Anyone using pro or PA amps for home cinema/music?

saguk1234

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I currently have arcam avr850 and I want to stop using the internal amps. I am thinking of getting either a behringer a800 or img stageline 800d or 1000d. I need only 5 channels.

And I would like to stick with class d but the likes of nc502mp/nc500mp nord and the like are so expensive.

So, anyone using pro amps for home cinema and do they sound as good as the "normal" amps?
 
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Hi, I use a Behringer A800 with my Arcam AVR550 for two atmos speakers. I measured their performance with a Umik-1 mic and REW, and with my ears, and all is fine.

Are you wanting to use power amps for additional speakers or instead of the nice Class G internal amps on your 850?
 
I’ve got a behringer a800 and it sounds great. Lots of power and no fan noise. I use it to drive my front left and right floorstanders. Absolute bargain as far as I’m concerned.
 
I want to stop using the internal amps of the avr850. I do like class h and g amps too but I prefer class d!

The problem with the a800 is the amp measured worse than the avr850 amp (according to ASR). But the a800 is more powerful. The hypex ucd400 module inside the img 800d measured slightly better than the avr850 and its massively more powerful.

But either way these amps are cheaper than the normal amps.
 
I want to stop using the internal amps of the avr850. I do like class h and g amps too but I prefer class d!

The problem with the a800 is the amp measured worse than the avr850 amp (according to ASR). But the a800 is more powerful. The hypex ucd400 module inside the img 800d measured slightly better than the avr850 and its massively more powerful.

But either way these amps are cheaper than the normal amps.
I wonder if you should look at selling the AVR850 as it seems a bit of a waste to use it just a processor when an AVR390 would do the same job? Might raise enough funds then for your power amps.
 
Maybe the better question was "can you use pa amplifiers home cinema/music?"
 
Maybe the better question was "can you use pa amplifiers home cinema/music?"
The answer is... sometimes!

Having consumer friendly inputs and outputs, no noisy fans, and input sensitivity and gain that matches that of consumer pre-amps is a requisite.

The Behringer A800 and the Crown XLS range, seems to tick those boxes. there may be others.
 
Stagelines would be a good choice. The fan in my 800d is quieter than my Arcam 550 transformer and 1v input voltage is fine for the Arcam. I would imagine the 1000D will be the same (purifi module?) They have a look and build quality that feels more hifi and pa, if that is important to you.
Crowns xls look and feel like more of a pa amp. Fan is louder but still pretty quiet, they do produce a little speaker hiss depending on gain setting when nothing is playing but not so much that you would hear from more than a few feet away (and no more than the internal amps of the 550 which are a step down from your amplifier section). When playing though they are super clean and as much power as you would ever want.
It does seem a bit of a waste of the Arcam excellent amplifier in the 850 but probably not worth the hassle to downgrade or cost to get a lower spec new model.
Neither of the above models has a trigger though so will need to think if you want to manually switch them on or maybe use smart plugs.
 
The 800d has a hypex ucd400 and the 1000d has a pascal s-pro2. I do not know which one sounds better though.
 
I have a spare behrinder NX3000.. could that be used to drive a couple of atmos speakers?
 
I have a spare behrinder NX3000.. could that be used to drive a couple of atmos speakers?
In theory, yes, but it doesn't look like it has consumer friendly inputs or outputs, and it has a fan. So might be tricky to connect up, and potentially, a bit loud, fan wise, for a home cinema room?
 
The NX3000 looks like a 'simple' 24V 80mm fan swap, so you can make it whisper quiet for sure. You could even solder a resistor inline and drop the voltage across the existing fan. Open up the case and see the specs of the existing fan; that's a start... :D

With the NX3000 you can at least set the gain accordingly with a 1kHz tone and match it perfectly with the output of your processor, therefore maximising the s/n ratio and have no hissing coming out the speakers.

Rear connections are very solid and reliable. You just need Neutrik connectors and you are all set!
 
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The NX3000 looks like a 'simple' 24V 80mm fan swap, so you can make it whisper quiet for sure. You could even solder a resistor inline and drop the voltage across the existing fan. Open up the case and see the specs of the existing fan; that's a start... :D

With the NX3000 you can at least set the gain accordingly with a 1kHz tone and match it perfectly with the output of your processor, therefore maximising the s/n ratio and have no hissing coming out the speakers.

Rear connections are very solid and reliable. You just need Neutrik connectors and you are all set!
Interesting! What about the inputs and outputs, how can they be made consumer friendly, eg RCA's and banana plugs?
 
Use a Speakon connector at the power amp's end, and banana plus at the speaker's end.
The rear sockets take XLRs anyway. They look different because they can accept a 1/4" jack too.
 
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