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Using Professional Amps On Home Theater Speakers

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Are there any drawbacks other than fan noise to use pro amplifiers on hard to drive home theater speakers? I have several pair of the amp-killing 4 ohm Infinity Kappa 9 speakers that dip down to 1 ohm. To use six or eight of these speakers in a home theater would take a tremendous amount of money to power them sufficiently. There are certainly lots of speakers out there that are waay more efficient, but I already own these and would like to find a solution to power them sufficiently for my home theater. The Kappa 9 are about 85db efficient and suggest an amp of 60-340 wpc.

On the web I've seen a professional amp made by QVC, their MX2450 model is rated at 650 wpc @ 4 ohms and 1200 wpc @ 2 ohms for $750.

The amps will be 40 feet away from the seating area, so fan noise will not be a problem. Black background, liquid mids @ highs, wide and deep soundstage, "air", extended decays and all of the rest of the adjectives to describe a desirable two-channel amp is not important. I just want it loud and powerful. My home theater will be totally separate from my two-channel system.

Please weigh in with your opinions on this.

..thanks, Mitch
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128x128mitch4t
mitch4t's avatar
mitch4t OP
1,610 posts
 
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My room is 70 feet long, 22 feet wide with a 22 foot high
ceiling.

My Room With The Screen Rolled Up

My Room With The Screen Rolled Down

As you can see, this room is much larger than most
conventional home theaters, hence the inquiry into a
commercial application.

Of course the Kappa 9 were intended to be used as front main
two-channel speakers, I've just happened to have managed to
accumulate four pairs of them over the past ten years and
wish to put them to good use in my home theater since I
already have them on hand.
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shadorne's avatar
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shadorne
7,477 posts
 
My preference would be Crown or Bryston
drumhead4
20 posts
 
I use Alesis RA500 with MMG's. Very happy and no fan. The Crown K2 is supposed to be even better.
elevick
2,636 posts
 
Loud isn't everything. The extra volume won't help with clarity. You have to compromise somewhere on quality vs quantity. I've owned clubs and tried those amps at home. YUK!
Keep in mind that bass and the center channel count the most in a theater. I'd buy a sunfire 5x400 or similar or two of them.
mitch4t's avatar
mitch4t OP
1,610 posts
 
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The Kappa 9 will bring the Sunfire 5 x 400 to its knees....it won't wake up the Kappa 9, they just don't have the muscle at 4 ohms and below to get the job done. I've owned the Sunfire Signature stereo amp at 600 wpc and they performed only satisfactorily with the Kappa 9, I needed two of the Sunfire Signature amps in a biamp configuration for superior results.
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