Help choosing amplifier for Anthologys

[Erick15]

I'm currently building a set of anthology speakers and I am looking for advice as to what amplifier to get for them. These speakers will be used for both music and home theater, 50/50 split. It will begin as a 2.0 system however may be expanded eventually to 5.1. Inputs will be a smart TV with netflix, spotify, and eventually a blueray player. Bluetooth connectivity would also be a plus.

I am wondering if a home theater receiver with pre-outs would be best to start with, as a power amp could then be added later. Or if a power amp only would be a possible solution, although I'm not sure how that would work with the various inputs.

Budget is fairly tight right now at $400.

Secondary question, for future planning, what would be a cheap (<$500 including amplification) subwoofer build that would pair well with the anthologys for both music and home theater? The room is 17'x9'.

[Jim Holtz]

I'm currently building a set of anthology speakers and I am looking for advice as to what amplifier to get for them. These speakers will be used for both music and home theater, 50/50 split. It will begin as a 2.0 system however may be expanded eventually to 5.1. Inputs will be a smart TV with netflix, spotify, and eventually a blueray player. Bluetooth connectivity would also be a plus.

I am wondering if a home theater receiver with pre-outs would be best to start with, as a power amp could then be added later. Or if a power amp only would be a possible solution, although I'm not sure how that would work with the various inputs.

Budget is fairly tight right now at $400.

Secondary question, for future planning, what would be a cheap (<$500 including amplification) subwoofer build that would pair well with the anthologys for both music and home theater? The room is 17'x9'.

Hi Erick,

Welcome! I think you'll enjoy the Anthology's.

Here are some thoughts. The Anthology's are a fairly benign load and could be considered a 6 ohm speaker but they do drop to 4 ohms at 80-90 Hz. Whatever you select should be 4 ohm capable with an 8 ohm rating of no less that 100 watts power channel. That should give you about 150 watts at 4 ohms.

With a $400 budget and 2 channel to start, I'd suggest you look at used 2-channel amps with a used pre/pro until your budget could flex a bit. Emotiva and Outlaw are 2 respected brands for reasonable money once you get ready to step up. The used amps I was suggesting are Hafler, B&K, Adcom, Marantz and many more that are high performers and affordable. A HT receiver with preouts would work too but the only one I can recommend is Marantz and I think it's over your budget.

The Anthology's have excellent bass. If you are looking for accuracy, I recommend crossing around 50-60 Hz to your sub. If you want big thump bang your chest bass, 80 -100 Hz will do that but accuracy goes away. On a budget, I like PE's 15" Ultimax subs. They'll get you into the 20's in a decent box size.

We love to see build threads!

Good luck!

Jim

[flamethrower1]

I have an XPA-2 and an XPA-3 laying around if you are interested.

[Jim Holtz]

I have an XPA-2 and an XPA-3 laying around if you are interested.

I would highly recommend either one of those amps. I use an XPA-5 in my main system and a LPA-1 in the secondary system. Good stuff!

Those should both sell very quickly on the Emotiva buy/sell forum.

Jim

[Pknaz]

The A-300 is another decent option, if you're looking for "New"

http://emotiva.com/products/amplifiers/300

I'd also recomend the XPA-2 and XPA-3 - I have the XPA-2 running my Statements IIs - great amps.

[TEK]

In my experience going for a receiver with pre out is an excellent choice.
I would have got a "last year" Marantz receiver. If you can go for a used receiver that is a few years old and does not have all the "bells and visles" you can do really great deals. For example, now as Atmos is hot lot of dudes replaces their perfecly good 5.1/7.1/11.1 receivers with new ones that supports Atmos. That gives you great oppertunities for a great buy.
Receivers is often underpowered when driving all channels - but you will only use two...
And when you want to upgrade you can use the receiver for surround channel and a 2-channel kick ass amp for the main speakers.

My solution now is a Marantz AV8001, two ncore monoblocks for the mains, and a 5-channel amp for the surround channels (and 3 active subs...).

[Fdas]

In my experience going for a receiver with pre out is an excellent choice.
I would have got a "last year" Marantz receiver. If you can go for a used receiver that is a few years old and does not have all the "bells and visles" you can do really great deals. For example, now as Atmos is hot lot of dudes replaces their perfecly good 5.1/7.1/11.1 receivers with new ones that supports Atmos. That gives you great oppertunities for a great buy.
Receivers is often underpowered when driving all channels - but you will only use two...
And when you want to upgrade you can use the receiver for surround channel and a 2-channel kick ass amp for the main speakers.

My solution now is a Marantz AV8001, two ncore monoblocks for the mains, and a 5-channel amp for the surround channels (and 3 active subs...).

Only thing to mention about that is that you have to consider whether the receiver is compliant with HDCP 2.2 and HDR and 4k etc. In case someday you might want a new TV. Some several years old reciever MAY not be compatible with those technologies and will sound good/have a reasonable preamp section, but might limit you on your TV options.

[Pknaz]

From a SUB perspective, really hard to beat these prices right now.

15" - https://www.parts-express.com/dayton...ndle--300-7093
12" - https://www.parts-express.com/dayton...ndle--300-7092
10" - https://www.parts-express.com/dayton...ndle--300-7091

[Jim Holtz]

From a SUB perspective, really hard to beat these prices right now.

15" - https://www.parts-express.com/dayton...ndle--300-7093
12" - https://www.parts-express.com/dayton...ndle--300-7092
10" - https://www.parts-express.com/dayton...ndle--300-7091

I'm going to throw my $.02 in on these. I helped a friend set up a HT system and I recommended the 15". They only have 12mm xmax and will not take any rough use. We mushroomed the voice coil from bottoming them out during setup and yes I was very careful. I thought it was defective so we had them send another. Same story. PE got a little snippy about a refund but finally came through. The Ultimax acts like a sub should and is much tougher.

I wouldn't touch a RS sub.

Jim

[TEK]

I'm going to throw my $.02 in on these. I helped a friend set up a HT system and I recommended the 15". They only have 12mm xmax and will not take any rough use. We mushroomed the voice coil from bottoming them out during setup and yes I was very careful. I thought it was defective so we had them send another. Same story. PE got a little snippy about a refund but finally came through. The Ultimax acts like a sub should and is much tougher.

I wouldn't touch a RS sub.

Jim

Auch, what did you feed it with?
Ref the spec: Power handling: 800 watts RMS/1600 watts max

[Pknaz]

I'm going to throw my $.02 in on these. I helped a friend set up a HT system and I recommended the 15". They only have 12mm xmax and will not take any rough use. We mushroomed the voice coil from bottoming them out during setup and yes I was very careful. I thought it was defective so we had them send another. Same story. PE got a little snippy about a refund but finally came through. The Ultimax acts like a sub should and is much tougher.

I wouldn't touch a RS sub.

Jim

Interesting, I have four of them, if you're aware of their limits they're not an issue. with 300 watts, they'll bottom out at 20hz at over 102db.

[jwanck11]

I'm currently building a set of anthology speakers and I am looking for advice as to what amplifier to get for them. These speakers will be used for both music and home theater, 50/50 split. It will begin as a 2.0 system however may be expanded eventually to 5.1. Inputs will be a smart TV with netflix, spotify, and eventually a blueray player. Bluetooth connectivity would also be a plus.

I am wondering if a home theater receiver with pre-outs would be best to start with, as a power amp could then be added later. Or if a power amp only would be a possible solution, although I'm not sure how that would work with the various inputs.

Budget is fairly tight right now at $400.

Secondary question, for future planning, what would be a cheap (<$500 including amplification) subwoofer build that would pair well with the anthologys for both music and home theater? The room is 17'x9'.

As for the sub, your room is quite long at 17'. And, as this is for HT as well, you will want the thump to accentuate and articulate the bass track and environmental effects. Going too small or using an incorrect configuration in this case would leave you spending good money for an underwhelming effect. Therefore, my recommendation with your budget would be:

Dayton UMX 15
4 cuft ported box
1000W amp (either plate or external)

By building the box yourself, you can save significantly.

Looking forward to seeing your build thread!

[Jim Holtz]

To answer both of your questions, it was a 500 watt Bash plate amp and it only took once bottoming the voice coil and it was toast. I started very low and was inching up the volume control trying to get into a normal range with a DB meter and Ironman as the source. I've setup a lot of subs in my audio adventures and they are the most fragile I've experienced. Based on my experience, I'd suggest they be used as woofers rather than subs. I also didn't like the way the bash amp responded to the adjustments so no more of those either.

In my HT system, I use a pair of Exodus Audio (NLA) Tempest X-2 driven by a Berhinger EP4000 amp with an active crossover that are superb. Never a problem. I've also used Dayton Ultimax with no issues in other systems.

Jim

[JaxLax]

I wouldn't touch a RS sub.

I ported the 15" bundle linked above (got it for a song and dance) and paired it with an iNUKE NU1000. I've tried to push it over the edge.

[Pknaz]

My only complaint with the RSS Subs, as Jim alludes, is their inability to hit reference level SPL in a large room (115db, per dolby spec) at 20hz. They can hit that SPL at 30 hz, though, just fine. This is INSANELY LOUD, though. I've not seen those kinds of SPLs with music, and only once hit them with a movie, when the wife was away on travel.

For the current prices, though, they're hard to pass up, especially when you're buying 4 of them for doing proper bass management

I like them, because blended with my satellites at 80hz, they have a very clean response above 80z through the roll-off and blend very well.

[Jim Holtz]

Hey guys, just to be clear, what I stated was an opinion based on a poor experience I had. I know many have had positive experiences. My take away from using them as subs was I'll never use a sub without much more xmax and I want one that is robust enough to handle movies with extreme bass without damage.

As always, YMMV.... :W

Jim

[---k---]

I'm going to throw my $.02 in on these. I helped a friend set up a HT system and I recommended the 15". They only have 12mm xmax and will not take any rough use. We mushroomed the voice coil from bottoming them out during setup and yes I was very careful. I thought it was defective so we had them send another. Same story. PE got a little snippy about a refund but finally came through. The Ultimax acts like a sub should and is much tougher.

I wouldn't touch a RS sub.

Jim

Jim,
Thanks for having the guts to share that. Your experience is what my gut felt when looking at the spec sheet. 12mm of xmax ... ThomasW talked me into spending big bucks on my SoundSplitter RL-p15 subs over 10 years ago now. I believe his words were something about it having a lot of xmax and construction that it could take excessive flogging. I went with it and have been a fan of those similar drivers ever since. But, I've heard nothing but praise for the RS subs. Several posters recommend them over the Utilimax. I was starting to question whether my beliefs were based on fact or desire for monster overkill.

Used correctly, I'm sure an RS sub is wonderful. But, I think a Utimax is a better fit for my occasional show off to a friend habit.

[Pknaz]

I think the X-Limit is quite a bit higher, in the neighborhood of 22mm, they're just not linear at those extremes - Not sure anyone could hear a difference in linearity at 20hz, even if you could hear 20hz

[oneplustwo]

In my experience going for a receiver with pre out is an excellent choice.
I would have got a "last year" Marantz receiver. If you can go for a used receiver that is a few years old and does not have all the "bells and visles" you can do really great deals. For example, now as Atmos is hot lot of dudes replaces their perfecly good 5.1/7.1/11.1 receivers with new ones that supports Atmos. That gives you great oppertunities for a great buy.
Receivers is often underpowered when driving all channels - but you will only use two...
And when you want to upgrade you can use the receiver for surround channel and a 2-channel kick ass amp for the main speakers.

My solution now is a Marantz AV8001, two ncore monoblocks for the mains, and a 5-channel amp for the surround channels (and 3 active subs...).

I have a very similar setup... Emotiva XMC-1 with two DIY n-core mono blocks for the mains and an Emotiva BasX A-500 for the surrounds. I also have an iNuke NU3000 for the IB subs. Granted, all this is sitting in my office waiting for my remodel to finish, but hopefully will be up in running in a couple months.

[TEK]

If cost is not important you could of course go for this:

http://www.parts-express.com/pedocs/specs/296-260--aurasound-ns18-992-4a-spec-sheet.pdf

50mm x-max (peak-to-peak), guess that actually is 25mm x-max?

[Erick15]

Thanks for all the advice everyone. Ended up finding a refurbished marantz sr6006 that I bought. Hopefully that will workout well. I have all my parts cuts and had a question on cutting the holes in the window panes. Is there a diagram somewhere that shows what size and where to cut?

Update: I think I've answered my own question, by looking at different build threads it appears it doesn't matter how they are cut.

I plan on uploading all the build pictures once I'm finished into an album, I'll make sure to post on here when their done.

[Jujuman]

They are AWESOME... you just need more than ONE ..... 2+ RSS460 gets the job done!

MF