2. home-theater
  3. 1390589334

HT amp for music- please help

The decorator is coming and my wife has asked me to pair things down. I need to buy a 5 channel amp that will take on both 2 channel and movies.

My musical tastes run across the entire spectrum except electronica. Vocals, jazz, blues, country, folk-
I mean Dylan to Puchini

My current and steady amp is a Muse 160 which I have had in my system since buying it new. What can slip in as a replacement that wont leave me flat. Movies are really secondary as it all sounds pretty good to me, but music is what I spend most of my time with.

I am not going to drop a ton on an amp as I don't think it's needed. The Muse has been great and I simply want something that I can enjoy at least as much.

Parasound, Theta, ATI all come to mind.

Would someone please throw their thoughts into the ring- As an avid AG participant, I will not get to listen before buying so I want to be able to make the best possible decision based on this limitation.

Emotiva keeps popping up and I know the haters abound but it looks like a well build product and for a grand...

My mains are AP Tempo 3 rated at 4ohm - not sure about their efficiency- I would guess around 89/90

Suffice to say that I simply want the amp to sound good. Not looking for a lot of flowery descriptions

Thanks in advance for everyones input
128x128famoej

Showing 4 responses by famoej

famoej's avatar
famoej OP
17 posts
 
I might be able to swing keeping one extra- at least I would reduce by one.
Cant imagine why you cant make a good sound 5 channel that would rock for music though-
famoej's avatar
famoej OP
17 posts
 
I like the build of ATI and know they are involved in the brands you mentioned. I have "read" that they can be a little firm on top, but that is as much to do with system makeup. I don't own an AVR and cant imagine ever buying one. I have had an EAD Ovation 8 but my family could not handle the remote. My MX132 was my favorite and I am sorry that I sold it. I have a Halo C2. All the theater stuff is fine but nothing was as nice as my dedicated AR LS9 Muse combo into Ariel 5 setup-

Know its all dig- Mac mini usd converted to spdif into the C2- sounds nice but.
I'd like to scap the whole thing but that is not in the cards so I need to build the best I can given my limitations. Wife factor and 40g's a year for my oldest at Indiana U.

Life goes on.

I just don't know anymore-
famoej's avatar
famoej OP
17 posts
 
currently using C2 although I might go to an mx136
famoej's avatar
famoej OP
17 posts
 
I'm thinking an Intrepid- my speakers are 4ohm so it should have plenty of power.
More to discover