I currently have a Sunfire Signature Grand amp right now powering my PSB Goldi towers, and I plan on buying an Emotiva amp after we move into our new house to power HT speakers (either the JTR T8's or Tannoy DC12i's). Right now, I am actually Bi-amping the Goldi's, so at 4 ohms, theoretically they are getting 1600 watts each (yeah, i know they "Bob watts" ;) ).

So my question is should I move the Sunfire amp to the theater room to drive the Tannoys or the JTR's, or should I keep it with the Goldi's since I will be running them full range with no subwoofer in our huge main living area. Will I notice a huge difference with the Goldi's or the Theater speakers (either Tannoy or JTR's) driving them with the Sunfire compared to the Emotiva?

If you are buying the Emotiva anyway, why not just try both and tell us what works best?

The JTR are nominally 4-ohms instead of the Tannoy's 8-ohms, so that's an indication that they might benefit more than solid amplification, and more likely to display differences between amplifiers. With easy-to-drive speakers, I personally can't tell the difference between amps apart from headroom and noise floor.

you will be fine with either.

I currently have a Sunfire Signature Grand amp right now powering my PSB Goldi towers, and I plan on buying an Emotiva amp after we move into our new house to power HT speakers (either the JTR T8's or Tannoy DC12i's). Right now, I am actually Bi-amping the Goldi's, so at 4 ohms, theoretically they are getting 1600 watts each (yeah, i know they "Bob watts" ;) ).

So my question is should I move the Sunfire amp to the theater room to drive the Tannoys or the JTR's, or should I keep it with the Goldi's since I will be running them full range with no subwoofer in our huge main living area. Will I notice a huge difference with the Goldi's or the Theater speakers (either Tannoy or JTR's) driving them with the Sunfire compared to the Emotiva?

I compared the Emotiva XPA-5 vs my sunfire amp (sig cinema grand II). If there is a difference I didnt it in the measurements or all my subjective tests between them. I have high efficiency speakers/with nice impedance curves so I do not demand much of my amps.

I could sell you my sunfire? ;)

I compared the Emotiva XPA-5 vs my sunfire amp (sig cinema grand II). If there is a difference I didnt it in the measurements or all my subjective tests between them. I have high efficiency speakers/with nice impedance curves so I do not demand much of my amps.

I could sell you my sunfire? ;)
Would that constitute an endorsement of the Emotiva amp?:D

Would that constitute an endorsement of the Emotiva amp?:D

lol, I sold that one already ;) Not a fan of 90lb amps any more.

I still have and love my Sunfire more because of its peak power potential, its weight and size and a couple other minor points but everything I own has a price tag ;)

I compared the Emotiva XPA-5 vs my sunfire amp (sig cinema grand II). If there is a difference I didnt it in the measurements or all my subjective tests between them. I have high efficiency speakers/with nice impedance curves so I do not demand much of my amps.

I could sell you my sunfire? ;)
Yeah, my one concern is the Goldi is not the easiest speaker to drive, and it loves power. I guess it is easy enough to compare both amps to see how well they can drive (and control the lower freq.) of the "full range" Goldi's. I have a feeling that the Sunfire at 800w into 4 Ohms is probably going to be my best bet. Especially since I will be crossing the HT speakers over at 80Hz and they will be in a much smaller room. I just didn't know if professional grade speakers would benefit from the extra power of the Sunfire, since I have never owned any.

Thanks

Penn,
Can the sunfire really put out 800 watts per channel into 4 ohms with all channels driven? Is it really more powerful than the Behringer EP-2500?

Penn,
Can the sunfire really put out 800 watts per channel into 4 ohms with all channels driven? Is it really more powerful than the Behringer EP-2500?

I never sent it to Chuck to know the true answers....$2K amp with no warranty (bought it used) isnt something I want Chuck to fry ;)

I did buy it though to find out if I COULD drive my twin TC2K 15" drivers with 2 channels. The answer is YES it can drive them but since I have active 3 way mains I needed as many channels as possible for my main speakers.

That is changing again soon so the Sunfire can drive my subs and my bass bins and I have small amps to drive my mid/tweeters.

The fun of audio tweaking :D

I would not send it to Chuck either. What amps are you trying now? I was thinking about getting 2 sunfires at one time to drive my subs and my speakers but my subs are 2 ohm loads. The behringers handle them quite nicely.

Penn,
Can the sunfire really put out 800 watts per channel into 4 ohms with all channels driven? Is it really more powerful than the Behringer EP-2500?

I always wondered what real world watts it could do too. I stumbled on this article from Home Theater Mag. from 2006, Looks like it's closer to 600w into 4 Ohms all channels driven (still about twice the power of the Emotiva though):

"All channels driven continuously into 8-ohm loads:
0.1% distortion at 343.4 watts
1% distortion at 446.3 watts

Frequency response:
+0.16dB at 10 Hz; +0.20 dB at 20 Hz
–0.39 dB at 20 kHz; –2.72 dB at 50 kHz.

This graph shows that the TGA-5400's left amplifier channel, with two channels driving 8-ohm loads, reaches 0.1 percent distortion at 392.0 watts and 1 perent distortion at 450.4 watts. Into 4 ohms, the amplifier reaches 0.1 percent distortion at 597.7 watts and 1 percent distortion at 687.8 watts. An input level of 100.7 millivolts was required to produce an output of 2.83 volts into an 8-ohm load, indicating an overall gain of +28.97 decibels using the RCA input. When using the XLR input, a level of 227.2 millivolts was required to produce an output of 2.83 volts into an 8-ohm load, indicating an overall gain of +21.95 dB.

THD+N from the amplifier was less than 0.020 percent at 1 kHz when driving 2.83 volts into an 8-ohm load using the RCA input. When using the XLR input under the same conditions, THD+N was also less than 0.020 percent. Crosstalk at 1 kHz driving 2.83 volts into an 8-ohm load was –76.83 dB left to right and –75.98 dB right to left using the RCA inputs and –76.93 dB left to right and –75.38 dB right to left using the XLR inputs. The signal-to-noise ratio with 2.83 volts driving an 8-ohm load from 10 Hz to 24 kHz with "A" weighting was –100.49 dBrA using the RCA input and –100.39 dBrA using the XLR input.—MJP"

Thanks for the info. I thought the behringers were more powerful, and they are. The Behringerput out 650 watts at 20 hz with .01% distortion with sine waves, it would be higher with program material.

I would not send it to Chuck either. What amps are you trying now? I was thinking about getting 2 sunfires at one time to drive my subs and my speakers but my subs are 2 ohm loads. The behringers handle them quite nicely.

Tripath amps ;)

I have lots of pro amps too still but the whole RCA to XLR and input sensitivity issues over the years always has me looking for alternatives and I hate having racks of amps. My SC-1250 amps would have been awesome if they didnt have a SFF @ 18Hz :(

This is more OT now though, sorry OP :D

Cool, but this off topic subject is still about amps and can give the OP some ideas. I have a separate room for my gear so ugly and loud(fans) are no problems in the rack. The sound quality of the behringers are the same as my McIntosh amps I owned. You could not tell them apart except at loud scenes, the behringers were smoother and more dynamic(much more powerful and can handle any impedance dip). What I mean by smoother is that they never became harsh and more dynamic meaning that got louder when called upon without holding back. The Mac's reached a certain limit and never became louder when you thought maybe they should have(power guards kicking in)

Yeah, as far as I am concerned this is still on topic. Sounds like I may want to go with the Sunfire in the HT driving the Pro speakers because of the more demanding material. The PSB Goldi's are mainly going to be used for music, that and occasional TV watching in the main living area for the kids.