I am trying to decide between these two amps:

Earthquake Cinenova Grande 5 (300wpc x5)

Outlaw Audio 7700 (200wpc x7)

I know they are not strictly comparable, but they fall more or less within my budget. They will be used with the speakers listed below. I will use the Denon 3805 as a pre/pro.

Any advice from owners of these amps? I know the 7700 started shipping only a few days ago!

Earthquake Cinenova Grande

If you want more real world power then you will ever need, that is the one.

i would say with 4 m80's i would go with the earthquake, tharken had an outlaw amp pushing his 5 m80's and would up sending the outlaw product back, because it couldnt push his speakers to the level that he enjoys.. he went with 4 halo's i think...

I think I need the Earthquake Cinenova to drive my four 4-ohm M80ti speakers. 600wpc@4ohms!

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I think I need the Earthquake Cinenova to drive my four 4-ohm M80ti speakers. 600wpc@4ohms!

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Here's a review of the Earthquake Cinenova Grande 5. One bonus feature of this amp is that it has crossovers built into each channel, so you could use it to actively bi-amp your speakers if you wanted(which would also require you to disable your speaker's internal crossover). You could set two channels to high pass and connect them to the upper posts of your main speakers, and set another two channels to low pass and connect them to the bottom posts of your main speakers. Then set all four crossovers to the exact same point that your speaker's internal crossover uses and you should be good to go. Use the leftover channel for your center speaker.

The last graph in that review is of slight concern since the amp's response does dip down a smidge at the extremes near 20Hz and 20kHz, but I doubt it would be very audible.

As dakkon mentioned, I did switch over to using four Halo A-21 amps to handle the five M80s. Each two channel amp had 400watts @ 4ohm, the 80s had no problem handling the power from the Halo units, and as several forum members can agree with, I could run the system at very high volumes.
The reason I went with seperate amps was simply due to the amout of air I have to fill with sound, in my enviroment, I leaned that the multi channel amps would simply not handle the five M80s, the multi channel amps would simply go into heat protection mode after about 15 to 20 minutes at SPL levles above 105db, and it was usually the amps in the center of the unit that would give up first.
I'm not trying to convince you to go with seperates, or change your decision on which units to purchase. It all depends on the size of your listening area, the volume level you desire, and how much you care to invest. I know there are several memembers running four 80s on multi channel amps and have no problems, as well as some using seperates.
Just giving you my expierances, and as usual, its just my opinion, in my listening area, so take it for what you think its worth. Good luck on the hunt and decision making, which ever way you go, the 80s will handle the power, and be very happy with all you can afford to give them.

pmb: that link doesn't seem to work. Could you please repost it. I would like to read the article.

TIA.

pmbuko: Thanks for the info re the Earthquake amplifiers. Their website has links to several reviews, and I have read all of them. I know the M80s are rated for 400 watts while the Cinenova amp will provide 600 watts @4ohm. I assume that will not be a problem at my normal listening levels. Before I bought the M80s, I spoke with Jean Claude (?) at Axiom who said the M80s can easily handle 1000 watts. I don't intend to test that statement!

Tharkun: Thanks for recommending the Halo A-21 amps. I like the Parasound amps and actually looked at the A-51. You have a terrific sound system! I wish I lived in the Bay area. But I am stuck in Chicago! I have my speakers in a 60x20x9 HT room, and the Denon 3805 is of course seriously underpowered at driving four 4ohm and one 6ohm speaker simultaneously. I cannot get close to reference audio levels without apparent distortion. So, I need more powerful amps! The Halo JC-1s would be perfect for my needs, but are beyond my budget! Is your local Parasound dealer willing to ship to Illinois? :-)

Yes, Richie, Alan has also pointed out that the M80s have been tested at a maximum input of over 1,000 watts, so there should be no concern about that. You mention "normal listening levels"; keep in mind that at such a level the M80s will be using about 1 watt on average and even split-second peaks at that level wouldn't likely use more than about 100 watts.

I don't think we have pictures, but there really is a soundproofed room up at Axiom (accessed from Tom Cumberland's amplifier lab) which used to have an M80 sitting in it. The last couple of times we went up the room was full of subwoofer prototypes, if you're looking for another data point...

JohnK: Thanks for the clarification re the M80s and wattage.

Tharkun: I intend to get two more M80s soon to expand my 5.1 channel sound system to 7.1 channels. Separate amps would certainly be needed then to fill up my HT room. One A-21 and one A-51? I know Four A-21s would be better! :-)

Here's the review I bungled the link on:

link

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But I am stuck in Chicago!

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Another M80 owner in Il. I live just south of the city.

Rick:

I live in Orland Park. How about you?

Richie,

You're only about a half an hour away from me, I live in Wilmington. I have a sister in law that lives in Orland.