Power amplifiers for a 3 way setup, 2 fronts 1 center


Hi,

This may seem like a stupid question, but I'm struggling. I have 3 4 Ohm speakers, 2 larger fronts and 1 largish center. All about 250W rms.
I would use 1 (or 2, i bought 2 just in case...) Vincent SP 331 'hybrid' power amplifier. Did a good deal, 1200 euro for 2. I choose for a hybrid amplifier as my speakers can be very harsh and revealing, it are piega speakers with the coax mid and tweeter (ribbon/electrostatic)
The problem is the center! I could off course buy a monoblock, but they are always sold per pair! Bridging is also not an option, as very few amplifiers can be bridged in 4OHM, and if they can, they are crazy expensive. The center also has the same ribbon tweeter, and woofer, it's off course a matching set. So I want it to sound the same.
Buying a 5 channel amp seems like a good idea, but I like separates better, as I also use the set for music.
the only mono blocks which come up seperately online are the cheap Marantz AM500. This would off course mean they center would sound different to my mains...
I can buy 2 mono blocks and sell 1, but honestly, very few people are looking for 1 mono block, so will be difficult to sell...
I could use 1 vincent to power my fronts and 1 channel of 1 vincent to run my center, but running a amp for only 50% is not great for the balance.
Anybody any ideas? Thanks!
belgiansound
center for what? music or video?

how are you controlling the volume?

2 channel with derived center information for fullness, strong center imaging like early vintage stereo receivers? that actually let your left and right not be perfectly placed, or your furniture not be perfectly placed, just place the center speaker .....

"First introduced in 1957, the Heresy, a three-way design, started out as a compact center channel speaker to accompany the Klipschorn® in three-speaker stereo arrays".

My Fisher 500C and 800C have center line out. Some had center amps built in way back then.

if you have pre-out, or tape out, you can Y them for a center signal, and then make a global volume balance between the 3 amps (L+R Y'd together might be louder than L or R, find what works).
=1 bdgregory--i'd think the two vincents will sound alot better than the emotiva
Thanks. My mains can be bi amped, not the center. I would need to go to a c 4c center instead of the current p 4c, but they are really hard to come by, very rare...and expensive. Also my mains are p5 LTD and i have two P sub 1's, all matching from the p series
Most of the piega speakers can bi-amp/bi-wire, another option is using three stereo amps to power each speaker via bi-amp configuration.
 
oh ok, thanks. 

I'm doubting if I should sell the vincents and buy a Emotiva XPA-3, it's about the same money, but I will probably loose the 'warm' sound, and gain some low end extension...