Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Stereo Best Amp For M80's?

Just ordered my M80's and would like opinions for amps to power the M80's for mainly 2-Channel Stereo? My system will be used I would say 60% for music and 40% for home theater. I will be using the new Onkyo TX-NR5007 as a Processor and to power my 4 QS8's.

I have a budget of rougly $2000 for the amp and I do not mind buying quality used equipment (Audiogon, Ebay, etc).

As far as music goes, I mainly listen to classic rock (Beatles, Zepplin, etc).

Historically what amps do people like with the M80's?

Thanks,

Josh

Welcome Josh. I would certainly think that any quality amp well within your budget range would suffice, such as NAD, Rotel, B&K ect. You might even have a look at a couple of Outlaw 2200 M blocks as a less expensive, quality alternative too. There are a couple of Rotel guys here so hopefully they'll give you their impressions.

If I was doing that, I'd be all over Parasound Halos or Odysseys. But I'm a sucker for brushed aluminum.

How about the Parasound 5250 or 5125? I forgot to mention I am looking for a 5-Channel amp, so that I can bi-wire the Mains and power the Center.

I don't know about the M80s, but I run my M60s with a couple Outlaw 2200 M-blocks. They play very well together.
I wouldn't worry about bi-wiring. It does nothing sound wise.

Agreed on the biamping/biwiring.

I was thinking of going ith an Emotiva XPA-5 bi-wired. I know the M80 and some of Emotiva's XPA series have had issues, however it seems that bi-wiring may solve this issue. Thoughts?

Read this.

Bi-wiring will do nothing for you. Bi-amping is a whole different animal and requires an active crossover to benefit from it, but then you're talking more and expensive equipment.

And also the likelihood of destroying the sound you've got from the M80s (active bi-amping, that is).

That's a heck of a receiver.

If you really need more amplification, I'd probably get 3 of the Outlaw monoblocks. They are robust and proven. I would NOT bother with a 5 channel amp.

Or, for a 3-channel amp, I would not hesitate to contact Klaus at Odyssey Audio about a Stratos HT-3.

How do you guys think the McIntosh MC7205 would pair with the M80's and VP150?

Probably very nicely, but hey it's McIntosh.

Josh, welcome. Any thoughts of a separate amplifier at this time are certainly premature. In the vast majority of applications the 5007 is more than enough to do the job. You shouldn't assume otherwise before you try the setup out. And yes, bi-wiring is essentially meaningless electrically, as is the incomplete form of biamping(e.g., without external crossovers before the amplifiers)which is frequently proposed.

OK, guys, ended up purchasing the following for my Axiom speaker system, which consists of 2 M80's, VP150 and 4 QS8's:

Parasound 2250 (2-Channel Amp)
Parasound 5125 (5-Channel Amp)
Onkyo SC885 (Pre/Pro)

Should sound AMAZING! Hopefully

~Josh

Nice. Congrats on the new gear.
Let us know what you think when it all arrives.

Hi, I have been using Rotel Rb 1092 which you can purchase dicounted to 1499. I have several amps however this rotel really improved the sonic performance of the axioms.

I am using a moon P5.3 as the pre amp.

I just bought the NR-5007 and find it sufficiently powerful in my home theater (3000 cubic feet) to power the M80s, the VP150, and my four QS-4s without the need of any external amplifier, even though I run them as large speakers, with a cutoff of 40Hz, letting the HRS-10 handle everything from 20-40Hz. I tried playing the system at THX reference level (0db) but it was far too loud for my ears (even though it had no audible distortion!) so I now usually set it at
-10db to -15db, depending on the source.

Forget that reference stuff and just set it to a comfortable volume.

I wonder how many times the 'F' word has popped into John's head while reading this thread.

AG, it isn't entirely clear what settings that you're using. You mention setting the speakers "large"(Onkyo instead uses the term "Full Band")with a "cutoff" of 40Hz, but Full Band has no cutoff, and in any case 40Hz might not be advisable, especially for the QS4s.

As evidenced above I have an outstanding respect for John's ability to refrain from posting the F word.

Fool? Oh, fart...