Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Home Theater vp 160 vs vp180

I had no idea amps were available with this function. Sounds pretty cool. Which amp do you have? I'd like to check that out....

its an older (2003) marantz MM9000 150W @ 8ohm @ 5 channels.

My other amps do not have this option.

Right now the Marantz, is powering my bedroom system.. I really like it. However, it did not have enough power for the family room (Axiom) system. My family room area is open concept so there is a LOT of sq footage to fill.

I have a Luxman amp with separate controls, also had a Kenwood amp that had it too.

So how do these multi channel amps with independant output control actually work? And are there any currently on the market?

Unless it is an older or more obscure brand name out there, it is pretty unlikely you will find something in a multi-channel amp with separate gain controls. I believe they did that in newer designs since any controls, theoretically will add noise to the signal and users would be controlling the levels from the AVR/Pre-Pro anyway. Also, unless the power amp has a lot of juice, controlling the volume from the amp itself and depending on the setting, could limit its full "head room" capability.

If your heart is set on the two center speakers, it has been discussed in other threads here about the use of pro stereo power amps such as the "Crown" and other brands which are quite reasonable in price with lots of power. You can get one dedicated to the center channel speakers and they generally have separate gain controls for each channel.

on the Marantz, it is a signal gain adjust that is before the amplification stages, adjusts the incoming signal from the RCA's before the signal goes to the "amplifier"...

if you have some extra cash, i say buy one of the Marantz units, i have been very happy with mine. I've had mine for 8-9 years now... the only reason i changed amps was due to the need for more power. I was driving the marantz into clipping on several channels durring movies (darn open concept)...

I don't know if there are any current generation amps that take have this option or not, the Marantz might have had this to get "THX" certified or something..?

Casey, a pro amp is a really good idea. I hadn't thought about it for this application before. Fan noise, though.

Is there any sort of device that would be in series between the pre and amp to lower the gain? Actually, a pre with two seperate channels for a dual center would be ideal, but I do not know of any.

Michael, depending on how DIY you want to get, you could wire up a variable resistor network to go in between your processor and amps if you wanted. That would give you the results that you are wanting.

He has 2 180's


CV, IMO there is very little compromise going from the 180 to the 160.