mazersteven]

The Outlaw Audio 2200 Mono block amps are an excellent choice.

Also check out the new Emotiva amp coming out. I would contact Emotiva and find out more info.

XPA-5
5 x 200w $799

http://emotivalounge.proboards54.com/index.cgi?board=amps&action=display&thread=1192051012&page=1

 

[mazersteven]

And I would also recommend amping the center channel also if your going to amp the mains. Don't know what speakers you need a separate amp for?

 

[mtrycrafts]

For my receiver I am using an onkyo 705. I am looking to purchase an external amp to power the main right and main left speaker, leaving the receiver to power the center and the surrounds. If I am to use external amps is that the best approach, or should I get an amp to power the center channel? Or do I need to pick up an amp to power the fronts and center? Sorry for all the questions but I'm new to the whole external amp idea.

So far I am interested in the outlaw monoblock amp. Is there anything else that delivers 200 watts per channel in a small package such as this amp? The max I would like to spend on amps is $800 but would love to be closer to $500 or $600 if possible.

Thanks in advance for the help.

Jeff

What speakers are you driving with that 705? Impedance, sensitivity, listening distance, normal listening volume, all has an impact as you may not need an external amp at all.

 

[cbraver]

What speakers are you driving with that 705? Impedance, sensitivity, listening distance, normal listening volume, all has an impact as you may not need an external amp at all.

Mtrycrafts has asked the most important questions of your decision.

If you do decide to go with seperates, with your budget, I would recommend going the prosound route. I like Crown amps, lots of members here like the Behringer amps, QSC is also great. Behringers Europower and Crowns XLS series are both within your budget for powering your mains, but a few things to keep in mind:
1) You need to answer Mtrycrafts questions before even considering seperates
2) Pro-amps have fans for convection cooling which make some noise. WmAx has replaced fans with quieter ones, maybe you can search for something on that or just call the company you buy from and see if they have a recommendation.
3) Careful with the gain knob.

Behringer 1500s are two channel amps that make 260watt at 8-ohms. 300 bucks on B&H, but you can find them *much* cheaper. Two of these could power your front three, with a channel to spare.

Crown XLS402s make 300 watts per channel at 8ohms for about 400 bucks, but you can also find them cheaper also (and they have a 60 dollar rebate going on them now). Crown also makes a XLS202 that makes 200 watts per channel at 8-ohms for under 300.

Just food for thought.

 

[MUDSHARK]

It was my understanding that the noise floor on Crown made them less than optimal for home audio. Also consider that Outlaw sells direct thereby reducing selling costs. By all accounts by those who have them the Outlaws are a great value. If the poster's main interest is music then two should suffice. A third (or fouth or fifth) could be added later if desired.

 

[TLS Guy]

If you want one of the best sounding and stable amps available, take a look at the Quad 909. It is a unique class C feed forward amp. There is absolutely nothing else with this topology. It will bring you class A performance without the disadvantages, and blessed relief from crossover distortion so prevalent in the ubiquitous class AB designs. The whole concept is pure genius on the part of the late Peter Walker OBE. He was one of the greatest pioneers of Hi Fi audio and we all owe him a huge debt. His influence spread far and wide.

There are lots of US dealers.

http://www.quad-hifi.co.uk/model.php?sector_id=2&range_id=3&model_id=12

 

[WmAx]

It will bring you class A performance without the disadvantages, and blessed relief from crossover distortion so prevalent in the ubiquitous class AB designs.

Since when has crossover distortion 'prevalent' on AB class designs of the last 25-30 years? Since the late 70's or early 80's, such distortion at any appreciable magnitude has been all but extinct from properly designed/operating class AB designs. It is not evidenced to be of any concern today.

-Chris

 

[tgoyette]

It was my understanding that the noise floor on Crown made them less than optimal for home audio.

just wondering where you saw this? I've been thinking about buying an xls402 for audio and have thus far heard almost exclusively good things about them.

 

[WmAx]

just wondering where you saw this? I've been thinking about buying an xls402 for audio and have thus far heard almost exclusively good things about them.

I have two Crown XLS202D amplifiers on my computer speakers - and I can not detect any noise unless I put my ear almost directly on the speakers. However, I will note that the Behringer EP amplifiers have substantially higher build/engineering quality, and for less money, for a given power range.

-Chris

 

[Gasman]

XPA-5
5 x 200w $799

That does suck, that they went up from 699.00
It was an amp I was considering, but may just get the MPS-2
(currently have gotten the OK, to get the 899 IPS-1, just trying to talk my way up to the MPS-2)
If I can't talk up the spending for the MPS-2, I will just settle for the LPA-1 (and pass on the IPS)

 

[TLS Guy]

Since when has crossover distortion 'prevalent' on AB class designs of the last 25-30 years? Since the late 70's or early 80's, such distortion at any appreciable magnitude has been all but extinct from properly designed/operating class AB designs. It is not evidenced to be of any concern today.

-Chris

All but is the operative word. I would agree that the low level signal problem is solved, but still rears its ugly head when amps are pushed. To me at least I find crossover distortion particularly unpleasant even in small amounts. I know Peter Walker did too. I find his class C feed forward amps bring blessed relief.

 

[tgoyette]

I have two Crown XLS202D amplifiers on my computer speakers - and I can not detect any noise unless I put my ear almost directly on the speakers. However, I will note that the Behringer EP amplifiers have substantially higher build/engineering quality, and for less money, for a given power range.

-Chris

This is interesting. I have actually read the exact opposite; that the build quality of the Behringers are lacking in comparison to the Crowns. I would imagine that the two companies are roughly equivalent, but everyone has their own preference as to which is better..

 

[cbraver]

just wondering where you saw this? I've been thinking about buying an xls402 for audio and have thus far heard almost exclusively good things about them.

Crown XLS402D's are great amplifiers - you won't regret it. I'm listening to music on one right now, powering a pair of Dynaudio 70s. It's a quiet amp, I have no idea where he got that information from. Customer service is amazing, they stand behind their product beyond what you'd imagine. Best 330 bucks I've spent in a long time.

I also recently purchased a Behringer Europower 2500 for a DIY sub I'm building. I hooked it up for kicks to my Dyn's and I prefer the Crown, just personal preference. This is going to make a great sub amp though!

If one is quieter than the other, I couldn't tell because the noise level is low enough where it's hard to do an A/B test. I also just purchased a Behringer crossover, that's supposed to arrive tomorrow.

 

[B3Nut]

Since when has crossover distortion 'prevalent' on AB class designs of the last 25-30 years? Since the late 70's or early 80's, such distortion at any appreciable magnitude has been all but extinct from properly designed/operating class AB designs. It is not evidenced to be of any concern today.

-Chris

Heck, I assumed that if a class-AB amplifier today showed any signs of crossover distortion, it was either badly designed, or in need of repairs/adjustments. I was under the impression that this gremlin was handily dispatched decades ago.

TP

 

[WmAx]

This is interesting. I have actually read the exact opposite; that the build quality of the Behringers are lacking in comparison to the Crowns. I would imagine that the two companies are roughly equivalent, but everyone has their own preference as to which is better..

I don't really care what you read. I have both, and have taken them apart for inspection. It's no contest. The Behringer is superior in many respects: It has better connectors(the banana connectors on the Crown are not even the correct standard size -- causing loose connection -- and the wire hole does not accept 12AWG size wire), far superior quality PCBs(the Behringer uses high grade glass expoxy with redundant circuits traces with the components soldered to each trace layer individually, the crown has standard low grace PCBs with single traces), far superior cooling system(the Behringer maximizes air current heat removal - where as the Crown does not), and far superior basic PCB/heatsink integration(the Crown has the output transistor heatsinks mounted on top of the PCBs -- a real risk for damage to the PCBs in circumstance of physical shock). The Behringers are also designed to operate into a larger variety of loads.

Now, are the Crown XLS units considered good amps? Sure. For fixed installations. I can not fault them for performance. But they are not of the same build/engineering quality as the Behringer EP amplifiers.

-Chris

 

[WmAx]

Heck, I assumed that if a class-AB amplifier today showed any signs of crossover distortion, it was either badly designed, or in need of repairs/adjustments. I was under the impression that this gremlin was handily dispatched decades ago.

TP

Exactly.

-Chris