I recently read an M80 review where the reviewer employed Crown XLS1000 amps (200+ watts) to power them. A few readers questioned the logic of using commercial/DJ/nightclub amps for home theater applications due to concerns over noise/hum/less shielding... a little over my head...

I'm currently running a Pioneer Elite SC-35 to power an all Axiom 7.1 set-up, which seems fine, but if I upgrade to a VP180 and add height speakers, should I be looking at separates now? I'm not a fan of Motive but do like Oulaws and wonder if Crown is a decent alternative? Thoughts?

i think the people that down talking the pro amps are doing it either out of ignorance, or snobbery. If you go to crowns website, there are a couple video's of them torture testing a certain line of their amps, every amp goes through the same test, if i remember correctly, each amp goes though 4 or 6 different tests before it is allowed to be sold. One of these tests is a signal to noise test.. i do think that this line is their most expensive amps though.

I would say, if you are not driving your receiver into clipping, then realistically you do not need more power.

So, does your system currently play loud enough for you? have you ever driven the Pioneer into clipping on several channels?

if your answers are yes and no. Then i would tell you to save your money.

However, If you want to i would say there is absolutely nothing wrong with using a pro amp. I also think that going this route is the most cost efficient way to get more power.

There are lots of people using pro amps from Crown,Yamaha, Behringer, Peavey etc etc very successfully with all sorts of speakers. In fact its quite a popular route to go. It is true that fan noise might be an issue, however depending on the popularity of the unit in question you choose they are a lot of DIY guides about replacing the fans on many of them.

If you have the M80's and thinking about the VP180, if there are any speakers that can take advantage of more power it would be them. A well designed pro amp will be able handle low impedance speakers like the 80's and VP180 at high output levels with plenty of headroom to spare unlike a receiver.

I agree with Dakkon and it is a very cost efficient way to get lots of power not just a measly 100 watts more.

Add QSC to the Doc's suggestions above, they too may/may not need a quieter fan mod. Keep in mind, you'd likely void your warranty once you open up the unit. the GX5 was used by a member who used to frequent the boards not too long ago(with a combo of PSB/Axiom speakers).

You may want to contact QSC directly and ask them about such a mod. I'm sure I read somewhere on another forum that they did this for someone who wanted a quieter fan for HT use.

TJ, welcome. No, it's highly unlikely that there's a good reason to be looking at other amplification, including a separate amplifier. Your SC-35 has quite a powerful amplifier. The VP180 is slightly above average in sensitivity and should cause no problems. Height speakers operate at relatively low levels and are easily powered by what you have.

I agree with JohnK and the others, your Pioneer is a top notch avr and is more than capable of driving the M80s and a VP180. There are some gains to be had by going to an external amp whether or not you feel it is worth the added expense is up to you.

in my case, my pro amp has all the same qualities as a good audiophile amp, i.e. it is transparent and makes no hum or noise of any kind, except the fan which i hear only when there is no signal coming out of the speakers.
i thought about replacing the fan, but as i never hear it when something is playing, i thought it would not be worth the time and effort. also, this would most probably void the warranty.

mine is built like a tank and costs very little for it's output capacity.

I keep getting tempted to buy a pro amp, remove it's case, and buy or build a new case that is HT-friendly with a bigger, but slower fan.

How many people would pay $200 more than the cost of one of the pro amps to get the same reliability & hundreds and hundreds of WPC output, but in a "normal" looking case with no fan noise?

$200 more? Hmm. Maybe $100.

You'd still be getting a nice looking, reliable amp that might be rated for 400 WPC for maybe $700....

Would you go $175?