Try a Fosi on the atmos. Doubt you’d notice a difference from the Emotiva.

 

Cheers

Do you know the atoll av100 ?

Thank you

 

I'm looking for a new 2 channels amp for the fronts or atmos,

For fronts you should get a THREE channel (=LCR), based on the power usage by channel someone posted once. I would say Buckeye
Buckeye Amps
but 3-channel above your budget and no B-stock right now.

For Atmos I think I agree with @Jobio don't kill your budget. I've been quite happy with this variety of Aiyima
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08CJZGT6H/
which is like I think the 2nd of these, the first link being a newer version. Be careful to read what you are ordering and what power supply it comes with
Aiyima A07 Max Amplifier Review
AIYIMA A07 TPA3255 Review (Amplifier)
Aiyima A07 Pro Amplifier Review

As for purchasing, where the heck are you located? Your flag looks like New Zealand's but with different color stars (and hard to tell because so small)

 

My emotiva sadly did stop functionning today. I'm looking for a new 2 channels amp for the fronts or atmos, which one should I check out ? Budget : 1000€.
I need to have it purchasable in europe.

€400 (+ tax?) ex. Français; 2 x 150W into 8Ω:

AUDIOPHONICS MPA-S250NC RCA Power Amplifier Class D Stereo Ncore NC252MP 2x250W 4 Ohm - Audiophonics

The Audiophonics MPA-S252NC XLR is a stereo amplifier based on an amplification module Hypex Ncore NC252MP. This solution is ideal for anyone who wants to have a large power reserve (2x150W) without sacrificing sound reproduction quality.

www.audiophonics.fr

Hook this up to the pair of channels that require the most gain from the amp, as indicated by the channel trim levels.

 

I have this NC252MP amp running with my Denon X3600. Frankly it was a waste of money, the X3600 amps are just fine and sound the same, get plenty loud. I'd just go with a cheap amp to drive the heights.

 

My emotiva sadly did stop functionning today.

If you where happy with that Emotiva you could probably have it repaired for a small cost. But it doesn't seem to be any better than the internal ones in the 4800, according to some users. So perhaps get a cheap class-D amp for the rears, 25W should be enough as those speakers are close to you and doesn't play any high powered content and its difficult to judge the sound quality coming from behind.

If only using 2 channels you can get 280W in each with a 1% distorsion from Denon X4800. Its power supply can deliver max 600W so adding channels with sound will reduce power from other channels. In a multichannel setup you get the most power requirement from the center speaker. When I measure max power peaks to speakers in a couple of movies I get something like 75% needed for each fronts left and right compared to center, and 50% to surrounds and 25% to each rears and heights.

 

When I had X4400h i used a Fosi amp to power the top rear channels and it worked great. Like others have said...no need to break the bank for atmos speakers...just about any 2ch amp will do.

With new AVR I plan to add 3rd pair of height channels and will reuse the same amp.

 

You could use anything. Even an old receiver with pre-ins. Depends on your needs. A receiver most likely doesn't have a 12v trigger, so you have to turn it on and off separately. And you wouldn't want to accidentally adjust the volume knob. In case you want to avoid that.

 

Hello,

Cheers for your answers !

I've gone with the Fosi audio za3 to power the 2 rear heights

Cheers !

 

Beware Fosi/Douk. I've read reports of these things blowing up.

 

External amps made a difference over my AVR, subjectively. It can now get very loud without sounding harsh. Previously, I avoided playing loud because it was unpleasant sounding. Turns out, it was the amp clipping, not the volume being too loud for my liking.

Granted, this is one of the few scenarios where external amps make a significant difference.

 

External amps made a difference over my AVR, subjectively. It can now get very loud without sounding harsh. Previously, I avoided playing loud because it was unpleasant sounding. Turns out, it was the amp clipping, not the volume being too loud for my liking.

Granted, this is one of the few scenarios where external amps make a significant difference.

G'day! For reference, would you mind providing brief details of the scenario that resulted in amplifier clipping? Speaker model/number, AVR model/settings, bass management, preferred SPL's, listening distance etc?

Not doubting for a second, just curious what it takes to audibly clip amps in a contemporary(?) AVR that's high enough in the line-up to have pre-outs.

Thank you.

 

Denon AVR x3800h driving a 5 channel system, later upgraded with 4 additional height channels for a total of 5.2.4. Kef R series speakers, r11, r3 and r8. Two SVS subs, PC13 ultra and PC4000. When watching movies, the sound began getting harsh starting at roughly -15dB, depending on content. Explosions and busy action scenes made it most noticeable.

Since upgrading to hypex amplifiers and running the 3800 in pre-amp mode, the harshness has disappeared. It can now be played much louder and never sound harsh. This is taking into account the lower input gain of the hyypex compared to the internal denon amps.

I now have harder time realizing how loud it is turned up without checking the number from the receiver. It is clean sound at any volume. Late at night I have to be careful because I might not realize I'm blasting the movie at -10dB or more.

 

Denon AVR x3800h driving a 5 channel system, later upgraded with 4 additional height channels for a total of 5.2.4. Kef R series speakers, r11, r3 and r8. Two SVS subs, PC13 ultra and PC4000. When watching movies, the sound began getting harsh starting at roughly -15dB, depending on content. Explosions and busy action scenes made it most noticeable.

Since upgrading to hypex amplifiers and running the 3800 in pre-amp mode, the harshness has disappeared. It can now be played much louder and never sound harsh. This is taking into account the lower input gain of the hyypex compared to the internal denon amps.

I now have harder time realizing how loud it is turned up without checking the number from the receiver. It is clean sound at any volume. Late at night I have to be careful because I might not realize I'm blasting the movie at -10dB or more.

Thanks for providing the details. Interesting and useful info for reference.

 

Those KEF R11 are probably difficult to drive. They go down to 3 ohm at 500Hz in the sensitive human voice band. At a 2.83V sensitivity measure they state 90dB and at 3 ohm that's 2,5W and not the usual 1W at 8 ohm. So it needs lots of power as 100W using a 8 ohm speaker with a 90dB sensitivity will need 250W to get equally loud from a 90dB sensitive 3 ohm speaker.

A pair of R11 costs $6000 and the two subwoofers $4000 but the AVR where only allowed to cost $1200. It seems a bit unbalanced. Hypex 500W monoblocks, that probably replaced the internal amps, are $1000 each, so $5000 for those. You did the right choice to try and upgrade your weakest link that where not at the same level as the rest of the system that costs $20,000 when the AVR are a $1200 product not playing in the same league.

 

The Kef R11 are average efficiency by my reckoning. That 90dB is for 8ohm nominal impedance. Certainly, it dips down to lower impedance but most speakers do. They're more than twice as efficient as all the other R series speakers I own. For example, the R3 at 86dB, take more than double the power to drive to the same volume as the R11.

Relative cost shouldn't determine the need for more amplifier power. That's dictated by speaker sensitivity, number of channels, distance to speaker, room size and desired listening level. My speaker cables are dirt cheap zip cord and it doesn't matter. The weakest link is determined by performance capability compared to our needs, not a dollar amount.

For many people, an AV receiver will have more than enough power for the Kef R series. It also isn't unusual to need more power. It comes down to how much volume is needed.