5 ch. amps--Parasound; Rotel; Marantz

You don't specify your maximum price range, so let me add a couple of options. At the lowest cost, you might consider the Outlaw 5-channel amp. The relatively new Outlaw line of equipment has gotten very good reviews, and they sell direct via Internet (their 5-channel HT amp sells for $1100). Next up in price is the Adcom 7500, which provides 5x150 wpc, with a price of around $1800. Last, if you want to go for very high quality HT sound, you should audition the Bryston 9B-ST, which has rated "Class A" by Stereophile. It's a good deal more money (MSRP of $3800, as I recall, but can be bought discounted for around $2800).

You should also know that to get repairs on a piece of Parasound gear you have to take it too one of their local electronic repair shops. In Houston, the repair shop is an old tv repair shop. I left an amp there for six weeks after which they finally informed me that they still had not obtained the parts. I gave up on the Parasound and would not buy another product from them. Make sure you check who does repair work for the brands you are interested in. I will only buy from manufacturers who handle repairs themselves.

You have to be careful when looking for 5 channel amps. Since the manufacturer assumes that you'll be using this primarily for HT use, they tend to make them sound "exciting". As such, the bottom end may be slightly hyped for impact, the mids are slightly forward for increased vocal clarity and the top end slightly "hot" for added "detail". The response is quite a bit of a "rollercoaster" ride. As such, they sound great for movies and such but typically do not do the best with music. A long term "ride" with some of these amps, much like a rollercoaster, will tend to make you "sick" and "fatigue'd".

One 5 channel amp that others have suggested sounded pretty good was made by the same folks as Golden Tube Audio. Can't remember the name, but i have seen them for sale here and in other places. I'm sure that someone will help me out with what company this is. Only problem with these is that the company is out of business. Since some dealers still have these brand new and as demo's, they are closing them out relatively inexpensively and may even be covering the warranty themselves.

Other than that, you might want to look at some of the B & K's if you can find them used. Not the last word in detail or refinement, but typically a good value and on the smooth side of neutral. This should help to balance out your system also. I would avoid any Acurus multi-channel amps even though they can be found at excellent prices on the used market. They simply would not be a good match with your speakers as you have described them. Hope this helps. Sean
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sean

thanks for your input. it helps. any comment on the rotel 1075 or marantz mono's with my nht's? take care.

While i am not overtly familiar with the Rotel stuff, the Marantz 700's would be a better choice than the Marantz 500's in my experience.

Something else that you might want to check into is using a two channel amp for the mains with as little sacrifice in quality as you can and then a three ( or more ) channel amp to fill in the rest for HT use. You might even be able to find something within the same product line using this approach. While it may eat up more rack / shelf space, i think that the results would be more inline with what you may be striving for. Sean
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