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Recommendations on a 3 channel amp


calhockey10

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I have a yamaha AVR and it is driving RF 7, RC 7 and RS 52.  I feel like I have to turn the AVR up quite a bit when watching movies.  The yamaha avr has pre outs on it and I'm wondering if a separate amp would power the front 3 better and play them louder without pushing the AVR as much.  I know you can drop a grand and buy an emotiva 3 channel but I was looking for a more budget friendly amp just to try it out.  The two below are ones that are located near me used fairly cheap.  I was wondering what others thought or recommended.

 

ADCOM GFA-6000 amplifier

 

 B&K ST1430 Series II 3 channel amp

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11 minutes ago, calhockey10 said:

The yamaha avr has pre outs on it and I'm wondering if a separate amp would power the front 3 better and play them louder without pushing the AVR as much.

Yes, I truly believe, from much experience, that a quality outboard amp can boost up your audio experience in ways most AVRs can't.

 

11 minutes ago, calhockey10 said:

The two below are ones that are located near me used fairly cheap.  I was wondering what others thought or recommended.

 

ADCOM GFA-6000 amplifier

 

 B&K ST1430 Series II 3 channel amp

I have owned the Adcom GFA-6000 and it does punch higher than it's power spec's indicate.  Have not owned or heard the B&K ST1430 but have owned the more powerful B&K Reference 4430 and it was one sweet amp.

 

Where exactly is your location again?

 

Bill

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Although I have not heard them personnally, I would also suggest looking into the Acurus 3 channel amps.  They also made a 100W/channel amp at the lower price point which will be plenty to drive your speakers.  Value-wise, it might be tough to beat the Acurus.

 

1605826-acurus-a100x3-3-channel-power-am

 

If you would be interested in getting another very nice multi-channel amp, you can get into the true "High-End" with the Classé Audio CAV-75.  These will tend to be closer to the $1000 price point used but are extremely nice (I own two of these) -- very smooth solid state amps.  When I was looking for multi-channel amps, I considered the Acurus but ended up holding out for what I really wanted --  Classé.  I had owned this brand before and was very impressed with their performance on the very revealing Heritage speakers. They are 75W/channel but can be bridged to 150W/channel and are configurable to 6, 5, 4, or 3 channels.  Classé also made a more powerful CAV-150 but those will be above $1000 used.  They came in three different faceplates.

 

649363486_large_916295d827ecad26200d7cb6

 

Classe%20CAV-75%20Six%20Channel%20Amplif

classe_audio_cav-75_front_panel.jpg

 

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3 hours ago, JMON said:

Although I have not heard them personnally, I would also suggest looking into the Acurus 3 channel amps.  They also made a 100W/channel amp at the lower price point which will be plenty to drive your speakers.  Value-wise, it might be tough to beat the Acurus.

 

1605826-acurus-a100x3-3-channel-power-am

 

8 hours ago, Youthman said:

Acurus made a 200 x 3 amp bit might be hard to find.  It would definitely have no problem powering them.

I did not suggest the Acurus 3-channels mainly because of my bias and I did not find any in my initial search.  I own and have owned pretty close to all of the Mondial Designs Acurus amps and are totally sold on them.  Either the A200X3 which I currently own, the 200X3, which Arrow#422 suggested, or the A100X3 would do the trick with your front soundstage but the A200X3 is the best of the lot.

 

Many other brands/models to choose from.

Anthem MCA-3 or MCA-30

Parasound HCA-2003(https://columbus.craigslist.org/ele/d/paradigm-speakers/6411352665.html)

B&K Reference 4430(https://savannah.craigslist.org/msg/d/bk-reference-4430-amplifier/6412198621.html)

 

Bill

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7 hours ago, Arrow#422 said:

Acurus offers good power & in a 3 channel amp.

They are prone to "on" indicator light burn out.

 

Here is a current offering on the E"pay" site:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Acurus-200X3-3-Channel-Amplifier-3-x-200W-8-3-x-300W-4/112717851116?hash=item1a3e81e9ec:g:jY0AAOSw9itZoWHb

 

I had one of these original Acurus 200x3's and they are great sounding amplifiers, probably my favorite 3 channel that I've heard. I'm not sure as to pricing here on this one, I bought mine locally in mint shape for $300 I believe a few years ago? I also really liked the Adcom GFA 5503, another 200x3. The Carver A-753x is a 250x3, basically a 3 channel A-500x.

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3 hours ago, willland said:

I did not suggest the Acurus 3-channels mainly because of my bias and I did not find any in my initial search.  I own and have owned pretty close to all of the Mondial Designs Acurus amps and are totally sold on them.  Either the A200X3 which I currently own, the 200X3, which Arrow#422 suggested, or the A100X3 would do the trick with your front soundstage but the A200X3 is the best of the lot.

Bill knows Acurus.  He made a believer out of me.  I bought my A200 (200 x 2) from him and it's still going strong several years later and provides plenty of clean power to my RF-7 II.

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2 minutes ago, calhockey10 said:

I found an acurus but it is only a 100x3 and in chicago but only $155.

If you aren't interested in it, would you mind PMing me a link?  I might consider buying it for wakejunkie to see if it is an improvement for his RF-7 II.

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1 hour ago, calhockey10 said:

I found an acurus but it is only a 100x3 and in chicago but only $155.  I talked the guy down on the adcom 6000 to $225 but I may hold off and just keep looking.  My knowledge is very limited when it comes to separates. 

Both of these are good deals if operating properly.

 

Bill

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