Require Amp Advice for Studio 100's.

[fmw]

Having a powerful amplifier run your speakers benefits the speakers in more important ways then just being able to go louder. It allows the speakers to operate to thier full potential without strain.

You will have greater clarity, better bass, better, clearer vocals & instruments. And it will go louder than you will ever be able to play it. But one of the best benefits of having a powerful amp is I am able to play it at a softer volume & still hear everything clearly!

I went from a 2 channel, to adding a monoblock to finally getting the 5 channel Sunfire that is in my signature. All speakers benefit from more power, so I would get a five channel amp 200wpc or more & be done with it.

Rotel, Sunfire, Parasound, Outlaw, and the other companies named here all make top notch products that will keep your speakers & you happy for years!

So as not to confuse the OP, a more powerful amp will sound better than a less powerful amp only if the less powerful amp is clipping and distorting the signal. Unused overhead in a power amp produces no sound at all, let alone better sound.

 

[ParadigmDawg]

I paid 300 bucks for the chassis and the amp modules are 199 each. It is difficult to beat the MPS-1 or 2 for the price. 125lbs of pure beast in a pretty package.

Now thats a steal for a great 3 channel amp, with expansion capabilities to 7 channels...
And its very pretty looking.....

If I was on the market for a new amp, that would be the way I would go...
3 channels for the front 3 and let your receiver handle the other channels until you wish to add more cards....

How much are the add on cards each...?

 

[cfrizz]

Only according to you & other non-amp believers. I'm not focusing on numbers & statistics. I'm focusing on the music & movies. & both sound better with more powerful amplifiers driving the speakers.

For me the whole point is to make sure that my speaker are operating to thier full potential. I have found out that they weren't until I added a 205wpc Parasound to the mix.

Thaedium is asking for recommendations on adding an amplifier. That is what the rest of us are doing, not filling him full of numbers & stats to try to talk him out of it.

So as not to confuse the OP, a more powerful amp will sound better than a less powerful amp only if the less powerful amp is clipping and distorting the signal. Unused overhead in a power amp produces no sound at all, let alone better sound.

 

[wire]

Only according to you & other non-amp believers. I'm not focusing on numbers & statistics. I'm focusing on the music & movies. & both sound better with more powerful amplifiers driving the speakers.

For me the whole point is to make sure that my speaker are operating to thier full potential. I have found out that they weren't until I added a 205wpc Parasound to the mix.

Thaedium is asking for recommendations on adding an amplifier. That is what the rest of us are doing, not filling him full of numbers & stats to try to talk him out of it.

In 2 channel , i find more of a difference than in AV , when it comes to power output , I do agree with you , speakers love more Power to make them sing .

 

[PENG]

For the Studo 100 I think an Emotiva amp with 200WX3 or more could be a good match at least based on price and specs. The 6B costs much more but it will last for a long time without degradation and can drive just about any speakers (e.g. S8) the OP may upgrade to in the future.

I am not a non believer but I thought fmw did a good job in trying to explain a few things to the OP citing some facts and figures. Amps are engineered products, not a piece of art (except for the looks of course). As such, numbers are absolutely important. Claims of different SQ based on listening experience may be influenced by many factors that has little to do with the amps output power capability. Some tube amps or high end solid state amp with <100WPC may have the ability to make those Paradigm speakers sound fantastic and to their full potential in rooms that are not too large.

Numbers backed up by lab test/measurements are more reliable indicators of SQ than opinions based on listening experience reported by individual owners of the subject amps. This is just my opinion, and I guess the OP may not mind getting more opinions before making his final decision.

 

[Warpdrv]

Yes. to be clear... providing your speakers with as much possible wattage that they can handle will allow them to be at their best when those transient spikes often found in todays fast pace movies erupt with explosions like in Master and Commander when the cannons come on.... or Jurrasic Park 3 in the dino fight, or a strange one here.. the beginning of Constantine when the boy who finds the dagger, walks away and is hit by a car... I run that scene at ref level, and it goes from 50db to 120db in .3 seconds.. Literally scares people half to death... Sweet !!!!

Take a look at that speaker... All those drivers have needs...
As stated before, and what you already know, the Studio 100's have 4 - 7.5" drivers.

Speakers need to come alive quickly and to be able to do that, they need the proper amount of power.... Give it to them, Gobs of it, The More the Better..

 

[PENG]

Yes. to be clear... providing your speakers with as much possible wattage that they can handle will allow them to be at their best when those transient spikes often found in todays fast pace movies erupt with explosions like in Master and Commander when the cannons come on.... or Jurrasic Park 3 in the dino fight, or a strange one here.. the beginning of Constantine when the boy who finds the dagger, walks away and is hit by a car... I run that scene at ref level, and it goes from 50db to 120db in .3 seconds..

Take a look at that speaker... All those drivers have needs...
As stated before, and what you already know, the Studio 100's have 4 - 7.5" drivers.

Speakers need to come alive quickly and to be able to do that, they need the proper amount of power.... Give it to them, Gobs of it, The More the Better..

I agree, especially with movies, the more power on hand the better. With music CDs, they don't jump from 0 to 120 dB very often. Such peaks happens most often with the bass drum or timpani hits, but it still won't go too close to 120 dB.

 

[fmw]

Only according to you & other non-amp believers. I'm not focusing on numbers & statistics. I'm focusing on the music & movies. & both sound better with more powerful amplifiers driving the speakers.

For me the whole point is to make sure that my speaker are operating to thier full potential. I have found out that they weren't until I added a 205wpc Parasound to the mix.

Thaedium is asking for recommendations on adding an amplifier. That is what the rest of us are doing, not filling him full of numbers & stats to try to talk him out of it.

You haven't read the posts. I've been answering his questions and answering them accurately. I quoted each question just above my answer. I don't care if he buys an amp or not. Why would I care?

I'm not sure what a non-amp believer is but if that means I base my recommendations and answers on facts and not subjective beliefs and rumors and statements by subjective high end audio magazine writers, then I'm guilty as charged. I spent 40 years fooling around with high end subjective audio. I learned slowly that it is based on beliefs rather than facts but I did learn it in the end.

The difference between what I say and what the high end audio community says is that I can prove what I say. I'll prove it to you if you want to come here subject yourself to some objective tests. Until you do that, your criticisms will fall on deaf ears here.

I apologize to the group for causing controversy when I didn't intend to cause any. I'll give you the last word, bow out and move on to something else.

 

[cornelius]

http://cls.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/cls.pl?ampsmult&1195047837

 

[Thaedium]

Thanks for everyone giving me some options and things to consider. FMW, I definently appreciate the no-nonse information you are providing me, I get a little tired of advertising claims and find it hard to seperate the fact from fiction.

I have just a couple further questions to pose, as I have seen advertisements for THX rated amps and what not, what is this supposed to mean? Isn't the amp just the powersupply for the speakers, doesn't the pre amp or reciever handle the decoding and whatnot ?

Also, some amps say they are Class A, whereas others Class D, etc. Whats the point of this class system, is A supposed to be best, and if so how is it better if its just providing the power? I realize there are certain ways of providing more reliable power, however it seems to me that unless its complete crap, 200w/c is 200w/c regardless of what its comming from?

 

[Warpdrv]

This site has some very informative areas that you can read some info on.... Here is one about different Class Amplifiers...
http://www.audioholics.com/education/amplifier-technology/audio-amplifier-classes

 

[fmw]

I have just a couple further questions to pose, as I have seen advertisements for THX rated amps and what not, what is this supposed to mean? Isn't the amp just the powersupply for the speakers, doesn't the pre amp or reciever handle the decoding and whatnot ?

THX is a certification that has been adopted through much of the film industry. An amp or preamp or receiver or speakers that carry THX certification have passed some tests to prove that they they have what it takes to reproduce the movie viewing and listening environment as intended. That is not to say that non certified equipment doesn't meet the certification standards or that it doesn't perform as it should. It just hasn't undergone the testing and certification.

Also, some amps say they are Class A, whereas others Class D, etc. Whats the point of this class system, is A supposed to be best, and if so how is it better if its just providing the power? I realize there are certain ways of providing more reliable power, however it seems to me that unless its complete crap, 200w/c is 200w/c regardless of what its comming from?

Here's an easy way to think of it. Think of an amplifier as a water faucet but instead of providing water, it provides an amplified signal. Class A operation would be akin to having the spigot turned on all the time. Then when you need some signal, you just put your glass under the flow and take what you need. The other classes of amplifiers leave the spigot turned off and open it only when some signal is needed. The different classes of operation describe the way the output stage of the amplifier is biased and I'm sure the internet has reams of information on biasing if you want to get that detailed. My faucet analogy is very simiplistic, of course, but makes it easy to understand and should get the job done for you. I think someone provided a link with more details so take what I offered and read the article.

There are some theoretical advantages to Class A operation but almost all amps are AB or B because they are more efficient than class A amps (they don't waste as much water) and are less expensive to manufacture. Also they seem to sound about the same under normal consumer requirements and operating conditions. You won't see many class A amps and what you do see will be fairly expensive as a rule.

In a nutshell, I wouldn't consider either THX or class A amplification to be a make-or-break deciding factor in equipment selection. I have neither in my system and it reproduces a theatrical experience pretty well. I just finished watching the Blu-Ray version of Immortal Beloved. The sound track was awesome. I felt like I was there during the thunderstorm and Ninth Symphony concert.

I've owned expensive class A amps in the past and thought they were dandy but nothing special. I think the THX certification is a plus but not critical.