Twin Power/DMC principles in multichannel Home Theater Amplifiers??

[heresy2guy]

This might be an elementary question to some, so I apologize beforehand, but I've got a question about the "new' multichannel home theater amps of today. First off, I'd like to say that I love my HK430 and its twin power design and I've also liked an old Proton D1200 amp I used to own that had DMC (dual mono construction - which, to my understanding, is simply another way of saying "twin-powered," or having separate power supplies for each channel).<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" />

I understand the differences between the twin-powered/DMC two-channel amplifiers of days-gone-by but is this principle applied to todays multichannel home theater amps? In other words, if the amp is of a 5.1 design, does the amp have 5 or 6 **separate** power supplies (one for each channel) or does it simply provide one, single power supply that it uses to evenly distribute power across all 5 or 6 channels?

I guess I'm a bit behind the times in my understanding of today's multichannel amps, but I'm always willing to learn, hence this question. Thanks in advance!

[MrMcGoo]

Some HT multi-channel amps have an independent power supply for each channel. Sherbourne is such an amp. However, since all 7 channels do not usually peak at the same time, independent power supplies are not required. For example, an honest 100 wpc amp x 7 channels, when only running 4 channels (700/4) may have more power available than a 100 wpc amp with independent power supplies.

Unfortunately, not all HT amps are created equally. Some can be maxed out running 3 channels. As always caveat emptor.

I use a 2 channel amp for my mains and a 5 channel amp for the center and surrounds. I never run out of power and have no problem with channel separation.

Bill