help me choose an amplifier

**nickwin** · **10-12-08, 02:51 PM**

I'm looking for a 5 channel amplifier to upgrade to from my AVR. I'm using paradigm studio 20's, and plan on getting an Emotiva pre/pro. My budget it around $500, so I'm mostly looking at used amps. Some possibilitys are: Marantz MM9000, Parasond 5125, Acurus 200FIVE, and Sherwood Newcastle A-965 (7 channel, but I hear its a great amp for the money). Its going to be used for 2 channel music and HT, so it needs to perform well with both.

**Sonnie** · **10-13-08, 12:49 AM**

I suspect any of those you mentioned are going to do you very well with those speakers. My guess is you could hook any one of those up and not notice a drop of difference between them. I would choose the least expensive one... or the best looking one in the price range.

I thought Emotiva had an amp in that price range... or maybe that was one of their discontinued models.

**nickwin** · **10-13-08, 12:14 PM**

thanks for the advice Sonnie.

Emotiva had an amp called the LPA-1 that was 125x5 plus 50x2 that retailed for $499. they diccontinued it and now they have a UPA-7 thats 125x7 and retails for $649. Still a great price, but a little higher than I wanted to go, especially since its got the 2 extra channels that I'm not going to use. I wish they would come out with a UPA-5 for around $500, but I dont know if they are going to.

**tonyvdb** · **10-13-08, 04:01 PM**

Just out of curiosity what receiver are you going to be using as the processor?

**nickwin** · **10-13-08, 04:32 PM**

Another shack member was kind enough to point out to me that Emotiva LPA-1's can be found used for around $400 plus shipping which seems like a really good deal. Does anyone know if one of those would hold its own against the other amps I mentioned?

I plan on getting a Emotiva UPA-1 when they come out in December, so I wont be using a receiver any more. Sorry if the original post was a little confusing.

**nickwin** · **10-13-08, 11:32 PM**

Alright, I've got it narrowed down to the Marantz MM9000 for $500 or the Emotiva LPA-1 for $400. I'm leaning towards the emotiva because its cheaper and newer, but the marantz is THX certified, and has 25 watts per chanel. Are either of those features worth the extra $100?

**thxgoon** · **10-14-08, 12:24 AM**

You pay a little extra for the Marantz name and for the THX certification which gives you a certain guarentee of build quality and performance. For $500 I'd say it's a steal! Emotiva gets great reviews online, expecially with regard to low impedence loads. IRRC Secrets did a review of that amp back in the day where they shorted the output terminals with a fork, and it literally sang, but the amp didn't shut down. Personally, I'm a sucker for THX certification (if you can't tell

) and I like the brushed aluminum finish on the Marantz.

**tenzip** · **10-14-08, 02:22 AM**

Ah, but you get brushed aluminum on the left and right accent pieces of the LPA-1, plus those cool blue LEDs.

I don't know what the warranty is like on Marantz, but if you get the LPA-1, it will probably have a year+ left, fully transferable.

I love mine, it does an outstanding job driving all my Klipsch. All the headroom I need, considering 101dB/1W/1m sensitivity for the mains.

And no, it's not for sale.

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