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What is the best way to add a 5:1 system

Ok..totally new in this forum but not new to Mac equipment. Just got my first new system in 30 yrs.! MC 402, C46, MVP 871, 4 B&W speakers. Still using my MR77 tuner and an older turntable for present. Planning on picking up a sub soon as well. This has led me to consider setting myself up for some 5:1 down the road. I know I need a center speaker and 3 more channels of amplification, but not sure how best to integrate this with current set up. Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated. It was reading much of the discussion on this forum that led me to choose the new system.

regards to all
rroderick
bdgregory
1,727 posts
 
Thanx much for the tips. It will be a while before this happens, but thought I would get a vision for it should look like. Sounds like I will need a processor and another amp with 3 channels, or would it be easier to have one amp for the 5:1 and the 402 strictly stereo? That is how most of my time is spent.
I would go with your best/most favored amp for stereo and add another 3 channels of amplification for the surround. depending on your configuration you can get a 3 channel amp for the ctr/rears, or if you're like me and like to use short speaker cables, get a mono amp for the center (somewhat matched to your 402), and a pair of mono's or a stereo amp for the rears. If you get a 3 channel amp you'll need long speaker cable runs to your rear channels. Of course alternately you need long interconnect run.

The problem with getting a 5 channel amp for 5.1 is you need to swap cables, which is a big pain.
rroderick OP
4 posts
 
Hey Bd,

Good suggestion. I had thought about the cable switch concern and was wondering, since I already have a high power selector box for selecting combinations of front, rear and an outdoor set, if there is a way set up something to select the current set up or a 5:1 system with 5 channel amp that could be arranged w/o the cable swap. Essentially two discrete systems sharing selected speakers with selector boxes instead of swapping cables, which I agree is a real pain!

I figure if not, then a 3 channel amp plus the MC 402 would work, but I do listen to much of my music with front and rear and wish to keep that ability.

regards,
rr
dbphd
1,633 posts
 
Regardless of what I wrote in my previous post, I actually use my Proceed Amp 3 for LCR, with 14' XLR lines running from the PAV/PDSD pre/pro to the amps. The amp sits between the LR speakers and behind the center speaker. In stereo mode, of course, the center amp is inactive. The Amp 2 sits next to the rack and drives the surrounds.

I have no idea what a used 3 channel equivalent of the MC 402 might cost on Audiogon.

db
dbphd
1,633 posts
 
rr,

Well, I see a MC 303-3 on Audiogon for $7K, so bd's suggestion of buying a mono amp for the center looks attractive. I assume your B&Ws are inefficient and require lots of power.

db
rroderick OP
4 posts
 
Thanks Dp,

Saw that add as well! This addition will need to wait a bit but thanks for the heads up!

Still curious if anyone has thought through a way to add a 5:1 amp for that purpose yet keep my current arrangement intact without swapping cables. (see previous post regarding selector boxes)

The B&W's can handle much power, but surprisingly they have full dynamic range with much less power than expected. Plus I must live in the same house with my very understanding wife!

Happy listening,
RR
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