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I was wondering what would be a great amp for pushing a pair of M80s. I was thinking outlaw mono blocks but I want to go a little higher than the 200 watts they supply. Say $2000 limit.

Possibly check out the B&K reference 200.2 or maybe Odyssey Stratos

Really, 200wpc is plenty however i personally would like to get something with a bit more balls than my NADc370 just because i think it might sound a bit more effortless.

There are so many great amps in the 2k pricerange, however not so many of them offer more than 200 wpc.

Heck M80's with a decent AVR running 100-120 watts will play to insane volumes. My Denon 2805 drives my 60's to more than acceptable dB's.

Larry, beware of falling into the big speaker/big amplifier misconception. There's no such correlation; in fact the M80s are a little above average in sensitivity and might use about half the power needed by a typical small speaker. Unused maximum power capacity is simply that: unused, and the M80s will never know it's there.

I was looking at Parasound Halo A21 myself to drive the M80s -- 400 W two channel 4 ohms. Greating looking amp with good reviews!

http://www.parasound.com/halonew/A21front.php

"In my view, you can never have too much power if the speakers can handle it." - Alan Lofft, Axiom

You have to take into consideration that 80s run at 4 ohms. Outlaw's M2200 then become 300 @ 4 ohm.

With the higher WPC amps doesn't your house wiring become an issue?

I have yet to see the whole audio/video system (on a shared circuit) pull more than 7 amps on a 15 amp circuit.

It just doesn't take a lot of amps to drive 80s to insanely loud levels. That is why a true 120 watt receiver works very well.

IMHO the 80s just sound better with the amps.

Hi lleeds,

Remember that the M80s are 4 ohms, so lots of Class A/B power amplifiers will deliver almost twice as much power into 4 ohms. But it's really a matter of room size and your personal taste in loud, clean playback levels. In a really big room, 6,000 cu ft. or larger, it's easy to run out of power even with big amplifiers.

At an Axiom party the other night, one of the revelers cranked up the M80s (plus two EP600s, two VP150s and four QS8s), running in 7.2 (it was already very loud, but clean) and managed to shut down two of the five Denon monoblocs, each delivering 350 watts into 4 ohms. (As that happened, I was shouting "it's too LOUD!") And it was too loud, but two of the amplifiers were clipping and I heard it.

Of course, in a smaller room, an AV receiver with 120 watts per channel will deliver ample clean power and the M80s will respond with sound levels that will satisfy lots of listeners--but not everyone. Until the reveler increased the volume, seven of us were enjoying very loud clean music playback. It was a DVD of Eric Clapton, Billy Preston, Steve ? on drums, doing lots of Robert Johnson blues in a studio session.

Besides Parasound, look at Anthem.

>>> It was a DVD of Eric Clapton, Billy Preston, Steve ? on drums, doing lots of Robert Johnson blues in a studio session.

Steve Gadd, I presume.

Wow, wish I could have been there! Alan do you remember the title of the DVD?

This thread had got me thinking... About upgrading. So i looked at some of the amps mentioned. Parasound A21, nice, but expensive. A23 nice but not too great of reviews. Odyssey Stratos. I WANT ONE! ive spent a good part of the day. (ok all of it) looking at the Odyssey stuff and all i can say is that it seems like a no brainer.

20 year warranty, Customer service thats at least as good as axioms. if not better. And a product well worth the cost. if you can swing 2k, I think the Stratos Extreme mono's would be an excellent choice. All i can say is that I am officially saving for a Stratos extreme stereo.

The website is kinda dated but google the amps if your intersted, theres alot of info.
http://www.odysseyaudio.com/

Save your money, buying a high powered amp is just a waste. This is all you need

I don't know Rick, that thing has 29 more than you'll ever need.

My problem is when I get the Crate 120watt guitar amp cranked up with the stereo, I always crank it too loud because my ears are ringing the next day, I need to get into accoustic music before its too late!
I am traveling today and see a B&K dealer in Rapid City so I am going to sneak in for a look at those. Plus I will be in Sioux City tomorrow and they have a nice shop called Pflanz that I usually try to visit when I am there.
>Larry

Quote:

Possibly check out the B&K reference 200.2 or maybe Odyssey Stratos

Really, 200wpc is plenty however i personally would like to get something with a bit more balls than my NADc370 just because i think it might sound a bit more effortless.

There are so many great amps in the 2k pricerange, however not so many of them offer more than 200 wpc.

I have a NAD T-773, it is more then enough for my M80s and the rest of my system, it's specs: IHF dynamic power,4 ohms at 2 x 320W. It falls into the close to $2000 range.

ATI 3000 series or 2000 series.

3002 - 300 wpc @ 8 ohms/450 @ 4 ohms
2002 - 200 wpc @ 8 ohms/300 @ 4 ohms

These people make the Outlaw 7000 series amps.

The same chassis is used for 2 to 7 channels with NO change in toroids, so a 2 channel amp has a lot of reserve power.

ATI spec sheet

Quote:

These people make the Outlaw 7000 series amps.

Really? Can you point me to something that verifies that? I have searched their web site and found nothing about it. But would be interested if true. I have an Outlaw 7700 now that I am using primarily for 2 channel listening and would like to find a 2 channel amp along the same lines of the Outlaw but they don't offer one with enough "oomph".

Thanks

Emailed ATI

The above link I posted on Outlaw's forum about my conversation with ATI rep who called me.

ATI 3007 and 3000 series review

Thank you, great info.

Well, I had a chance to call Klaus Bunge, the owner of odyssey, the guy you call to place and order, and the all knowing. Great guy, he wont sell you something you dont need.

Soon, i'll be the proud new owner of Khartago Mono's I'll let you know how they turn out. Ive got high hopes for these babies. Klaus reccomendd them over the Stereo Extreme stratos. I guess going to mono blocks really opens up the floodgates as it were.

Plus, they come custom built for me with a name tag on the back. Sound like any other company you know?

Congratulations Brandon! Klaus is a good guy. You're gonna love those new amps. Enjoy.

I have a question for you - do the Mono blocks perform better than just a power amp? They do look great - seems like a good purchase... Congrats

I am using the Sunfire 300/2 which supposedly has 600 watts at 4OHMS. They really pound out more bass at higher volumes than the HK Sig 2.1 that was hooked up before(which only puts out about 200 at 4 OHMS). A very good 5 channel amp for the money too...

Go for the Sunfire 600/2 which supposedly puts out 1200 watts at 4ohms, that will cure upgraditis...maybe not tennitis though.

Quote:

I have a question for you - do the Mono blocks perform better than just a power amp? They do look great - seems like a good purchase... Congrats

They do, According to Klaus, when you go from a stereo amp to mono blocks its like opening up the flood gates. Even though I could have got a Stereo extreme stratos, which is a very good amp already, he said that the mono khartago's would be better. Even though the Stratos and Khartago share the same board, the Stratos does deliver more power because of a somewhat beefier power supply.

I think that it would be dependent on the design of the amp. If it were a dual mono amp with separate power supplies for each channel then I can't see where there would be a sonic difference.

Yep, there's no substitute for cubic... um... watts...

I have the Adcom GFA-555 MKII. I got it used for $400 shipped.

I bought it for use with the Thiel CS3.6 speakers I got used. They are advertized as 4 ohms but dip down to 3 for everything over 100 hz.. my multimeter measures 3.5 for them. They're about 83-85 dB/1 watt/1 meter efficient. This is a combo that makes the Best Buy and Circuit City receivers cry.

First I tried putting my earplug headphones on and cranking it up to try and get the red distortion lights to go on. Then I tried an EQ where I turned everything down 10 dB over about 55 hz and cranked it up, then 20 so I could turn it even higher and get the same music volume with ridiculous bass volume. I tried this on many bassy scenes and parts in music.

I haven't heard any distortion, nor has the amp's lights told me it's distorted.

The axioms are almost 10 dB more efficient.. so unless you're deaf, this amp should do it for you.

I want to go to Axiom Party ;_;.

I know the clipping though. I use my 60s,vp150,qs8s on a Denon 3805 and cranked it up really high one day (but still not the max for the thing, and the circuit kicked in. Either heat or power (I'm guessing power) but that was an insane volume, one I haven't visited again.

Alan's info is spot on, too much power won't hurt you, it just might not use it all the time.

- D

This past monday I got my Odyssey Khartago Mono's With cap upgrade!

without going into detail, Lets just say that the difference between them and the NAD C370 I have is astounding. The NAD isint a slouch, Its one of the most highly rated amps in its class, but these Odyssey's are in an entirely different league. Highly Reccomended! I realize that they are more expensive than most of the people on this board would be willing to spend on amplification for a 2 channel system, or even a reciever but the speakers definetly respond to being driven by better amps. Dont limit yourself into thinking it wont make a difference because the speakers are only X amount of money.

Good to hear Brandon, they sure do look like a nice unit. I have always said to buy the best and most powerful amp you can comfortably afford. Nothing like a big ass powerful amp pushing a set of M80s