Class A multichannel amplifier?


I just bought a 5.1 speaker system consisting of Coincident Technology Triumph Rxtreme II speakers with the front left and right speakers being supported by their passive subwoofers (which also act as speaker stands) and the left and right rear speakers being supported by the Coincident Technology speaker stands.

As these are high efficiency speakers I was wondering if there was suitable multi-channel Class A amplification, or at least a 3-channel and stereo amp that would be a good fit.

I will also need a high quality AV processor from Classe, Anthem, Arcam, Integra, etc and would like to hear any recommendations.

I just bought a Panasonic 65" plasma and an OPPO BDP-93, so any advice would be most welcome.

Greg
allchemie

Showing 2 responses by allchemie

I realize that a Class A multichannel amp would put out a lot of heat. Maybe I should consider a Class A/B with high bias into Class A. I heave heard that Earthquake Cinenova makes one that can be biased up to 20 watts into Class A.

I also wonder if the Arcam multichannel amp is biased highly into Class A, such as their AVR600 is. I have heard that the AVR600 is also biased to about 20 watts into Class A and that is what gives it its great sound. One would hope that Arcam would have put that same technology into their new multichannel technology, but I see nothing to that effect on their site.

When the OPPO BDP95 comes out in March I might purchase it and move my OPPO BDP93 into my bedroom system.

Is the Integra DHC 80.2 processor considered good? Or would it be smarter to get an Anthem or a Classe processor. Also, are the Classe multichannel amps good?

Greg
Cobaltturbo-

I realize that the Arcam is Class G, but it is highly biased to run in Class A for the first 20 watts. I believe that information is on Arcam's website and if it isn't it is definitely on the review of the Arcam AVR600 by Peter Moncrief at the IAR80 review page and at Widescreen website review.

Most manufacturers only use a single voltage rail, but the higher and lower voltage rails on the Arcam AVR600 classify it as a Class G device. But Arcam chose to bias the first 20 watts (where the vast majority of music resides) because it sounds far better than a regular A/B bias, which doesn't follow the full wave pattern as Class A does. The use of Class G (higher and lower voltage rails)by Arcam allowed them to have a considerable heat savings which permitted them the luxury of using those savings for a large amount of Class A biasing (which emits far more heat than the classic A/B that is used in most receivers).
But Arcam's brilliant engineering allowed them to use this tremendous heat savings with the addition of Class A.

All other receiver manufacturers use a single voltage rail system, which must be on all the time. Arcam employs a higher and lower voltage rail (Class G), with the lower rail using far less power and emitting far less heat than the higher voltage rail. Since most music doesn't require the higher voltage rails, Arcam is able to utilize the substantial heat and power savings by biasing heavily into Class A.

I have bought a Panasonic V25 65" Plasma which made me have to place my sofa at the rear wall. This means I must employ a 5.1 system, as opposed to being able to use a 7.1.

Greg