Is an A21 overkill for me?

[emillika]

I currently have a C2, A52, Denon 2900, LG 3510a, Sony 777ES DVD changer, SVS Ultra, Rockets, Benq PE8700......

I am in the drywalling stage of a redesigned room that will house our dedicated theater. The room is 12'x22'x8'. I am considering adding an overhead channel or a rear center channel (or both?). I will need additional amp channels to accomplish this. I can use the A52 for my center, LS, RS, LRS and RRS then I can buy an A21 for L and R channels.

Make sense? Ideas? Alternatives? Must be Halo gear.

Thanks.

Elmer

[Scarp]

A few questions: what speakers do you use? Are the speakers are "equa;" or are your fronts larger? Do you primarily use it for surround? Or do you have a big amount of use for stereo?

Ideal situation: all equal speakers and a good subwoofer. The speakers all powered by the same type of amplification, so no sound differences exist.

If you have the room to fit the speakers nicely in the room (I dont know feet and am too lazy too calculate in metres ), then I would go for a 7.1 setup instead of 6.1 or use a front height center. 7.1 is what the C2 can easily achieve.

And if you do that and have 7 equal speakers (except for the center) then I suggest getting the A23 instead of a A21. This one you can use for any of the speakers, since they are more or less equal then.

However if you front speakers are more difficult to power (i.e., bigger) and you do want a bit better stereo performance the A21 is a good suggestion, although I definitly recommend testing the A23 option first.

So my ideas:
- best Home Theatre solution is 7.1 (2 fronts, 1 front centre, 2 side surrounds, 2 back surrounds and a subwoofer) with identical speakers (with the exception of the centre usually) and identical amplification. This is best achieved with a A52 + A23.
- A single back centre (6.1 setup) is not recommended when you have a wide back area. Two back surrounds is a lot better, since you can create a wider soundstage.
- Use the two channel amp to power your fronts, so you can use just that one amp when listening to stereo.
- Get the A21 instead of a A23 only if your fronts really require the more juice. However in most situationts the A23 is sufficient.

Btw, take a look at the FAQ, since I wrote some things about it there too

[Chris D]

Wow, Elmer, that's almost scary how much you sound like me. I recently finished drywalling my dedicated theater that's 12' x 22' by 8', and either do use many of your components or will be shortly. I have a C1, A21, and A51, configured in a 7.1 format.

Are you currently in a 7.1 setup, including two rear surrounds, and are considering an ADDITIONAL channel in a rear center surround or ceiling speaker? That would be pretty cool. If not, then yes, I would recommend a 7.1 setup with two rear surrounds, with the C2 THX processing is precisely set up for.

In that case, the A21 would be great for you for the additional two channels. However, realize that your A52, with 125 Wpc, is matched to the A23, also with 125 Wpc, as the complimenting 2-channel amp. The A21 is the "1" series, rated at 250 Wpc, to match the A51, not the A52. So while you can use the A21, and the more power the better, you can probably do just fine with the A23. (and save a LOT of $$$)




CHRIS
Luke: "Hey, I'm not such a bad pilot myself, you know"