Amplifier basics.

[gatestick]

I am wanting to upgrade to actual amplifiers. Currently using old receivers as amps. Granted they were very good receivers. My intent is to simplify the setup and use a remote turn on lead to power up the amp(s). After reading lots of articles, reviews, advertisements I am in information overload. Some of what I have read in this forum is that it is hard to tell the difference in the sound of amplifiers. If this were completely true one could use the amp from a clock radio to run each channel. I am not looking to start trouble on that discussion. I need to run 11 channels. I have ben looking at Monolith 11 channel, Emotiva, Outlaw, APC, or a combination of other amps to come up with 11 channels. Leaning toward the Monolith. My question is. Can a difference be heard with the mismatch of power ratings from the front 3 channels vs the rest? Specifically the Monolith is 3 X 200, and 8 X100. I have ben trying to have everything be balanced, but have not found any options to power all channels to 200 watts at 8 ohms within my budget. $3000.00 Thanks for any advice.

 

[Sonnie Parker]

The short answer is "not to any significance"... and that is merely my opinion. I have the Emotiva Eleven and have used the front 3 channels for my mains/center with it. The surround speakers are mainly handling ambient surround, and your processor (in your case, your Marrantz) will set the levels of all the speakers so they will be level matched based on the power amp that drives them. The surrounds are not going to be called on to do what your mains and center will be doing. There is really not any significant reason or necessity to use the same amount of power on all speakers... again... in my opinion and in my experience.

The clock radio amp wouldn't have enough power except for maybe the highly sensitive Klipsch speakers. When it comes to movies, most any of amps intended for multi-channel listening is going to do just find and you'll probably never know any difference from one to another. If you have golden ears and train yourself to hear and identify specific differences, and start listening critically to music, you may end up preferring one amp over another in a two-channel setup with equivalent quality gear.

 

[gatestick]

Thanks for the response Sonnie. This is what I had assumed. The clock radio comment was only meant as an attention grabber. I have an odd sense of humor. By the way I am envious of the subwoofers you have. Have you created any water leaks in your home from the vibration created? I had a solder connection start to leak shortly after I installed my first 15 inch sub. I cant imagine what kind of SPL you can produce.

 

[Sonnie Parker]

I had 8 x 18" subs in that same room with 10,000+ watts pushing them... crazy loud. Cloverfield shook the entire foundation of the house, but fortunately we've not noticed any damage thus far. The concrete sub-floor it is on is not on the same level of the house, so it's not directly connected, but the house frame and roof structure is all connected.

It's not all that loud right now with all that I have in the room. I mean it's loud, but not designed really to be super loud... it's more about clean now that anything else.

Nice setup you have.

 

[lemoncadillac]

What's wrong with receivers? You could buy better receivers. I won't mention brands but I know of a brand that sold new $4000 and you can get now under $500. 7x200. You could have 14 channels for $1000. 1 remote can turn everything on and off. Not saying this is your solution. If all you want is on off you can do that way cheaper then $3000. If you go with 1 unit all your eggs are in 1 basket.

 

[gatestick]

I love receivers. I just have a goal to have separates. The other part of why I want separates is that when the update bug hits I only need to replace the brain box. Amplifiers change very little over time and if not abused should last 20 plus years on the conservative side. The receivers I am using as amplifiers were very expensive at the time and were obsolete 1-2 years after purchasing them. HDMI was just becoming available. To be fair they were both floor demo models that were being replaced when I purchased them. One other thing I cant seem to get past is that I am never completely sure if there is zero equalizer setting or anything else coloring the sound. Both have a Pure Direct mode I just cant get past the possibility. On another note, I received a umik-1 for Christmas and made several measurements yesterday. I am looking forward to doing the same measurements with the new amp just to compare. I think I have decided on 2 Monolith 7X200 amps. I will buy 1 in a couple of months and continue to use the Z9 for Atmos speakers, then get another 1 in a couple of years and Bi-amplify the fronts and center with the extra channels.

 

[Sonnie Parker]

I think you have the right idea... amps typically last a long time and hold their value better than an AVR. I keep thinking that we've gotten about as far as we can get with features on an AVR, but they just keep coming, with a little something new each time.