Emotiva RPA-1

[ParadigmDawg]

Ok...I am just kicking around the idea of adding an amp to my main speakers. Is the Emotiva RPA-1 a good way to go. What else should be considered?

 

[ParadigmDawg]

JC, JG, Warp, Nick, Babel...what do you think?

 

[cfrizz]

Amp Choices

There are lots of brands for amplifiers out there. How much are you looking to spend, & what kind of wattage do you want?

I always recommend 200wpc for tower speakers. This will bring them to life like you wouldn't believe. (I know that the naysayers on here disagree) Since you have bookshelves you could probably be happy with 150wpc.

If you have an audio store nearby, take some of your favorite music & go demo some amps.

I have owned Rotel, Parasound, Outlaw & now Sunfire amps. There is also Nad, Adcom, B&K, etc. I'm sure you can find something that will make you happy.

 

[Nick250]

JC, JG, Warp, Nick, Babel...what do you think?

If you have not done so already, invest in room treatments. That is where the significant audio improvements are to be found. You could buy new speakers too. By comparison, amps really don't have that much to do with SQ.

Nick

 

[Seth=L]

If you have not done so already, invest in room treatments. That is where the significant audio improvements are to be found. You could buy new speakers too. By comparison, amps really don't have that much to do with SQ.

Nick

They don't until the limits of any amplifer is pushed to its limits.

 

[Davemcc]

They don't until the limits of any amplifer is pushed to its limits.

This hasn't been my experience. My experiments with room treatments have shown tremendous differences in sound quality even at moderate volume.

Disclaimer - no double blind tests or acoustic software analysis was used in these experiments. I only wish.

 

[jcPanny]

Stereo amp

The Emotiva should be a great stereo amp.
If you want to experiment with an outboard amp on the cheap, consider a Behringer A500 for $180. One of the behringers does over 200 Watts into 4 ohms or 500 watts bridged into 8 ohms.

 

[ParadigmDawg]

I agree that room treatment would be very beneficial but that has turned out to be a hard sale to the wife. She is ok with an amp and I think that the little Yammy is being pushed really hard trying to fill 8000 cubic ft so I was thinking this may be the way to go?

 

[jcPanny]

Room treatment furniture

Dedicated fiberglass pannels are not the only way to treat the room. Consider some more WAF friendly furniture options. Rugs, Drapes, wall tapestries, overstuffed couch, or pillows can provide absorption. A stratigically placed boocase could provide dispersion. Don't know how to make bass traps look like regular furniture, but one of the Parametric EQ systems might help there.

 

[ParadigmDawg]

Does fat work as room treatment? I could always just invite a lot of fat neighbors over...

Dedicated fiberglass pannels are not the only way to treat the room. Consider some more WAF friendly furniture options. Rugs, Drapes, wall tapestries, overstuffed couch, or pillows can provide absorption. A stratigically placed boocase could provide dispersion. Don't know how to make bass traps look like regular furniture, but one of the Parametric EQ systems might help there.

 

[jcPanny]

Does fat work as room treatment? I could always just invite a lot of fat neighbors over...

Greg,
That should work, but it will cost you in food and beer!

 

[littleb]

Or . . . you could hang some tapestries on the wall, start smoking dope and listen to Pink Floyd's DSOTM day and night.