Which amp for under $300?

[JiggaD369]

Hey sup everyone. IM a noob here, my first post actually. lol. anyways what kind of amp can i get for around 250 for my front two channels. it has to be 100-125 wpc, not more than that. im lookng for 100% sound quality, loudness does not matter at all. it just has to sound awesome and clean. im gonna be using Marantz SR8400 as the pre-amp.

 

[anamorphic96]

What is the rest of your system ? The info you give is limited and makes it tough to suggest something. Some other info such as -

1. How large is the room ?
2. What speakers are you using ? Impedance ? Sensitivity ?
3. What are your listening habits ?
4. Are you using a sub ?

With this info all of us can help out better.

 

[PENG]

........it has to be 100-125 wpc, not more than that. im lookng for 100% sound quality, loudness does not matter at all. it just has to sound awesome and clean. im gonna be using Marantz SR8400 as the pre-amp.

You seem to know what you need already, and are asking for suggestion for the brand only. There isn't that many 100-125 wpc awesome and clean sounding amps at the $250 price point. Rotel, NAD, Marantz, Outlaw and Adcom are the ones that make high quality amps at reasonable prices. You can always try used ones. Amps generally last a long time. My Adcom GFA-555 is at least 15 years old and still sound great with my new 3805 (at loud volume only).

Just one cautionary note, to beat the internal amps of the SR8400 in power is easy, but to beat its sound quality, you may have to spend more than $250 on your 2 ch amp, unless you go the used route.

 

[zumbo]

This ATI is probably one of the lowest priced high quality amps you are going to find. I am not certain, but I believe they make amps for Outlaw.
Look here.
Found an Onkyo. 105wpc. Here.
B stock Adcom. Here.

 

[Nomo]

http://www2.shopping.com/xPC-Onkyo_M_282

How about this one?

 

[JiggaD369]

My receiver is gonna be Marantz SR8400.

My speakers are PSB Image 4T for the fronts.
http://rds.yahoo.com/S=2766679/K=image+4t/v=2/SID=w/TID=F478_73/l=WS1/R=3/IPC=us/SHE=0/H=3/SIG=12mc3lhue/EXP=1113829724/*-https://www.dmc-electronics.com/descriptions/PSB Image 4T.html

I listen to mostly Jazz and acoustical music.

I want to know if the SR8400 will give it clean power or do i need to add an seperate since veryone seems to like to go with seperates.

 

[zumbo]

IMO, after careful inspection of your receiver and speakers, there is no amp needed.

 

[Buckeyefan 1]

You really don't need a separate amp, but if you did for bi amping purposes, these would be nice additions:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=71547&item=5766841446&rd=1

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=71547&item=5767306704&rd=1

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=71547&item=5767117125&rd=1

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=71547&item=5767107546&rd=1

Keep in mind that a separate amp will be able to run longer at the same given wattage of a receiver due to larger heat sinks, transformers, capacitors, etc... Separate amplifiers are normally rated very conservatively, while surround receivers are rated the exact opposite. You can usually not the difference in THD levels when tested.

 

[JiggaD369]

im sorry if i sound stupid because im just gettin into hardcore audio. how do i bi-amp? i mean what kind of wires do i need, what are the procedures, etc?

 

[Buckeyefan 1]

Bi amping runs separate speaker wires from a separate amp to your speakers if they have two sets of terminals in the back. Bi amping works best for inefficient speakers with dual binding posts. The midrange and tweeter would get the speaker wire from the receiver, while the woofer(s) get the speaker wire from the dedicated amp. If your speakers are rated at 91db or less, a separate amp could make a difference. My Polks definitely would benefit from bi amping. Some speakers do not have dual binding posts, so biamping would not work.

 

[nibhaz]

im sorry if i sound stupid because im just gettin into hardcore audio. how do i bi-amp? i mean what kind of wires do i need, what are the procedures, etc?

In order to bi-amp the "right way", an external crossover between the preamplifier and each amplifier channel will be needed so that only the high-frequency or the low-frequency parts of the signal will be amplified, and the internal crossovers inside the speakers will need to be disconnected so that each amplifier will go directly to the corresponding speaker driver, i.e. the woofer for low frequency and the tweeter for high-frequency.

 

[corysmith01]

Just wanted to add my own question about that buckeyefan, as I'm in the same situation, literally. I also am currently running a Marantz SR8400. I've been looking at dedicated amps. (but not necessarily for bi-amping, but rather, just bypassing the Marantz and using it as a pre-out). I've read everything about amps being rated conservatively and that while my Marantz says 110W per chan, that may be a bit lofty. Anyway, back to biamping. If you amped your top (tweeter/mid) speaker line-ins with the receiver and the bottom (bass driver) with the dedicated amp, since they are putting out different wattages, how would you balance this to ensure that equal power, or "perceived" power I guess (in terms of loudness) is being sent to the individual components? That may sound novice on my part, but it just seems like if your receiver was putting out 110W and your amp was puttling out say 200W per chan, but they're both being controlled by your receivers volume, wouldn't the speakers be getting different amounts of power? Am I showing my ignorance here?

At any rate, I have B&W DM601's that do have connected speaker inputs, so that's why I was wondering. Thanks.

 

[nibhaz]

Just wanted to add my own question about that buckeyefan, as I'm in the same situation, literally. I also am currently running a Marantz SR8400. I've been looking at dedicated amps. (but not necessarily for bi-amping, but rather, just bypassing the Marantz and using it as a pre-out). I've read everything about amps being rated conservatively and that while my Marantz says 110W per chan, that may be a bit lofty. Anyway, back to biamping. If you amped your top (tweeter/mid) speaker line-ins with the receiver and the bottom (bass driver) with the dedicated amp, since they are putting out different wattages, how would you balance this to ensure that equal power, or "perceived" power I guess (in terms of loudness) is being sent to the individual components? That may sound novice on my part, but it just seems like if your receiver was putting out 110W and your amp was puttling out say 200W per chan, but they're both being controlled by your receivers volume, wouldn't the speakers be getting different amounts of power? Am I showing my ignorance here?


At any rate, I have B&W DM601's that do have connected speaker inputs, so that's why I was wondering. Thanks.

Set the level controls on the crossover and power amplifiers such that a fixed level signal at any frequency will arrive at all speaker terminals at the same level.

This is a very important point, let's clarify it: If a 1 Volt 100 Hz signal on the left channel input to the crossover causes a 2 Volt signal at the output terminals of the left low frequency amplifier; then a 1 volt 1000 Hz input to the right channel crossover should result in a right high frequency amplifier output of 2 Volts.

If your amplifiers are identical, it is usually sufficient to set all the amplifier level controls the same. Most crossovers also have level controls that can be set the same.

If you have sufficient will and the instrumentation to make these level measurements, avoid taking them at the crossover frequency. A good choice of frequencies would be half and double the crossover frequency. Please note that few consumer or professional grade digital voltmeters have a frequency response good enough for this task. Always check the meter specs before using your meter for audio. Most meters roll off beginning at 1000 Hz or have a frequency response of ±3 dB (or worse).

Info found HEREmore can be found HERE ALSO.

As you can see in order to do this you need equipment that provides you with a lot of fine tuning capabilities and exacting measurements. As you can imagine, doing this properly is rather expensive!

 

[anamorphic96]

My receiver is gonna be Marantz SR8400.

My speakers are PSB Image 4T for the fronts.
http://rds.yahoo.com/S=2766679/K=image+4t/v=2/SID=w/TID=F478_73/l=WS1/R=3/IPC=us/SHE=0/H=3/SIG=12mc3lhue/EXP=1113829724/*-https://www.dmc-electronics.com/descriptions/PSB Image 4T.html

I listen to mostly Jazz and acoustical music.

I want to know if the SR8400 will give it clean power or do i need to add an seperate since veryone seems to like to go with seperates.

I would stick with the receiver and forget outboard amps. The amp you have is plenty. Most of the time people are only using only a couple of watts. Dynamic peaks during movies might require some more power but not much. Now if your trying to fill a huge room and want lease breaking levels then an outboard amp might be necessary.

The SR8400 is an outstanding receiver by the way. You should be very happy with it.
Take the extra money you save and by some more DVD's and CD's.

 

[Buckeyefan 1]

Just wanted to add my own question about that buckeyefan, as I'm in the same situation, literally. I also am currently running a Marantz SR8400. I've been looking at dedicated amps. (but not necessarily for bi-amping, but rather, just bypassing the Marantz and using it as a pre-out). I've read everything about amps being rated conservatively and that while my Marantz says 110W per chan, that may be a bit lofty. Anyway, back to biamping. If you amped your top (tweeter/mid) speaker line-ins with the receiver and the bottom (bass driver) with the dedicated amp, since they are putting out different wattages, how would you balance this to ensure that equal power, or "perceived" power I guess (in terms of loudness) is being sent to the individual components? That may sound novice on my part, but it just seems like if your receiver was putting out 110W and your amp was puttling out say 200W per chan, but they're both being controlled by your receivers volume, wouldn't the speakers be getting different amounts of power? Am I showing my ignorance here?

At any rate, I have B&W DM601's that do have connected speaker inputs, so that's why I was wondering. Thanks.

Great question. Some receivers have zone 2 and zone 3 controls. Setting the receiver up with zone controls over your secondary amp will balance out the volume correctly. Your Marantz receiver is probably rated conservativley, so the wattage given is most definitely correct at those THD levels. A lot of guys who have tried bi amping their systems seem to go back to using the receiver by itself because they don't get the results they were looking for. Really, the only time I would recommend bi amping would be when running very large floorstanding fronts with at least one tweeter, two mid ranges or mid bass drivers, and dual woofers of over 7" each, and again, only if the speakers were rated less than 91db. A $200 separate amp from ebay isn't a bad investment to drive four 8" woofers. Doing so would allow you to set your towers to "large" instead of the recommend "small", and finally get your money's worth out of the large floorstanders. With smaller bookshelf and two way speakers, there is no nead to bi amp. The Marantz 8400 is one of the best receivers on the market in terms of sound and power for the money.

 

[JiggaD369]

so i should jus stick to driving my PSB's with the SR8400? another question i have is, should i bi-wire my speakers or not?

 

[anamorphic96]

There are two sides to this camp. Some believe this has no effect on the sound, and some swear by it. My theory is give it a shot if it does not cost you much or if you have extra wire.

 

[zumbo]

so i should jus stick to driving my PSB's with the SR8400? another question i have is, should i bi-wire my speakers or not?

NOT!

 

[Buckeyefan 1]

Here's some info that may help you:

http://sound.westhost.com/bi-amp.htm