2. home-theater
  3. 1317713741

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
ckoffend
684 posts
 
I'd hate to see your power bill.

I don't dispute the quality of the performance of these speakers, as you seem to be quite enthralled by them.

Perhaps you could consider using these for your fronts and finding alternative speakers for your sides and rears. These alternate speakers are really more support based anyway and perhaps the Kappa's are being "wasted" on the intended purpose and location in some regards?

I got into HT for a while, ended up with 5 Wilson W/P 5.1s, but in the end, I didn't think the rear ones were really being put to good use - especially more so since I am not a movie guy.

Just a thought and it sounds like it may address some of you issues between amplification, speakers, and room fill. Part of me thinks that you are being forced into sub quality amps in keeping your speakers and based on the budget, and if this is the case, I suspect you will be disappointed after spending the money and not getting what you want.

Again, I would start by going to Guitar Center and renting the amps for a weekend, tell them how much power you need - if its 2000+ watts per channel, they'll have it. It will end up being the cheapest way for you to determine if you can go "pro level" amps.
elevick
2,636 posts
 
I totally forgot about Carver. 7 old Carver cubes will blow your roof off-sound like crap but wow will it be loud!
vicdamone
850 posts
 
I have an original QSC PLX 2402 that's used to power a Bag End 2-10" and an ELF 18". I did use it my two channel system for a few weeks. The PLX series has a switching power supply (not to be confused with class D) that is mechanically noisy for home use. QSC offers a wide range of amplifiers with different power supplies some of which are used in theater applications.

They are physically bullet proof. In the two channel system it lacked a very slight last little bit of finesse with a slightly closed in sound stage. On the other hand the bass weight would compare to the very best in the audiophile world.

Their low cost and customer service is outstanding. Used often in Bass amplification their representative is a fixture on the BassTalk forum.
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