Sunfire Processor & Amp

[Chipp4]

I am thinking about getting rid of my Denon 4800 and replacing it with a Sunfire Theater Grand (mainly because this unit has balanced XLR outputs)and I see many of the first model selling for around $1,100 which seems pretty reasonible. Has anyone used this unit before and performance wise is there much of a difference between this and the new series II model.

After looking into this I found the Sunfire 5 channel amp interesting. The signature model is rated at 800+ watts/ch at 4 ohms. Is this a REAL rating or very exagerated? Seems strange that for the most part to get 800+ watts/ch you have to move to pro equipment and pro amps all have fans to keep them cool but the Sunfire amp puts out 800+ to 5 channels and has no cooling problems????????

[decibel man]

Chipp, I do not own any of the sunfire products, but listened to them at the local shop. I think they are first rate products. They may not be Krell or Mark Levinson, but first rate none the less. As far as the wattage goes, I believe that it is 400 watts at 8 ohms and 800 watts at 4 ohms. That shows that the unit has a ton of high current amperage to feed power hungry 4 ohm loads. From the listening test I did, I would guess their numbers are accurate. The amp had no problem running some huge Mirage Planar speaks. I wasn't in the market for anything at the time so I didn't get to play around with the pre/pro. I can't tell you much about it other than it looks nice.

Good luck!

JT

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Enjoy and Happy Listening!

[chickey]

Chipp,

The Sunfire amps use a Tracking Downconverter to achieve the power specs you see. I own the precursor to this amp, the original Carver Lightstar Reference amp, as well as several Carver TFM 35x amps, all of which deploy this technology. I really enjoy these amps, as they tend to sound -- shudder to say --- rather tubelike.

You can read all about the technology by clicking on the link below:

http://www.vxm.com/21R.69.html

Hope this helps,

C

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