Used 5ch Amp (Classe, Krell, Rotel)

I do have 3 units left. Lexicon ZX-7 New in box $4995.00300 WPC 7 channels All mono configuration. 150lbs. Awesomeness.

danimaz, I've got previous gen Krell, and Emotiva. Frankly, Emotiva performs better than their specs would lead you to believe. You can get new Gen3 amps which will perform very well, with a 30 day money back return if not happy. It'll do great for home theater, and probably do very well for music with most speakers.

Stepping up, the DR series amps sound better for music but only go to 3 channels, so you'd need a 2 more channels. Frankly, for me, the surrounds don't need much of an amp for movies, I use a very old 2 channel receiver for my back surrounds, but that's because I care most for 2 channel music. It's different if you want to listen to multi-channel music because matched-set of amps and matched-set of speakers makes more sense.

So if it's 50% "2 channel" music and 50% movies, maybe get the quality for the 2 channels and get the not as great amplification for the surrounds. Just a thought.

Finally, taking the time to help someone oughta be to do just that, help.

@loomisjohnson -- shame on you man. Your AVR’s preamp section sounded good COMPARED TO WHAT? It’s a $3400 AVR that includes multichannel amp, signal processing, tuner, preamp, DAC, internet connectivity, etc. etc. With all that, how much money do you think they have to dedicate to the stereo preamp section? Think they put some high-level quality parts in there do ya? I think not. And how well shielded do you think the stereo pre is from the rest of the electronic morass going on all around it? No, IT’S CRAP. At this price it can’t be anything BUT crap, especially relative to any half-decent stereo pre or integrated. And to me, letting the OP think the pre section of his AVR’s is anything more than CRAP is doing him a great disservice. You gonna tell me putting in a better 5-channel amp is gonna do anything close to improving his stereo performance compared to putting in a good integrated amp instead? PHOOEY! But I bet those rear surrounds are really gonna sing with all that high-quality, expensive power from the 5-channel amp. What a waste. The Rotel is more than fine for that. Comes down to that -- you want to feed those surrounds with lots of expensive power, or would you rather get a huge boost in stereo performance by feeding the C20s with both a high quality amplifier AND preamp? To each his own, but I choose the latter 7days a week and twice on Sunday.

@danimaz -- hey man, sorry if I’m coming off like a jerk, but I’m (and a few others here) sincerely trying to help you here rather than just telling you what you want to hear. Sometimes the better thing to do isn’t the easiest or most obvious thing. I guarantee you if you slip a decent integrated amp into your system you won’t believe what comes out of your Dyn C20s. They’re great little speakers and will reward you hugely the better the electronics with which you feed them. Maybe you can borrow or demo one just to see what you could potentially have? Once you hear it, you’ll know.

So you guys keep feeding the guy 5-channel amps he can blow his money on. I firmly stand by my recommendation as someone who was in the exact same position as the OP many years back. If he had mediocre L/R speakers I wouldn’t care so much, but his speakers are capable of providing so much more I think it’s sad to choke them off with the pre section of a mass market AVR. Peace out.

If you get a chance to listen to the ATI amps, you might be surprised at how good they can be. You could go for an AT 1505 for 5 channel, or pick up a model with less channels and get a good stereo amp of whatever make you like for the mains.  The 1505s are bullet proof and I used one for several years in my AV system for the surrounds.  You can probably pick one up for $500 or so used.

Other modestly priced but very decent sounding multichannel amps can be had from Adcom and Rotel.

I stand by my recommendation to get separates for 2 channel listening, but if you're stuck on getting a 5 channel amp, the best sounding and most "musical" one I have owned is my Lexicon LX-7 which I still own and use for surround duty.  Others I have owned are Emotiva XPA-5 Gen II, Sunfire Signature, Rotel RMB-1095, Krell Showcase, possibly one or two others I've forgotten.  They were all left pretty far behind when I went to a dedicated 2 channel amp for the mains, then monoblocks, and then a good 2 channel preamp.