Same Amp Across Front 3 Channels?

[Chas_T]

Hey Guys. First post on the HTGUIDE.com site and after reading more in detail after posting, I think it should be in the Home Theater area. If the moderators want to move it, please do so.

Is it advisable to have the same amp manufacturer across the front 3 channels in a 7.1 system?

For example and this is a hypothetical situation. I have a 7.1 system and the fronts are powered by a 2 channel Bryston/Krell/Classe.

The center, rears and surrounds are powered by a 5 channel Sherbourn. Power output would be similar in this supposed system. I understand you'd need to take into consideration the rest of the components of the system, but would it be recommended to have this type of setup?

Thanks,
Charles

[SiliGoose]

I think the best answer for that depends upon whether or not you can hear the difference between the amps. If you can hear a difference between the Sherbourn driven center and the amp driving the L & R mains you can bet your front soundstage isn't has true as it could be.

Lots of people set their systems up exactly as in your example. They like the idea of a killer amp driving their L & R mains for stereo listening.




-Sili

[dsmith]

Chas, I don't quite understand - you say your LCR is powered by a Bryston/Krell/Classe - which is it? Or are you auditioning each?

I think the quality of the center speaker will make more difference than the brand of amp, assuming all are of comparable quality and power. Ideally all 5 or 7 speakers would have identical speakers and amps, but I again I think the speakers will most always make more of a difference than the amps, all things equal.

Don

[dsmith]

An added thought or two. In HT (movie) soundtracks, ultra hi-fidelity is not an issue, for all practical purposes because soundtracks are mostly artificially produced, sliced, diced, and otherwise finagled (foley effects). Not so in music, at least for most of us. In HT the center channel does most of the work, carrying virtually all of the dialogue and also background effects above the LFE cutoff you have chosen. This means you listen to the center channel a LOT, and movie soundtracks can be very intense in the higher frequencies. So, if you are like me and have tender ears, it would serve you well to have a center amp that is warm natured, so to speak. In that regard the Classe, or a Sunfire, would be better suited than a Bryston, or (God forbid) a Citation 7.1. Whether you like the Classe sound or the Bryston sound for your LR in two channel, I don't think you would notice a difference in the center mixing the Bryston (LR) with the Classe in the center.

Don

[Kevin_McC]

I recently tried a Lexicon/Bryston amp on my two main speakers while keeping the HK 2.1's on all the others. I was able to detect a slight difference when playing a movie. It was John T's amp and he said he could notice a difference in the way the lex changed the front soundstage. In my opinion I believe it does make a slight difference, YMMV.

[Chas_T]

DSmith

Chas, I don't quite understand - you say your LCR is powered by a Bryston/Krell/Classe - which is it? Or are you auditioning each?

D.. I am trying to determine is if it's advisable to have the front 3 channels being powered by the same manufactuer?

I've considered adding perhaps a very powerful two channel for the fronts and then allow the Sherbourn to take care of the balance of the speakers. I have Paradigm Studio 100's, 40's and may add a set of ADP's or 20's in conjunction with an AVM-20.

Perhaps a 2 channel Bryston/Krell/Classe or even the Rotel RB-1090 in conjunction with a Sherbourn 5/1500A. The two channel would power the fronts.

Thanks for your input.

Charles

[Ricky]

Chad,

I think you should get the same amps across the front for identical sonics and peace of mind. Here are some 3 channel amps to consider, all prices are used, full retail is at least double.

Aragon 8008x3 200x3 (tested ~250x3, 1200)
Bryston 5B-ST 120x3 (tested 160 wpc, 1200)
Lexicon NT312, same amp as 5B-ST (1200)
Bryston 6B-ST, 250x3 (?)
Proceed HPA-3 250x3 (2400?)
Proceed BPA-3 (1800?)

[JohnT]

I dont know about you but if it were me and I had spent good money on a two channel amp and purchased a cheaper center channel amp (even if there wasnt much sonic difference) I would always have that in the back of my head naggin the heck out of me. Step up to the plate and get matching center channel amp (or two stereo amps)..you'll be happier in the long run imho.

[JonMarsh]

I'll have to chime in with with Don, in that first, I think the quality of the center speaker, and it's match with the L/R mains is numero uno. Because of the physical issues that come up regarding the positioning and "allowable" size of the centers, this is often a big problem to achieve in the real world. We've done a couple of semi-custom center channel designs for friends, and none of them have been truly dinky or sleek- the smallest used two Eton 8-880's flanking an MB dome mid and Focal tweeter stacked together. Configured as a main, that would be a pretty serious speaker (three way with dual 9" woofers).

I also agree with Don in that I think movie tracks are mightly sliced and diced- to the degree that I think having "forgiving" electronics is a good idea, or at least not ones that add any additional edge. But I think that would apply to the mains as well as the center... for example, I've loaned a Sony TAN9000 multichannel amp to one of my friends locally for his living room HT, and it works out great, though in my opinion it's a somewhat veiled amplifier, not super transparent. But with movies it's a good combo in most cases.

I also tend to have an opinion of the ideal surround setup being rather simlar to what Widescreen Review has done- though I might not personally chose to put Dunlavy's in all corners! A tad expensive, even I'll admit.

But last, I have to agree with Siligoose, in that what really matters is whether you can here the difference, and if so, whether that difference is worth the money to you. On movies, I'd prefer an Ayre V-6 multi-channel amp over my Aragon 8008BBX3, but not enough to go out and spend the money on a new multichannel amp. (Got's other fish to fry). But the Ayre V-5 rulz in my music listening setup... you get the picture? 8)

Best regards, and happy viewing!

-Jon




Earth First!
_______________________________
We'll screw up the other planets later....

[Andrew Pratt]

I would hazzard to guess it must also boil down to your setup and speakers. What I mean by that is that if you have three identical speaker each positioned in a similar way then yes you'd think you'd be more likely to hear differences in different amps but since most people have a centre that's slightly different then the mains, is placed either near the ground or on top of the TV then I might imagine that what ever differences there are in the amps would be masked by these placement issues. I same goes for rear speakers too IMO...maybe even more so. Anyway you could always do what I did and buy two 5 channel amps so that you have lots of options and each side of the room has its own amplifer...sort of quasi mono block idea when running in 2 channel mode :twisted:

[sfdoddsy]

I'd agree with Andrew. IF there are differences in the amps, the differences in the sound of pretty much any center speaker will swamp them, unless you have an identical center placed identically in the same acoustic space.

Steve




Steve's DIY Dipoles

[Chas_T]

Thank you for the responses. For a first post on my part, lots of great information from some sharp audiophiles.

To make a long story short, today I swapped/traded my Sherbourn 5/1500A for a 7/2100. The dealer made me an offer I could not refuse and I practically recouped my initial investment on the 5/1500A. I could not turn the offer down as it was to good to be true.

This does a few things for me. It frees up a bit of rack space, same amp across all channels, more power for my rears and I'll probably have a damn backache when I lift that 115 pound piece of metal in my rack.

The Sherbourn is not high end, but it's a good match for the mid-hi equipment I own and fits in well with my current budget. Wish I played NBA basketball.

Again, thank you all for your respones. They are appreciated.

Charles

[Lex]

Welcome to the forum Charles! A little history. Charles has been doing business with me on cables for a good while. We've talked extensively on the phone. Always enjoyable. Finally, I thought to invite him to the forum when we talked about speaker cables this week.

My own personal belief is, that the center and sides should be same manufacturer, if not identical amplification. We advice a timbre matched center, so we should advise same amplification to avoid differentiation of sound as well. Nough said.

Remember Charles, lift from the knees, life from the knees. Seriously, do be careful. My Proceeds weight that much, and I tell ya, they are a real beeoch to get out of that box and get in the rack. The toughest part is coming out of the box with them.

Lex




Cable Guy DVD Collection

[JohnT]

Its kinda weird that this particular subject is on the board right now as I just purchased a 3 channel lex 312 ( 3 channels of bryston 3bst) and a lex 212, anyway the 3 channel amp has a small problem when turning if off it makes a discharge noise so I had to pull it out of my system last and and am using (temporarily) a Sherwood am9080 to drive the center/backs untill I get the 312 back. I could EASILY tell the differences on the center channel imeadiatly, the sherwood is more rounded, soft etc whle the 312 was more dynamic/precise..Now on the backs Im not really sure how much of a differnce Im hearing, I think I can hear a difference there too, but not as much ( may even be a plecebo effect going on)..but on the center its easy tell between these two amps anyway

[dsmith]

John, have you engaged the ground lift switch on the Lex 3 channel? If that doesn't help, the problem may not be the amp. I have had similar experiences in my system and the problem was not the amp but the preamp and amp just not getting along grounding wise. Also, check to be sure all your cables are tight and in good condition. A bad interconnect can also cause this problem as well as hum.

Don

[JohnT]

Don,

The discharge nosie (kinda like a microphone sitting to close to an amp) is only a problem on channel one the other two channels are fine. It only happens when I turn the unit off, it makes the strange noises for about 10 seconds are so before it finally peters out. Both the lexicons are acutally dead silent with no hum (quietest amps Ive have owned)..The good thing is the dealer is going to pay for the cost of the repair and shipping (since its not under warranty) and he says Lexicon will do whatever it takes to bring it back to original factory specs.

Forgot to mention that I have tried switching cables and actually took the amp over to Kevins house and it did the same thing on his mc-1

[Evan Scussel]

Interesting topic as I was recently wondering the same thing. I presently have a Anthem MCA-5 amp to power my 5 speakers, but in the jump to 7.1 I was considering adding a Parasound Halo amp for the Front L/R. I realize Parasound has a much different sonic character than Anthem but I have recently begun to reassess what my priorities are for my system. I figured that if the Parasound didn't blend well with the Anthem, I could always sell the Anthem and buy a used 2003 to power the Center and Surrounds. I guess the only way to tell would be to make the jump and implement the new amp into my setup and see what kind of results I get. Certainly, what you think you MIGHT get in theory may not be what you ACTUALLY get in practice.




Still searching for that elusive "perfect" sound.