amp advice for center channel (1 Viewer)

[StanB]

I'm using a Rotel RB 1090 stereo amp for my mains. It puts 380 Watts p/c at 8 ohms. I'm looking for a monoblock amp to power my center channel at about 400 W p/c at 8 ohms. Any suggestions?

 

[DaveHo]

Price range? If it were me I'd look into getting a 3 channel amp to power the center & surrounds. Although I'm not aware of too many that are more than 200-250W x3.

-Dave

 

[StanB]

I'm wanting an amp in the 400W range so as to be close to the Rotel in power. I'm happy to put a few thousand into it.

 

[Arthur S]

Bryston 7B is very, very popular as a mono block in high end but not ridiculous range. 500 watts. 20 year transferrable warranty. Buying used with that warranty can make sense.

The older 7B was 500 watts. The newest 7BSST is rated at 600 watts. There is one for sale on Audiogon for $1,990. Seems you can get a new 7BSST for about $2,600.

 

[Wayne A. Pflughaupt]

Stan,

Mono amps are pretty scarce, and typically when you do find them they’re either high priced, high powered (i.e., 500 watts or more) or both.

Your most economical option is probably to get another Rotel 1090 and use just one of the channels. Some people have peculiar aversions to “wasting” an unused channel, but that’s probably cheaper than selling your current 1090 at a loss and buying a three-channel model. You can probably pick up a second 1090 on eBay for a good price.

Regards,
Wayne A. Pflughaupt