Which 5ch Amp?

[RobertBritton]

I want to use my Yamaha RX-V2500 as Pre/Pro and I am looking at either getting Anthem PVA/MCA or Rotel 1075....which one would be better with the Yamaha receiver. My speakers are PSB Image 5T's 9B's and 2B's and I have a Mirage BPS-400 Sub and my room is on the smaller side.


Thanks for any Input.


Leaning towards the PVA-5 but is 105w to all channels enough? I would like some headroom.


Thanks

 

[av_phile]

I want to use my Yamaha RX-V2500 as Pre/Pro and I am looking at either getting Anthem PVA/MCA or Rotel 1075....which one would be better with the Yamaha receiver. My speakers are PSB Image 5T's 9B's and 2B's and I have a Mirage BPS-400 Sub and my room is on the smaller side.


Thanks for any Input.


Leaning towards the PVA-5 but is 105w to all channels enough? I would like some headroom.


Thanks

Your current reciever is already pumping out around 130watts RMS per channel continuously though not with all channels driven. Getting an outboard amp within the same power range will not yield significantly percetible audible improvements, unless it is radically more transparent and accurate, which I doubt. As a thumbrule, the benefits of upgrading to a more powerful amp starts at getting twice your existing continuous power abilities with ALL channels driven. I think any SS power amp can accept your yamaha pre-out with no difficulty.

Have not heard the Anthem and not sure if its 105wpc is all channels rated. But I've seen and heard the Rotel RMB 1075 and it's awesome enough. It's huge 1.5KVA torroidal transformer is more than sufficient to deliver 120watts per channel cleanly with all channels driven simultaneously. This may be just incrementally more powerful than your 130wpc amp even if it is not rated with all channels driven.

Perhaps you may want to consider going beyond 200watts like some Aragon or Bryston amps. But since you said you room is small, doens't your current 130wpc receiver give you all the power you want?

 

[Leprkon]

Leaning towards the PVA-5 but is 105w to all channels enough? I would like some headroom. Thanks

You might think about getting a solid 2 channel amp (200 w per channel or so)like the B&K reference (or two one-channels like the Outlaw) to power the mains. That will let the 2500 direct all its juice to the remaining speakers.

if you still feel you need more juice, you can add more amps later for the channels you specifically need.

just a thought.

 

[20to20K]

I agree with Lepkron...

I have a Denon 3805 which claims to be 120x7. I doubt that rating is accurate with all 7 channels driven....90-100 is probably more accurate.
Anyway I originally had three 4 ohm speakers (Polk LSi's) and two 8 ohm
surrounds on them in a medium/large room (22x16) and the 3805 did an adequate job, but not overwhelming.

I added a Denon POA-2400 amp (200x2) just to power the two fronts and WOW what a difference. Plus there's now less strain on the 3805 which probably allows more current to get to the center and surrounds and the LSi15's are singing during 2 channel mode.

For just $300-400 you can find a similiar amp(Parasound, Rotel, Adcom, B&K, etc.) used on Ebay and make a big difference to your system. I hear Outlaw Amps are supposed to be pretty good as well but I've never heard them.

 

[RobertBritton]

Would it be better to get a 3 channel amp to drive the front 3 speakers and let the receiver power the rear channels. Or 2 channel amp to power the front L/R and let the receiver power the center and rears.

And if I went to either a 2 or 3 channel amp.... Would I still set up the front 2/3 speakers as small or can/should they be large?


Thanks

 

[zipper]

Depends on what you like. I have a Yamaha & have amped the 2 fronts. I don't like listening to music with a center on, so I listen in either 2 or 4 ch stereo(all speakers large). The Yammy does a decent job for music if it doesn't have to push 5-7 speakers.

Whether you set the speakers to large or small depends on what you have.I have towers for F & R so I keep them on "large" for music(sub off), then change them to "small" for movies(sub on) if I'm going to crank it up.

 

[mcwilson]

I like the idea of using a 3 channel amp. In movies, the center channel is the most important channel. I think a 3 channel amp makes more sense...

 

[20to20K]

I agree...

...but the 3 channel also makes more "cents" as well. 3 x 200 RMS amps are a LOT more expensive than 2x200 RMS amps....sometimes twice as much.
Right now Audiogon has a Parasound HCA1200 (2x200) for $425 and a Parasound HCA2003 (3x200) for $800. It doesn't quite add up to me but that seems to be the common trend I see (and believe me...I've been shopping!)

If you got it, go for it!