amplifier match for Eminent Technology


I own the Eminent Technology LFT VIIIa's and have been powering them with a Marantz SR18. (Still better than box speakers) I am ready to move up and bought a Parasound AVC 2500u processor here.
I am looking for help with which amp matches well with these speakers? I want a 5 channel and have been looking at the B&K 7250,Parasound 2205a and the Sherbourn 1500a. I can't spend much more than what these are going for used. Any comments are appreciated
kmcall55

Showing 2 responses by jeffreybehr

Consider a B&K 200.7. That'll give you the extra channels needed to biampify the ETs, and then do that.

I recently went from a Proceed BPA-3 (125x3 into 8; 250x3 into 4) to a B&K 125.7 for that very reason. Am now biamping my center-channel ET LFT-8/bipolar woofer with 2 channels and am about to biamplify my 4-piece, 2-channel surround-speaker systems.
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Biamping uses 2 channels of amplification on 1 speaker. This is done most easily 'passively', in which one uses the 2 sets of frequency-divided input terminals on the speaker and drives each of those with a separate channel of amplification and speakercable. This continues to use the crossover in the speaker along with its frequency tailoring, etc. that the speaker's designer labored over to get right*. You could consider passive biamping as a further evolution of biwiring.

Simply drive each of the amp's channels with one signal cable from the preamp going thru an inexpensive 1-to-2 jumper available at RadShak. Since you'll be using identical channels of amplification, no gain (volume) controls are necessary. This does require 4 speakercables instead of 2, but I think it'll be worth it. BTW, if you decide to do this, a 125WPC B&K just might be powerful enough since you'll have 2x125-into-8 available for each channel.

* This point is ignored by those who use 'active' biamping, wherein a line-level crossover is used before each channel of amplification and where each amp channel drives directly each driver. This removes any sonic character, both good and bad, of the speaker's crossover. Of course, some crossovers/speakers have no frequency tailoring to ignore. I know that there's frequency tailoring in my LFT-12, so probably it's used in your 8s too.
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