Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Advice from Axiom Owners PLEASE HELP!!! Amplifier for M80s

Saga continues I am afraid -
Not sure there is an NHT Power 2 available, will confirm Monday if one last piece in stock.
Any thoughts on the Crown 402D vs. the HK 3490 - since the bring over from US option is open, and Alan at Axiom suggested Crown, looked at eBay for Crown auth dealers - $350 gets a Crown amp with specs that looks good on face of it (have a 10% off coupon) ...

http://stores.ebay.com/Audio-Video-Giant

I couldn't actually find the Crown amp you were referring to via the link you posted, but Crown has been discussed here several times in the past, though I've never seen thoughts posted from an owner, just as recommendations to prospective buyers. It's interesting to know that Alan recommends them as well.

Here are a couple I've looked at in the past:

XLS 202D (300x2 at 4 ohms), $299. Link

XTi 1000 (500x2 at 4 ohms), $499. Link

If you pick one of these up, we'll all be interested in hearing your thoughts on how they perform.

Jason

If I ever get some cash again, that XTi looks like a great deal.

I know... it's on my list of "things I'd like to have but absolutely don't need" as well.

Jason

3490.

I keep saying the 3490.

Why hasn't anyone mentioned the 3490?

In particular, I'm surprised Rick hasn't chimed in here to mention it!

Hi Jason and 11nyc,

Crown amplifiers are very common in the pro and studio community and in movie theaters, touring shows and professional sound reinforcement. They're very reliable, usually high-powered, most have thermostatically controlled fans, and will easily drive low impedances .

A friend of mine who has a very large combined studio/living space loft in New York has M80s driven by a Crown CE1000, and the M80s sound great there. I've never owned a Crown amplifier but in my days of doing listening tests in several different lab environments, we had Crown amplifiers.

11nyc should check the specs closely to make sure any Crown he considers has unbalanced inputs that accept RCA connectors. All Crowns will have balanced XLR inputs because of the pro applications, but he'll need unbalanced RCA connectors for his Denon.

Regards,

Alan

So finally have word that the NHT Power 2 is on its way. I was too tempted by mdrew's reco, the few reviews and specs I guess. Also it was among the last few pieces in stock that NHT pointed me to - not yet received amp, but NHT great to deal with, and is being switched to 230v before sending out.

After ListenUp so kindly barred me from bidding on their eBay site - yes, without replying to an e-mail question on whether they would ship to Singapore, nice attitude there, glad not dealing with those fellows!

In any case, hope this is the right decision (at least vs. teh 3490 which was available here and cheaper).. Will post once have it set up this weekend.. Big thank you for all the help.

Thanks for the update - looking forward to hearing how it goes.