7.1 and Emotiva....

[CECAA850]

In the interest of full disclosure, I'm only running 7 of the available 8 channels of amplification. That would only be 2275 watts if running at full boat, but you couldn't stand to be in the room if that was happening. I am however using most of my 2400 available watts of my sub amp (different circuit)[].

[InVeNtOr]

Another option I've seen a few guys on here and elsewhere do is use a XPA-3 for the fronts and center and use your receiver to power the rear 4 channels.

i feel this is the best advice. rears don't use much power, especially klipsch. if you had all RF-63's then that would be a different discussion.

i personally let my onkyo 805 (130w per 7 ch) power my rear RS-42's which only need 75w, but don't even use that much and have a LPA-1 power my front 3 (7's). i bought the LPA-1 because i had delusions of grandeur and wanted to Bi-Amp everything. turns out, couldn't hear a difference, just cost more in cables and wire.

if you wanted to get ambitious i would have went either these two routes:

XPA-3 + UPA-2 + UPA-2 = $1197

or

XPA-3 + UPA-7 = $1298

as far as cables go, getting the upa-7 will have less clutter and cost less to upgrade cables. also with the added channels you don't just have AVAILABLE 125w per channel but 218w per channel. so if you wanted to change your HT to all RF-63's you wouldn't need any extra amps. all speakers would have 200w AVAILABLE.

anyways, that's just my thoughts, Carbon, in IMHO, has suggested the best bang for your buck. keep in mind, unless you have a dedicated HT room, with all the acoustic treatment, and everything calibrated perfectly, adding more available watts does little to your sound QUALITY.

[White_Hawk]

I'm going to go ahead and say that the XPA-5 will do the job you're looking for, you won't even need to think about that 400x7 beast =D

[tragusa3]

I just got my XPA-5 a week ago, and have it powering the THX ULTRA2'S . You will have no reasonable need for an upgrade. My head explodes long before the limits of the system. I'm listening to concert DVD's at an average 105db from 20' away in a 5000cf space!!! And it's super clean and effortless.

You can get it for bragging rights, but that would be the only logical reason. If that's logical!

[ender21]

I just got my XPA-5 a week ago, and have it powering the THX ULTRA2'S . You will have no reasonable need for an upgrade. My head explodes long before the limits of the system. I'm listening to concert DVD's at an average 105db from 20' away in a 5000cf space!!! And it's super clean and effortless.

I second that. I have my XPA5 driving C, LS,LB,RB,RS and XPA2 driving FL & FR. My surrounds are THX Ultra 2s and Mains are RF/RC7s. There is no need for any more power in my ~3000 sq ft room. It's nuts enough already! Unless you really really want to. ;-)

[Vital]

I just got my XPA-5 a week ago, and have it powering the THX ULTRA2'S . You will have no reasonable need for an upgrade. My head explodes long before the limits of the system. I'm listening to concert DVD's at an average 105db from 20' away in a 5000cf space!!! And it's super clean and effortless.

I second that. I have my XPA5 driving C, LS,LB,RB,RS and XPA2 driving FL & FR. My surrounds are THX Ultra 2s and Mains are RF/RC7s. There is no need for any more power in my ~3000 sq ft room. It's nuts enough already! Unless you really really want to. ;-)

I am running an XPA-2 for my front RF-7s as well and an XPA-5 for my center and surrounds. You will not be thinking about upgrading the amp anytime soon! Emotiva rocks! []