2 Channel Amp for Studio 100's. (1 Viewer)

[Mike_T_]

So, I've been using a Sherbourn 5/1500A for some time now at 200WPC and it's great. However, I can only drive 5 channels with this amp and my Rotel 1066 can push 7.1. I'd like to just get a new 2 channel Amp to drive ONLY the mains. I'd like to get massive power to do that, something around 350wpc. Any suggestions on a good Amp to do this? It's tough to find a powerhouse amp at only 2 channels.
Price is certainly a factor.

I assume it wouldn't kill me to get a 3 channel amp, however it might drive the cost up.

THANKS!!!

 

[Kevin Farley]

Mackie or Crown (professional). McIntosh. If price is the factor, I'd lean towards Mackie for good wattage/buck. Adcom has a 2 channel amp now that I actually like. I forget the model no. but it has a small gold plate on the front with a little switch. The output sounded really nice on some Martin Logans I auditioned at Ultimate Electronics; and I usually don't like Martin's all that much. (very cold sounding). This made them sound really nice. Oh, here ya go. I looked them up. You should get 2 and bridge 'em. http://www.adcom.com/amplifiers/gfa5802.htm McIntosh are also excellent sounding.

 

[Scott_N]

How about a McIntosh MC352? It's 350 wpc and retails for $4500.

 

[Mike_T_]

Man I'd love a McIntosh, but $4500 is definately out of my range.. I don't even know if it's possible to get a 300-350wpc amp for less then $2000.

 

[Scott_N]

You could get a 5 channel 200wpc amp and bridge four of the channels. Do you really need 350 wpc? My aragon 8008st drives the 100's really well and its only 200 wpc.

 

[Darrel McBane]

I'm using the Rotel 1090 (380wpc@8ohms) to drive my main speakers. It can be had for under $2000.

 

[Ricky T]

What are the sensivitity and minimum impedance of the 100s?

 

[Charles Gurganus]

Mike, just for kicks, if your main speakers are biampable, have you tried biamping with 2 channels each from the Sherbourn (I do and you won't need any more power)? If that works out, just buy another Sherbourn 5/1500a. I believe Parasound has a nice 2 channel amp with loads of power.

 

[Frank Carter]

Ubid has been closing out the Audiosource Amp Three's in their superstore. They're $170 shipped. Buy two and bridge each one to give you 400x2.

 

[Ricky T]

The 100v2's are 91dB sensitivity and 8 ohms nominal, basically one of the easier speakers to drive on the market. I doubt you are using more than a few watts continuously...a single watt would give you 91 dB at 1 meter (quite loud), without even factoring in SPL contribution from the other speakers.

If doubling the distance requires doubling the wattage (I forgot the exact equation), then 91dB at 4 meters away is 4 watts. 100dB continuous at 4 meters is only 32 watts (4x2x2x2). I find it extremely unlikely for Studio 100 owners to be using more than 50 watts. I know, I used to be into TOTAL watts, but now more a believer of what the FIRST 1-50 watts brings, not the next 50-200+. If you want amplifier improvement, try moving up on the amp chain to Bryston, Aragon, or Classe (each about $400-500 per channel used for ~ 120+ watts).

If you don't believe me, do a level matched comparison with two sherbourn channels, then biamping with four channels.

 

[Mike_T_]

Hmm excellent ideas. Yeah, the 200wpc I have running to them now is nice, they sound great. But if I only need 2 more channels to complete the 7.1 I figured I might as well get as much as I can for the mains. I've read that the more the better (assuming it's good power).

As far as Bi-amping... Are you saying that I could Bi-wire the Studios, and send one set (High frequency) to one channel, and another set (Low )to another channel? Essentially, using 4 channels on the Amp, for my two mains? The Sherbourn is really a monnoblock design. Would I be getting more then 200wpc if I bi-amped it this way? Am I totally not understanding you correctly?

The Rotel, and bridging are interesting ideas...

 

[Chas_T]

There is a Bryston 4BSST at 300 per/two channel on Audiogon. You will also see A 14B SST in Silver, 600 per/two channel.

Also there are a few Classe CA-200's available.

I will not post the links as I think it's against forum rules to do so when items are up for sale.

 

[Ricky T]

Mike,

Since you are gonna get two more amp channels anyway, what I am implying is your 100s might sound better from a Bryston 3B-ST 120x2 (tested 160 wpc) than 200 or 400 watts from your nice Sherbourne. The 3B-ST and Lexicon NT212 (same amp) go for about 850 used. The bigger 4B-ST, NT225, 250x2 is 1250 used. Aragon 8008st is ~ 1000.

 

[Dave Ma]

Here ya go Rotel RB 1090
http://www.rotel.com/products/stereo...amplifiers.htm

It's a beast

 

[Zbigniew]

You certainly can use a 5-chan amp to bi-amp main speakers.

In my case I am using a parasound 2205 to run front speakers - biamping each of Monitor 9 . Works like a charm, and if I want to wake up my wife in the middle of the night, I can do it without the help from PW-2200...

You can get used PW-2205 around $1000.

_zjt

 

[Adam_Reiter]

What is the impedence of your speakers? You could get 2 Outlaw 200 watt monoblocks. They do 300watts @ 4 ohms.

 

[kevitra]

Watch out when bridging an amp - it oftem makes the amp 8 ohm minimum. The Rotel 6 channel amps are that way - I wanted to use one as a 3 channel amp and it would constantly blow fuses because my speakers went below 8 ohms.

 

[Mitch E S]

I second the Rotel RB-1090, very impressive for the $$$! On the other hand I have heard the Studio 100's on a 600watt per channel Krell amp (bi-amped)... of course he needed a crane to get it into his basement

Mitch

 

[Charles Gurganus]

Mike, I use the same Sherbourn amp to biamp my NHT VT2's. These speakers are a lot tougher to drive than the 100's (O think 86db and 6ohms) so Ricky may have a point. However, since you need 2 more amp channels anyway, I was suggesting you do the same thing by getting another 5 channel amp. You wouldn't even necessarily need another 200 wpc amp. It all depends on the kind of money you want to spend. I think biamping the 100's with the Sherbourn is at least worth trying (even before you get another amp, just test it out) and then you could get something like a 5 channel 125 wpc amp to drive your rear/surrounds. Something like a B&K AV5000 (5x125 wpc) or a similar amp from Parasound for example.

To try out the biamping test this is what you would need....2 rca y-splitter (one female end and 2 male ends) and enough speaker wire to double the runs for your front mains. It is really pretty simple. You just remove your jumpers on the back of the speakers (should be 2 sets of speaker post), attach the y-splitter on the RCA going to the amp so you can connect the 2 male ends to 2 seperate amp channels on the sherbourn. Then you take the extra speaker wire needed and run one set to the bass input on the speaker and the other one should already be on the top input.

You have tons of options but I suggest at least trying out the biamp thing for yourself. IMO, the Sherbourn gives up very little to Bryston type amps. They may be better but for the money difference, I am not so sure. So in effect you will sending 400 watts to each of your 100 speakers and you will notice a difference.

 

[Mike_T_]

Thanks for all the suggestions, you guys are always very helpful!