What are the top three 7 channel amps for under $4000 new

Power rating makes no difference? You'd pay $4000 for a 7 x 25wpc?

At $4000, go with separates.

What receiver are you using with your LSiM setup?
Also, are you using the towers or bookshelves?


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Hmm...I assumed he was talking straight power amp, abbreviated "amp". Assumed he already had a pre amp or he would have asked about pre-amps.....or AVR's, or integrated amps...at least you'd think someone spending 4k would be specific?

Well, I was just curious what he was using because I'm actually planning on using those speakers as well for my 7.2 setup...


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Just noticed that.. My bad..

Time will tell.

ATI 3007 is (was?) $3,995 and is 300 Watt @ 8 ohm x 7.
Edit: found the current price: $4,500 (though you would buy it for $3,895)

http://www.ati-amp.com/AT3000.php

Maybe the ATI 2007 is more than enough? That's now $3,440 MSRP (sells for $2,995). It does 200 Watts @ 8 ohms x 7.

I have the Emotiva XPR-5 ($1,999) which is a great 5-ch amp with 400 Watt @ 8 ohm / channel. You could add the XPR-2 ($1,699) and still be below the price of the big ATI. The XPR-2 is 600 Watt @ 8 ohm x 2...

http://shop.emotiva.com/collections/amplifiers/products/xpr5
http://shop.emotiva.com/collections/amplifiers/products/xpr2

There's the Sherbourn PA 7-350 7-Channel Amplifier which is what the XPR-7 was supposed to be, but at $4,799, I'd take the ATI 3007/ 2007 instead if I wanted a one-box solution.

http://www.sherbourn.com/collections/theater/products/pa7350
Edited by erwinfrombelgium - 2/4/13 at 1:50am

+1 to ATI, i have a ati 3006, weird config but paid very little money for it.

leaps and bounds ahead of the emotiva XPA series, and the others before that, no experience with the XPR series though.

I have the ATI AT3007 amp. It is simply incredible in sound quality, build quality and flexibility. Made in the USA, and the support I got from them when I bought was incredible.

This would save a bunch of money:

http://outlawaudio.com/products/7200.html

I'd go with Wyred4sound or d-sonic. You can configure each channel with the desired power.

Could save even more by just plugging the speakers directly into the big Denon AVR. I'd recommend trying that first, and only moving to a power amp if it is deemed necessary after lots of listening. If the system won't play loud enough without distortion under that scenario, a power amp may be called for.

While those big Polks aren't the most sensitive speakers around, they are specified at a quite reasonable 88 dB sensitivity. That can take you to pretty decent volume levels without dedicated amplification, unless the room is really very large.

Little to be gained not using the 4311, that's for sure. If anything run a 3ch amp for the front three and use the avr amp for the rest.

Denon AVR-4520, Onkyo TX-NR5010/Integra DTR-80.3, Pioneer SC-68... plus add you own additional choices here.
You might even consider a processor/preamp like the Onkyo PR-SC5509/Integra DTC-80.3 plus separate power amps. But the improvement might no be that audible.
You could add a separate 3-channel power amp like the Emotiva XPA-3 to the AVRs mentioned, offloading some of the front load to this amp and thereby increasing the load handling capabilities of the remaining power amp channels(surround) within the AVR.
You would gain a substantial and State of the Art room correction system by those combinations, all of them, which probably could make all the difference in SQ.

For your personal power amp needs look at the following table here
Edited by gurkey - 2/5/13 at 3:46am

I'd have to throw a vote for ATI also. Can't go wrong with the 2007 or if you need more the 3007. I have my 2505 for many years now and have no complaints.

the ati amp is heavy as heck but its rock solid, i didn't even know that many people around had ati amps hah, My used ATI AT3006 was obtained at the price of what i paid for my used Emotiva MPS-1, which made it a no brainer.

I use a Sunfire TGA 7401. 400 watts/channel x 7 channels @ 8 ohms and runs very, very cool....even when driven hard. And it is quite efficient. I also looked at the Sherbourn PA 7-350 and the Outlaw Model 7900. The newer Emotiva amps were not out when I bought. If they were I probably would have considered a pair of the 1000 watt xpr 1 monoblocks for the main channels and the xpr 5 400 watt/channel x 5 for the rest. This would have taken up more real estate though. There are lots of good choices out there.

Emotivas new Reference XPR-5 plus Emotiva XPR-2. They sum up for just about $4000, using those often upcoming sales events at least 10% less.