I Need an Amp for MTX Monitor 12's

[inertkinesis]

Hi everyone, this is my first post here on Audioholics. I'm sortof a forum rat, though, so nothing's too out-of-the ordinary, lol. I'm somewhat of a veteran of head-fi audio, so I know my way around high quality sound, but I'm a near-total n00b as far as external audio (speakers) is concerned. This also means I know virtually nothing about amps (especially modern ones) that drive speakers. And that brings me to my question. (I'm not usually this long winded, but first post, ya know how it goes...)

I have a set of MTX Monitor 12's in my living room at home, and they're currently being powered by a crappy Onkyo A/V reciever/tuner. However, I'd like to start using them more, so I'd like a higher-quality amp for them. I'm looking for something that can match their rating, which would be 250W per channel, and I would like a dedicated stereo amplifier that does not have a radio tuner and does not have a video channel.

I don't really know what price ranges what I'm looking for comes in, so I'm not gonna set any limits there, for the moment. But I'm not spending a thousand dollars on this thing.

Also, does anybody know anything about these speakers? They were a christmas gift from my dad a few years ago and I never really knew anything about them. There seems to be relatively little information about them available, both on the MTX site and the internet, in general. So somebody fill me in: are they decent, by current standards? Are they gonna last a while if I treat 'em nice or are these things gonna be gone in a year or two? I really don't know anything about them other than that they weigh a lot.

Thanks,
Mike

EDIT: I forgot to mention some important things: this amp needs to have an optical input. It would also be nice if it had a phono-input, although that is not 100% essential. However it would cut down on the bulk of my setup, as it would mean I don't need a pre-amp for the turntable (which I don't use that much anyway). My sources are going to be my laptop (via optical), a Sony 5-CD changer, and the phono.

 

[Nick250]

I am not familiar with your speakers, but in all likely hood a mid priced AV receiver will power your speakers with no trouble. So I suggest you purchase a mid price ($600ish) receiver that has preouts so you can add an amp later if you choose to. The rating on the back of the speaker, 250w in your case, does not mean you need that much power to run them loud, it means it is the max power they can take before they self destruct. I happen to like Denon and Yamaha receivers because I have personal experience with them and they get good reviews from owners and the media. There are other good ones, if you read through the posts on the receive/amp forum here on AO you will get much enlightenment on what to buy beyond my comments.

Nick

 

[inertkinesis]

Nobody else? I really don't want an AV reciever, if possible I would rather put the some of the money for those components into a nicer but simpler unit. Does anybody make a stereo audio-only reciever with RCA and optical input?

 

[mtrycrafts]

Nobody else? I really don't want an AV reciever, if possible I would rather put the some of the money for those components into a nicer but simpler unit. Does anybody make a stereo audio-only reciever with RCA and optical input?

Well, in that case, how about two Behringer A500, bridged mode, $180 each

 

[patnshan]

I have a set of the 12 inch MTX pseudo-towers. They are not the cleanest sounding speaker, and I hope to replace them soon. They can get loud however, and don't really sound all that bad to me.
From what I know, they are quite efficient. It doesn't take much to run them. A mid line yamaha, denon, or onkyo should do just fine. But if you want an amp, I would consider one of the Berringer models. I think spending more on a higher quality amp would be a waste for those speakers. I have a Marantz SR-8400 powering them, which may be a bit overkill.
Good luck,
Pat

 

[jcPanny]

Amp vs. Receiver

Most amps will have a single stereo line level input and many don't even have a volume control.
An integrated amp will have an amp an a few line level inputs, volume control, and maybe a phono input.
All modern receivers will be able to process a digital optical and coax inputs, several analog inputs, video, remote, etc.
For 2 channel, one of the Onkyo stereo receivers might be your best bet for $2-300.

AV123.com also has a couple integrated tube and solid state amps in the >$1k price range, but I don't think they have all the features you are looking for.