Buying a used amp ATI 1506 or Linn Chakra c5100 or RBH SA-200

G

giderac

Audiophyte
I found some used amps for sale, wondering what you guys would suggest is the better buy for a 5.1 home theater setup. I'm using a mishmosh of craigslist finds as my speakers at the moment F - Klipsch KG4 C - Mcintosh cs350 S - Klipsch RF-42 II with a paradigm sub, currently driven by a onkyo707 avr from 2009. My room is pretty small (20x12ft) and I sit only about 8 ft away from the LCR. I'm leaning towards the Linn since I don't think I can take advantage of all the power of a class A 88lb ati amp. He's asking 500 for the linn, I'm going to go listen to a demo today and make sure its in good working condition, anything I should check specifically, and do you think $500 is a fair price, or should I try and offer something for the Ati? The ati seller also has a pair of rbh sa-200 hes selling wondering if those are good for LCR purposes particularly the mcintosh cs350 as it seems to want more power/headroom. Thanks for your help.
 
lovinthehd

lovinthehd

Audioholic Jedi
I'd rather have ATI amps over something from Linn. The ATI's 150wpc (8 ohm) isn't all that exciting, less than 2 dB advantage over your avr's amp section. The Linn is only 50 wpc (8 ohm) so is not even as good as your avr's amps. The RBH sub amps might be interesting for some passive subs, but the ATI is more powerful and has more channels/flexibility overall in any case.
 
G

giderac

Audiophyte
Thanks for the reply, I ended up passing, I need a new hdmi 2.1 AVR with earc so I'm going to buy the costco onkyo tx-nr6050 and hope 10 years will give me some increase in sound quality :D. The guy was also a bit of a nut, he refused to play it with all channels driven even though his garage was basically an audio lab with multiple speakers preamps etc. After i listened to it in stereo and left to think about it he texted me saying its no longer for sale "i've waited long enough", I'm thinking I dodged a bullet.
 
lovinthehd

lovinthehd

Audioholic Jedi
There is some improved dsp out there, some better room eq setups (altho one of the more interesting that Onkyo now licenses, Dirac, doesn't appear to come with that for-Costco model). I'd just use the avr alone at first in any case, you may not need an external amp at all.
 
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