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External 7 channel amplifiers that have low idle current draw and heat generation

673 Views 13 Replies 10 Participants Last post by  Russdawg1
Hi all,

I'm looking for a 200 watt+ componenet amp for my home theater (Polk lsim series speakers for now) that generates low heat primarily and if it has low idle current, that would be great too.

My home theater room gets fairly warm hence why I'd like something that uses the newer technology to keep heat down while idling or watching very low demand tv stuff.

My budget is $1500- about 3000. I have been looking emotiva, seen some good deals on sunfire amps but I'm not sure what else it out there that fits this criteria. If I open it up, there of course is the monoprice monolith and other options.

I don't mind buying used if it's a really nice amp. Any more suggestions for stuff to check out? I'm thinking a 7 channel emotiva, sunfire 7201 or 7401 (latter is very top of my budget). For emotiva, I can almost afford to buy a 3 channel and a 4 or 5 channel if I want more power out of the front three....

I'm looking to buy and hold these for the next 20 years so I don't mind spending a little more to get more power so that no matter what speaker I have down the road, I have plenty of power and flexibiiity.

I already have another smaller amp for atmos so no need to address that.
1 - 14 of 14 Posts
Hi all,



I'm looking for a 200 watt+ componenet amp for my home theater (Polk lsim series speakers for now) that generates low heat primarily and if it has low idle current, that would be great too.



My home theater room gets fairly warm hence why I'd like something that uses the newer technology to keep heat down while idling or watching very low demand tv stuff.



My budget is $1500- about 3000. I have been looking emotiva, seen some good deals on sunfire amps but I'm not sure what else it out there that fits this criteria. If I open it up, there of course is the monoprice monolith and other options.



I don't mind buying used if it's a really nice amp. Any more suggestions for stuff to check out? I'm thinking a 7 channel emotiva, sunfire 7201 or 7401 (latter is very top of my budget). For emotiva, I can almost afford to buy a 3 channel and a 4 or 5 channel if I want more power out of the front three....



I'm looking to buy and hold these for the next 20 years so I don't mind spending a little more to get more power so that no matter what speaker I have down the road, I have plenty of power and flexibiiity.



I already have another smaller amp for atmos so no need to address that.
Have you looked into the monolith amps for Monoprice made by ATI they're really good bang for your buck deal

Sent from my SM-G965U using Tapatalk
Your requirements scream class D.

Most of the above will get quite warm with being Class A/B.

Crown XLS is a good inexpensive choice.

There are many brands that use the IcePower modules that have great performance.

Class D Audio

D Sonic

Etc.
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Emotiva XPA-7 sounds like your meal ticket.
I had a crown 1501 at one point, nice amp. I think they call these new ones class h or something like that.
Class G/H aren't real amplifier classes. They're just class A/B amps with variable rail voltage. This lets them be far more efficient since the heat in class A/B comes from the transistors dissipating the difference in voltage between what the speakers get and the rail voltage. Reducing rai voltage means less power dissipated in the transistor and thus cooler. What controls the voltage may be manual (usually as an "Eco" mode) or automatic. This may cause problems if what you're using has a lot of dynamic range where you have a lot if quiet passages followed by a sudden loud bit and the rail has to scale up rapidly.

Class D remains most efficient topology.
Im not sold on class d as my class d avr gets hotter than my class ab amps (bridged mode no less). both around 130F. if I turn off my avr screen display the temp goes down alot. my class d sub amps dont get warm at all.
Im not sold on class d as my class d avr gets hotter than my class ab amps (bridged mode no less). both around 130F. if I turn off my avr screen display the temp goes down alot. my class d sub amps dont get warm at all.


AVRs usually get hot by just the processing bits, many surround processors are hotter then the power amps thats used with them. For example my marantz av8805 pre-pro is much warmer then my parasound a31 amp so i use an Infinity cooler on the processor but not the amp (which seems so wrong lol)
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D-Sonic sounds like an option for you to consider. It never made sense to me to spend a lot of money on an amp that nets less than 3 dB due to mediocre power output. D-sonic has enough power to make it a worthwhile upgrade if you need/can handle the power.
If you need a 5 channel Emotiva then PM me
Check out the ATi Hypex N-core amplifiers...
Very efficient, high power, runs kool, and great sonics...

Just my S0.02... ;)
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Thanks for the d-sonic and class d audio suggestions. I’m checking out both sites. Any other similar amps that I should check out?

As a side note, with the class d audio, I’d need to buy 2 amps which would set me back about $2400.
Thanks for the d-sonic and class d audio suggestions. I’m checking out both sites. Any other similar amps that I should check out?

As a side note, with the class d audio, I’d need to buy 2 amps which would set me back about $2400.
You are getting TWO amps for $2,400?

The Audio Control Savoy is 7 x 200wpc. Sounds great runs cool.

MSRP 3,000 but deals are available.
Thanks for the d-sonic and class d audio suggestions. I’m checking out both sites. Any other similar amps that I should check out?

As a side note, with the class d audio, I’d need to buy 2 amps which would set me back about $2400.

4 XLS 1502’s.

Will look sweet in your rack! :)
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