Adding a 2 ch amp to 5 ch system (1 Viewer)

[rich farren]

I have a Sherbourn 1500A/ 5 ch amp, and Anthem AVM 20 on order. I want to add a 2 ch amp to complete my 7.1 setup. I thought that I would use the Sherbourn amp to drive my Paradigms 60’s, CC, and APD’s. I have a set of Speakercraft Aim 2 in-ceilings speakers for the rears. Those speakers are rated for 100 watts. What would be a good amp to use for the rears? I don’t want to put more into the rears then I need to. Between 7.1 movies and music audio, I don’t know how much audio comes out the rears? I thought I might try to find a used or new 100 / 150 watt amp like a Parrasound or similar amp ($ 300 - $500). Will a lower powered 2 ch amp mix well with my 5 ch amp that’s double in power? Do the input connectors need to match the Sherbourn amp. This is my first HT setup, so I don’t know if I’m on the right track, or way off course? Rich

 

[Chas_T]

Rich,

If you are looking at Parasound, you might consider the 855A which is currently on ubid.com for a price range of $289-$309 plus shipping.

It's a 5 channel amp, but for the money, the warranty and the flexibility versus a 2 channel, it might serve you well. For rear speakers in a 7.1 system, I am sure it would be more then adequate. You could also bi-amp the Speakercraft's if they have that ability using four channels. I think the amp is rated at 85 per channel at 8 ohms.

Charles

 

[Sihan Goi]

Why not use the Sherbourn to drive the center, sides and rears, and buy a better amp(Rotel RB-1090 or Odyssey Stratos for examples) for your fronts?

 

[Charles Gurganus]

I am not sure the Rotel is any better than the Sherbourn. Using a 200 wpc amp for the rear/sides seems like overkill. The Odyssey Stratos MAY be better but it should considering the price for 2 channels is about what you can get the 5 channel Sherbourn for. The Sherbourn is a great amp for the money.

Rich, I have the Sherbourn amp and biamp NHT VT2's fronts and single amp for the NHT VS2 center. I use a older B&K ST1400 105 wpc stereo amp for the rear speakers. I DID have to raise the gain on the rear speakers to 10+db, which is as high as it goes, to calibrate because of biamping the fronts. As long as you have a 10+db gain (maybe even 6db will do) you should be able to match the gain with a lower powered amp for the rears.

 

[Dan Seliger]

Pioneer has a nice one the Pioneer Elite M10X Amp, i have one myself and its a great amp. 100x2, very simple to connection basically has rca in and then speaker out.

I saw a brand new unopenend one on Ebay for $295 i think.

 

[rich farren]

Thanks for the suggestions. I would need this amp to have the capability to trigerd controled from the pre amp. I saw a used Parasound HCA-1000A. 125W X 2 for sale for $330? Rich

 

[Sihan Goi]

Well, I'm pretty sure the Rotel 1090 will be better than the Sherbourn 5/1500A. The Sherbourn has been compared to the Rotel RMB-1095, while the 1090 is widely known to be better than the 1095.