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HT amp for music- please help

The decorator is coming and my wife has asked me to pair things down. I need to buy a 5 channel amp that will take on both 2 channel and movies.

My musical tastes run across the entire spectrum except electronica. Vocals, jazz, blues, country, folk-
I mean Dylan to Puchini

My current and steady amp is a Muse 160 which I have had in my system since buying it new. What can slip in as a replacement that wont leave me flat. Movies are really secondary as it all sounds pretty good to me, but music is what I spend most of my time with.

I am not going to drop a ton on an amp as I don't think it's needed. The Muse has been great and I simply want something that I can enjoy at least as much.

Parasound, Theta, ATI all come to mind.

Would someone please throw their thoughts into the ring- As an avid AG participant, I will not get to listen before buying so I want to be able to make the best possible decision based on this limitation.

Emotiva keeps popping up and I know the haters abound but it looks like a well build product and for a grand...

My mains are AP Tempo 3 rated at 4ohm - not sure about their efficiency- I would guess around 89/90

Suffice to say that I simply want the amp to sound good. Not looking for a lot of flowery descriptions

Thanks in advance for everyones input
128x128famoej
famoej's avatar
famoej OP
18 posts
 
I like the build of ATI and know they are involved in the brands you mentioned. I have "read" that they can be a little firm on top, but that is as much to do with system makeup. I don't own an AVR and cant imagine ever buying one. I have had an EAD Ovation 8 but my family could not handle the remote. My MX132 was my favorite and I am sorry that I sold it. I have a Halo C2. All the theater stuff is fine but nothing was as nice as my dedicated AR LS9 Muse combo into Ariel 5 setup-

Know its all dig- Mac mini usd converted to spdif into the C2- sounds nice but.
I'd like to scap the whole thing but that is not in the cards so I need to build the best I can given my limitations. Wife factor and 40g's a year for my oldest at Indiana U.

Life goes on.

I just don't know anymore-
erikt
269 posts
 
If you do not have an avr, do you have a pre/pro that is the source you need for a multi-channel amp?
zd542
5,339 posts
 
"Parasound, Theta, ATI all come to mind."

If you can afford a Theta, I would go with that. It will be a big step up from what you have now. The Muse does bass well but sounds fairly dated. The mids and highs of the Theta are in a completely different league.
maplegrovemusic's avatar
maplegrovemusic
1,113 posts
 
I have a Proceed amp 5 for sale on cl in MN . Did not think about shipping as it weighs close to 95 lbs but could . It would fall within your budget .
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dbphd
1,631 posts
 
Five Parasound JC-1s should give the decorator something to work with.

If the Proceed Amp 5 is like the Amp 2 and Amp 3, it will have separate toroidal power transformers and power supplies for each channel. I used those amps for years before I moved up to the Proceed HPA 2 & 3 monsters, and their sound will not disappoint you.

db
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