Amps: Do you buy them all at once? (1 Viewer)

[Howard_S]

I currently have a 49tx and am thinking of adding an amp as stated earlier in a previous thread.

Since money is always an issue do most of you buy the 5 or 7ch right away (most tempting option IMO) or spend the same type of money on a really good 2ch or 3ch amp?

I can of course go for the full 7ch or spend the same money on a 2ch amp which should improve 2ch music performance even more. But what effect does this have on HT performance?

 

[DanaA]

When I was looking for my first amp, I thought first of a Harman Kardon 4 channel amp that could be bridged into a 2 channel amp. I was thinking of using it to drive my front speakers, but then the good deal that Ubid was having on the Parasounds came up and I never thought about it twice. The only decision I had to make was which Parasound to get and I ended up with the 1205A. One consideration is room. Amps like a lot of ventilation and, for me personally, I didn't have room as my main HT and my computer stuff are all piled into my bedroom, along with exercise equipment, racks of software, a king sized bed, etc. I've had to build a bunch of desktop racks just to fit everything in and still have some feeling of space. Another major consideration for me was this thing called upgradeitis. I wanted to buy something that I'd be satisfied with for many years and, so far, I think I made the right decision in this regard also.

 

[Craig_Kg]

A two channel amp, as well as provinding superior stereo performance, will help the rest of your HT as the power supply in your receiver has it's heaviest burden lifted (the front channels are almost always driven hardest in soundtracks). This means the remaining channels being powered by the receiver will sound cleaner and have more headroom. How much the receiver channels improve vs multichannel amp depends on how much you are going to spend on the multichannel amp vs your receiver's value.

 

[Yogi]

Depends on what your priorities are. If 2 channel is your cup of tea then get a killer 2 channel amp and worry about HT performance later (like me). If HT is your main goal then go with a 5 channel or even 7 channel amp.

 

[AustinKW]

Yogi,

Nice thing about 2+5 amp setup has to do with resale. 2-ch is good for stereo and 5-ch works for multi-channel music as well as 5.1 HT. 7-ch is still a bit of an odd duck and may not sell as easily as the others.

Austin

 

[Ron-P]

I bought 3 Adcom GFA-535's (2-channel) about a month or so ago and bi-amped my mains and center with them. I just purchased a 4th 535 yesterday and it now powers my surrounds. I wanted all matching amps so I tried to buy them all within a short time period. After all if you have spent the time and money to timber match your speakers, why not match your amps as well. Of course one 5+ channel amp would solve that issue, but I wanted separate amps, not just one big one.
Peace Out~

 

[chung_sotheby]

I would have to second Austin's idea of getting a 2 channel amp and then a seperate 5 channel amp. A 7 channel amp might just be overkill if you are looking to sell it later on to fund an upgrade, and many people usually have a seperate 2 channel amp just for their mains (sometimes even 2 seperate 2 channel amps for biamping). If yougo the 5 and 2 route, you can always find a good amount of buyers who are looking for either format of amp when you decide to upgrade (notice the use of WHEN, 'cause it is going to happen sooner or later. Just like death and taxes ).

 

[Howard_S]

So it would be a bad idea to buy a nice tube amp for the fronts?

Should I really try to match amps and fill out my 7.1ch as soon as possible?

 

[Kevin T]

So it would be a bad idea to buy a nice tube amp for the fronts?

if it's part of a home theater, then i'd suggest looking into solid state rather than tubes. tubes are generally very low powered and will not be capable of providing that slam and dynamic sound for movies like a solid state amp can. for two channel, tubes are nice from what i understand but for a heavy metal fan like me...i want 200 watts per channel minimum
kevin t