B&W CM9 with Ati amps

[ice cube]

Hi.
Now I have an integra 70.6 with CM9 (cm2,cm5 2 pair,subCM asw10 CM) and I like it, and I am between having an Ati amplifier. But confusing between AT 2002 ($ 2200) and 1802($ 1500)
What do you recommend???

 

[Swerd]

Your receiver is pretty potent, rated at 135 wpc two channels driven, at 8 ohms, etc.

Usually, the rule of thumb with increasing amplifier power has it that doubling the power (in your case, to 270 wpc) is just barely noticeable. To truly notice a gain in power, you would have to increase it by 10 fold, a full log increase. That would be 1350 wpc , and I'd guess that probably is not in the cards. So that leaves a half log, or the square root of 10 fold, about triple, or about 400 wpc, for a noticeable difference.

So, it is probably true that you don't really require the external amp. However, adding an external 2 channel amp of roughly 200 wpc to drive your front left and right speakers still ought to provide some advantage in head room because of the added power supply of the ATI amp. Both are well made products.

It may come down to how much do you want to spend to ensure that your amps are never driven into clipping? $2200 for 200 wpc, or $1500 for 180 wpc? The difference of 20 wpc is probably too small to notice. Divide price by total watts:
$2200/400 watts = $5.50 per watt
$1500/360 watts = $4.17 per watt

I hope that helps .

 

[ice cube]

Thank you ..
Look at the difference between them
[2/14, 1:29 AM]: http://www.ati-amp.com/AT2000.php
[2/14, 1:29 AM] http://www.ati-amp.com/AT1800.php

 

[Swerd]

Thank you ..
Look at the difference between them
[2/14, 1:29 AM]: http://www.ati-amp.com/AT2000.php
[2/14, 1:29 AM] http://www.ati-amp.com/AT1800.php

I had looked at those when I wrote my previous response. And it is why I think the AT1802 may be the best deal for you.

Other than the 20 wpc and price differences, the only difference I see between these two amps is the "balanced" design in the AT2002. This does cost more to build, but it only offers an advantage if you have high electromagnetic interference (EMI) in your listening room. So high, that a short interconnect cable from your receiver to the amp would pick up the EMI and introduce it as audible noise in your system.

Most homes don't have that problem. If you now have RCA interconnect cables between a sound source device like a CD, DVD, or BR player, and if you hear obvious noise, then you have this problem and you might benefit from a fully balanced system. That would include fully balanced connections at both ends of interconnects between all the sound sources, the preamp (or receiver) and the amplifier.

I noticed that your receiver has XLR type connections as preamp outputs for the front left and right channels. There are abundant examples of audio gear that have XLR type connections, but lack the fully balanced circuitry inside. Read your owners manual carefully and look for the words "fully balanced". If your receiver does not have fully balanced circuits at the preamp output level, then you will not benefit from the fully balanced circuits in the AT 2002 amp. Go ahead and get the AT 1802 at the lower price. The difference of 20 wpc power will be negligible.

 

[ice cube]

Thank you very much .. Really I convinced

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

Yeah, the difference in price isn't so much the power output of 200 vs 180.

It is because the 2002 is truly fully balanced, which costs a lot more money.

The $1600 Outlaw 7500 200WPC x 5Ch is also truly fully balanced and made by ATI (if you ever need service, ATI will do the service, not Outlaw). I think it is a much better buy than both the 2002 & 1800.